Anyone use a KVM on their gaming rig?

mikehhhhhhh

mikehhhhhhh

mikehhhhhhh

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I'm being forced off my own machine onto a work laptop for WFH, which means I need a nice easy way to switch between them.

I need a KVM that switches HDMI video (3440x1440 @ 100Hz) and a decent USB port (I use the monitors built in hub to connect keyboard, mouse, webcam and microphone)

I'm a little nervous about trying something random, incase it doesn't do higher refresh rate over HDMI or introduces input lag. I'm hoping an enthusiast on this fourm has a similar setup and would have checked these same things.
 
I used to use a KVM long ago, in SVGA days. However it had a problwm with high refresh rates & resolutions. So what I did was use a monitor with multiple inputs and have colour-coordinated mice and keyboards, so I knew the black mouse and keyboard were for one system and the beige mouse and keyboard were for the other.

Something you might like to consider is using Remote Desktop from your gaming PC to your work laptop. You may need Windows 10 Professional, though.
 
Sorry maybe not much use but to remove the multiple mouse/keyboards from Quartz reply, if you can install anything on the work laptop, this works well for me:
https://symless.com/synergy
I just have my laptop and desktop connected to the monitor via different interfaces. Main desktop acts as the server for synergy and laptop as a client.
Then just switch input sources on the monitor depending on what I'm doing.

This obviously doesn't hamper the main desktop at all with regards to input device but wont switch the webcam/mic.
 
Thanks chaps, I found a KVM on a popular but evil book vendor's website that does HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.0 so I decided to give it a go - it arrives today, so I'll report back on how that goes.

I wondered about synergy as I used it many years ago but I really want/need to swap other usb devices as well and changing inputs on my monitor is horrible - you have to get the menu up, choose the switch input button and then wait for the next source which has nothing connected to timeout before you can switch to the next.
 
So I bought one of these from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MNZ1FVS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and a USB-C to HDMI lead. I have my USB headset, mouse and keyboard (Corsair so it requires two USB connections) all connected and then to the Surface laptop and my desktop PC. It works great with no issues with lag or sound in games that I’ve noticed. I play rather too much Apex Legends and can’t tell a difference between with it and without it. I change the input on my 34” UW to HDMI for work and DP for games. It doesn’t do video at all so maybe not quite what you’re after but as said I use a USB-C to HDMI for the video.
 
MissChief said:
So I bought one of these from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MNZ1FVS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and a USB-C to HDMI lead. I have my USB headset, mouse and keyboard (Corsair so it requires two USB connections) all connected and then to the Surface laptop and my desktop PC. It works great with no issues with lag or sound in games that I’ve noticed. I play rather too much Apex Legends and can’t tell a difference between with it and without it. I change the input on my 34” UW to HDMI for work and DP for games. It doesn’t do video at all so maybe not quite what you’re after but as said I use a USB-C to HDMI for the video.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's something to keep in mind if the KVM fails.
 
Well, for the benefit of any future visitors that might find this while searching for something similar, my setup works.

The KVM is a EZCoo 2x1 HDMI Switch, but it can be found at that evil book site by searching "ROFAVEZCO HDMI KVM Switch 4K 2 Ports USB 3.0"

I had a bit of a scare initially as upon connection, my monitor complained about an unsupported resolution. For some reason, it had a fixed list of 29 EDID's it supported and it broadcast those regardless of what was connected.

If you want 4k60Hz it's fine out of the box, but any unsual resolutions or high refresh rates won't work.

A search on the manufacturers website - ezcoolav.com revealed that some similar models had serial control via a micro-usb port on the device, so as mine had the same port, I decided to give it a go and have an explore. It didn't work out of the box, but after updating the firmware using the same port, I was able to interrogate it via a serial/UART console.

Fortunately there was a 'H' command for help, which revealed an undocumented setting for copying the EDID from the output port.

Once that command was run, I was able to restart it and find that I had the right resolution and refresh rates available, so now I have 3440x1440@100Hz on the desktop, although it seems I need to find a HDMI 2.0 HDMI->Thunderbolt adapter for my laptop to get the full 100Hz.

It's a nice unit - I've not tested USB3 speeds yet but I'm able to switch my 1080p webcam, microphone, mouse and keyboard plugged in via USB3 hub with no problems. Another nice touch is that switching is done via a button on the unit or an IR remote, so there's no weird keyboard emulation going on for hotkey support.
 
mikehhhhhhh said:
I'm being forced off my own machine onto a work laptop for WFH, which means I need a nice easy way to switch between them.

I need a KVM that switches HDMI video (3440x1440 @ 100Hz) and a decent USB port (I use the monitors built in hub to connect keyboard, mouse, webcam and microphone)

I'm a little nervous about trying something random, incase it doesn't do higher refresh rate over HDMI or introduces input lag. I'm hoping an enthusiast on this fourm has a similar setup and would have checked these same things.
Click to expand...

I use a gaming rig and a work laptop off two monitor. I have the UGREEN 3.0 switch which has my k70, mouse and a webcam, and plug the laptop directly into the monitors, use the source on the monitors to switch between hdmi or DP and a single button press for the peripherals. The laptop is docked
 
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