diff --git a/TRACKING.md b/TRACKING.md
index 3b22328..7c7becf 100644
--- a/TRACKING.md
+++ b/TRACKING.md
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ One table, updated in place at each checkpoint. States: done ✅ / doing 🔄 /
 | OPT-7 | guest | ⏳ | #603: root growth MANUAL ONLY, GROW-ROOT-RUNBOOK.md, user-executed |
 | OPT-8 | repos | ✅ | PMO backpressure design note in ukrrs/docs/harness; code = ticketed |
 | OPT-9 | integ | ⏳ | #604: node_exporter svc + gateway pressure scrape (Q10) |
-| OPT-10 | integ | ⏳ | #605: k8s join (Q11, blocked by #601) + proxmox-ctl token (Q12); GPUs #606 |
+| OPT-10 | integ | ⏳ | #605: k8s join (Q11, blocked by #601) + proxmox-ctl token (Q12) |
+| #606 | gpu | 🔄 | Quadro 4000 passthrough STAGED on 5111 (vfio ids + q35 + hostpci0, staged/gpu-passthrough.md); activates at the human's pre-Friday roll; nouveau-only on kernel 6.12 (no CUDA/NVENC — compute cards come with #601) |
 | #610 | fleet | ✅ | Open Terminal 9-account fleet (tailscale-only :30000-30008) + OpenWebUI UAT PASS |
 | #611 | rdp | 🔄 | Jump/iPad + 5160x2160 monitor: EGFX frame-budget fix live (12-fix-rdp-bigres.sh); freerdp UAT all-clean; human UAT pending |
 | #612 | dotfiles | 🔄 | kali-addendum: Kali twoline prompt + completions (kali-comforts.sh) on top of omz, p10k = fallback (KALI_PROMPT=0); awaiting UAT |
diff --git a/staged/gpu-passthrough.md b/staged/gpu-passthrough.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53eb3fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/staged/gpu-passthrough.md
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# GPU passthrough — STAGED (Quadro 4000 -> VM 5111) — #606
+
+Staged 2026-09-01 by crush via host ssh. Activates at the NEXT VM 5111
+start (the human's pre-Friday roll). Nothing below touches the running
+VM or other guests.
+
+## What is staged
+
+**On pfv-tsys5 (host):**
+
+- `/etc/modprobe.d/vfio-quadro4000.conf`
+  - `options vfio-pci ids=10de:06dd,10de:0be5` (GPU + HDMI audio)
+  - `softdep nouveau/nvidia/snd_hda_intel pre: vfio-pci`
+  - initramfs rebuilt for all kernels.
+  - Result at next host boot: vfio-pci claims 03:00.0 + 03:00.1
+    (IOMMU group 20, verified isolated).
+- Runtime note: nouveau was unbound from 03:00.0 during staging
+  (driverless until next boot — host console on that card is dark
+  already; ssh/PVE web unaffected).
+
+**On VM 5111 (pending config, live at next start):**
+
+    hostpci0: 0000:03:00,pcie=1
+    machine: q35        (was default pc/i440fx; virtio disks unaffected)
+
+## What to expect after the roll
+
+- Guest: `lspci -nnk -d 10de:06dd` → NVIDIA GF100GL, kernel 6.12 binds
+  **nouveau** (Fermi-class). There is NO proprietary NVIDIA driver for
+  Fermi on kernel 6.x — no CUDA, no NVENC. Usable for KMS display /
+  capture (Sunshine KMS backend) and basic GL. Real GPU compute waits
+  for the #601 hardware (new cards get their own staging pass).
+- Host console: permanently headless once vfio owns the card (this box
+  is ssh/PVE-web managed; console access = the pfv-tsys5 console infra).
+- GPU-as-primary variant (drops std VGA): change hostpci0 to
+  `0000:03:00,pcie=1,x-vga=1` — only if the guest should boot WITH the
+  Quadro as its only display.
+
+## Verify after the roll
+
+    # host (ssh root@100.87.135.12)
+    lspci -nnk -s 03:00 | grep "driver in use"   # -> vfio-pci (both fns)
+    # guest
+    lspci -nnk -d 10de:06dd                       # -> nouveau
+    dmesg | grep -i vfio                          # assignment trace
+
+## Revert (if the roll goes sideways)
+
+    # host: stop claiming the card
+    rm /etc/modprobe.d/vfio-quadro4000.conf && update-initramfs -u -k all
+    # VM 5111: back to pre-staging machine + no passthrough
+    qm set 5111 --delete hostpci0 --delete machine
+    # then roll VM 5111 again; host reclaims the card at its next reboot
+
+## Roll procedure
+
+Same as any 5111 roll: stop crush sessions, `qm shutdown 5111`, wait,
+`qm start 5111` (onboot order=10 also covers a host reboot).