kvm Pimp my KVM

[aasmall]

Hi!

 

I've got a challenge. I want to use the same console to drive gaming on Windows, tinkering & development on Linux, and work from a Chromebook/maybe MacBook in the future. By console I mean 2 keyboards, 2 mice (one gaming, one ergo), 2 UHD monitors (27" and 32"), a shitty soundbar, and some nice headphones + mic, and a webcam. The Windows and Linux environments and dual boot, so that's easy, but the laptop is USB-C. This means I need a KVM. I need a bitchin' KVM.

 

The monitors, today, are "4"k at 60hz, which is fine. I guess, but I'd like to be able to upgrade them and get 4k at 120hz if the video card can drive that. This is where things get shitty. I cannot, for the life of me, find a KVM that can handle that kind of bandwidth. So, I turn to you, for recommendations or creative solutions. At this point, I'm about to build another whole workstation next to my existing one, just so I can have a nice place to dock my laptop. My budget for this project is effectively unlimited.

 

Components on hand:

1. Desktop (walltop?) rig: Ryzen 7 2700X / 1080Ti FE. Pretty lights, water-cooled.
2. Laptop varies, usb-c.
3. SIIG USB Type C Dual 4K Docking Station. This is actually fine. I don't think I need to plan for the laptop to be able to drive 2x4k@120. That's just too much to ask from a corporate laptop.
4. StarTech.com SV231DPDDUA2 - DisplayPort KVM Switch - 2 Port - Dual-Display - 4k 60hz. My bottleneck. It's the best thing I've been able to find though.
5. Samsung UH750 28" and 32"
6. TP-Link 5 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch 
7. Assorted USB keyboards and mice

 

current set-up, sad as it is:

[kevp453]

I used to work from home myself and had the same conundrum of switching between work corporate laptop that had a dock to my gaming PC every day. I also had triple 1080p monitors to work into the equation.

 

I used a device like this to make a one button switch for your USB devices. Get a USB hub to plug in your USB devices and plug that into the USB switch, or a docking station if you want to add audio/ethernet.

For the monitors I recommend running them directly to your laptop and to your gaming PC and just switching inputs on your monitors. It's annoying but it will be the only way to get full throughput, especially from your GPU.

[aasmall]

That's actually kind of brilliant. I just need to make sure my upgraded monitors have enough inputs to support that config.

 

Gotta love ramping up for a project and setting a big budget and then finding a $20 solution.

[kevp453]

36 minutes ago, aasmall said:

That's actually kind of brilliant. I just need to make sure my upgraded monitors have enough inputs to support that config.

 

Gotta love ramping up for a project and setting a big budget and then finding a $20 solution.

Sometimes, It's the simple things. Also, sweet rig you've got there. Is that the P5 case? I'm building in the P3 with my Christmas build. Was mounting it to the wall easy? What kind of mount did you get?

[aasmall]

2 minutes ago, kevp453 said:

Sometimes, It's the simple things. Also, sweet rig you've got there. Is that the P5 case? I'm building in the P3 with my Christmas build. Was mounting it to the wall easy? What kind of mount did you get?

Thanks! 

 

ya, it's a P5. It's easy to wall mount if you have 2 people. My rig weighs like 55lbs, so it's hard to do alone because you can't see what you're doing. I mounted it with this, but I think if I could do it again I'd look for 360-degree rotation. It's a bitch to take it off the wall to get an air bubble out. 

 

Also, I just got invited to a LAN party... so, downsides.

 

I found the grommet placings on the P5 to be rather frustrating when trying to cable manage the beast, and due to it's size, I have to use extensions on a lot of the cables. The back has a number of heat-shrink shinanigans going on. Also having the spinning media in the back chamber stresses me out due to the lack of air flow. Over-all, the thing is fun to look at though.