Connecting multiple monitors and PCs.. what do I need?

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alexb75

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Oct 12, 2004
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I am looking to do the following:

- Get two 21in monitors
- Connect it to my main PC, via MSI Radeon 7700 Video Card
- Play games, special race simulations
- Have a switch, so I can easily connect my work laptop (via hdmi or DVI) to the same setup
- Have my desktop mouse/keyboard work on the laptop

Got the following questions:
- With two monitors, does it mean my video card has to render two 1080P screens, meaning it may not have enough juice?
- What components do I need to hook everything up and making it easy to swap PCs from work to home


Thanks!
 
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bliq

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well, I'm guessing you want to have 2 screens active for playing games. do you also need both screens active for working?

you could have a KVM connected to one monitor that you can switch keyboard, mouse, and that one monitor between the laptop and the desktop. then the other monitor directly connected to the desktop's other DVI out or whatever. That would give you a single monitor for work, and 2 for gaming.

if you need to have both work for both desktop and laptop, find monitors with switchable inputs. then use a KVM on one monitor to give you keyboard and monitor switching, then on the other monitor, use 2 inputs, say HDMI to the laptop and DVI to the desktop (because HDMI is easier to plug in and out). Then to switch from desktop to laptop or vice versa, you'd hit a switch on the KVM plus a button on the 2nd monitor. Not ideal, but I don't know of any 2 monitor KVM's and if they existed, they'd be expensive.
 
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alexb75

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Thanks. I guess it would be ideal to have both monitors for work and games but it's not must have. Also, does the 2nd monitor make it harder for the video card? I'm mostly looking to play iRacing and Rfactor simulations on the two displays.

If I could make it easier that way with one monitor then that's ok. What KVM is recommended ?
 
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alexb75

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No more help, I guess I need to figure it out myself... anyone with KVM experience, can I do this?

- Win8 laptop displayport --> DVI --> KVM DVI 1
- Win8 desktop gaming machine --> DVI2 --> KVM DVI 2
- Wireless Keyboard/Mouse --> USB transponder on KVM USB connection
- Win8 laptop USB --> USB input 1
- Win8 Desktop USB --> USB input 2

Switch would change DVI and USB wireless control for mouse/keyboard to each device, would this work?

PS. I found an IOGEAR KVM with multiple monitor inputs, but maybe overkill...
 
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