Workstation Macbook and Desktop PC

[moSAgu]

Budget: <1000€

Country: Germany

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: DaVinci Resolved, Photoshop, After Effects; Video Editing, File Sharing

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

existing parts: Latest Macbook Pro (Mid-Tier specs), Gaming PC (i7 6700k, 32Gb DDR4 RAM, GTX 1080), AOC 144hz 1080p Monitor (HDMI and DisplayPort), Mouse, Keyboard and Headset.

 

needed peripherals: new main Moinitor (1440p 144hz good for both gaming and editing)

 

Hey everyone,

im planing a new workstation mainly for editing videos and pictures at home and on the go.

 

As i encountered more and more problems editing on my pc i switched to editing on my macbook which works astoundingly well.

When i´m at home im ether recording videos on my pc or am editing pictures on it, but have to transfer my files to my macbook to finish production.

 

I would like to have a workstation where i can plug in my macbook with as few as possible cables and be good to go. Therefore i need some sort of wired connection between my pc and my macbook for filesharing and preferably some form of "switch" for my peripherals to connect my mouse, keyboard, headset and monitor to either system by pressing just a button.

 

If you have any ideas for some products that might fit my plans, please share them with me.

I´d love a good monitor which i can use for both gaming and editing and this probably will be the main factor for the budget.

For the connection between the devices i thought about some sort of hub that has mutiple switches (atleast 3 usb and some form of display connection).

 

Thanks in advance

 

[Donut417]

26 minutes ago, moSAgu said:

onnect my mouse, keyboard, headset and monitor to either system by pressing just a button.

https://www.newegg.com/iogear-gus404-usb/p/N82E16817399128?Item=N82E16817399128 This is what I use for my mouse and Keyboard. To switch between my MacBook Pro, Gaming Machine and my Plex server. Monitor wise, I just switch the inputs on my monitors to switch between machines. If both machines are connected to the same router, then you should be able to setup file sharing without any thing extra. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YZ48HCT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I use this to convert my Thunderbolt ports in to USB, HDMI, ect. I have another type C or HDMI for my second monitor. 

[GhostRoadieBL]

first thing I would look at is a NAS, use it for your file storage so the files are available to both systems without having to transfer between them. Even a desktop HDD bay station would work really well for this (basically a better version of a desktop external HDD)

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Western-Digital-Cloud-network-storage/dp/B01BIGSRLS/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=NAS&qid=1603240523&sr=8-3&th=1

plugs straight into the network and gives both computers access to the files. 

 

A USB-C hub into a KVM switch would be perfect for ethernet/peripherals. Macbook uses one cable to plug into the hub, hub is plugged into the KVM which has your desktop and peripherals plugged in. turns the setup into once cable + one button (two when you switch monitor inputs) to swap between machines. 

https://www.amazon.de/CableCreation-Multiport-Adapter-Ethernet-MacBook/dp/B08FWPKVBG/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=usb-c-hub&qid=1603240803&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQ0Y0QURXQkVET1Q0JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTYxODI3RVlKNDVIMzdCSlBDJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwMTM2NzAxRkxMQ05JN0FIVkU0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

https://www.amazon.de/GeekerChip-Switch-Printers-Scanners-Keyboards/dp/B08F9T1Z2T/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=kvm&qid=1603240838&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyUjhFM1BZVDRTTkJTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzQ1MzI5MkhHVVFMVzdaNzVUUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjA1MTY0MlNOWUpJSUdXQUQ0TSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[moSAgu]

21 minutes ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

first thing I would look at is a NAS, use it for your file storage so the files are available to both systems without having to transfer between them. 

How are transfering speeds with a NAS? I usually deal with files around the 10Gb mark

 

29 minutes ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

 (two when you switch monitor inputs

so one switch for usb peripherals and a second one for displays? if so any product recomendations for a hdmi/dp switch that would work with a macbook? (i would love to be able to connect my macbook to two monitors)

[moSAgu]

36 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

I just switch the inputs on my monitors to switch between machines.

so just connecting both machines to the same monitor and switching sources? i can wrap my head around a way to connect my macbook to two monitors at a time. PC is no problem

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, moSAgu said:

so just connecting both machines to the same monitor and switching sources?

Yep. Its that simple. The only downside for me, is my Acer monitor will default to an active source. So when my MacBook Pro goes to sleep, it changes back to the Plex servers input, While my LG monitor stays on what ever input it was set to. 

 

3 minutes ago, moSAgu said:

i can wrap my head around a way to connect my macbook to two monitors at a time.

I know for a fact the MacBook Pro at least the 2020 model I have can do like 4+ 4K screens at once. So two monitors is no issue at all. 

 

The trick is to find a monitor is the required amount of inputs and the correct inputs for each machine. At some point I want to upgrade my ultra wide, to a bigger panel. When I do that Im going to try to find one with 3 inputs so I can have my Plex server on my main screen and be able to connect my MacBook Pro and Gaming machine to two monitors at once. Dual monitors makes the world better. 

[GhostRoadieBL]

24 minutes ago, moSAgu said:

How are transfering speeds with a NAS?

theoretical 125MB/s, mine normally tops out at around 90MB/s for straight transfers. The other option to this if you are going with a KVM is run an external SSD with a faster USB-c KVM 

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Sabrent-2-Port-Switch-Delivery-USB-KCPD/dp/B07Y2HKN37/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=usb+3.1+kvm&qid=1603244458&sr=8-10

this KVM is more expensive but gets you thunderbolt 3 which goes up to 5GB/s assuming your SSD can reach that. 

 

with a decent enclosure (this one is ~1.5 GB/s not 5GB/s like thunderbolt3 but 1/5th the price) and a fast NVME drive (1TB samsung Evo) you should have no problems with full speed file transfers 

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/enclosure-cooling-system-USB-C-aluminium/dp/B07NCMHG5H/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=thunderbolt+3+ssd&qid=1603244598&quartzVehicle=72-820&replacementKeywords=thunderbolt+ssd&sr=8-16

 

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Samsung-MZ-V7S1T0BW-Plus-Internal-3-500/dp/B07MBQPQ62/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=nvme+ssd&qid=1603244647&sr=8-14