Graphic Cards quality over KVM

[Not Known]

Hi,

I want to use a KVM switch on my games PC so I can control another PC and
get rid of of one of my monitors. The games PC has a fairly decent
graphics card in it and I won't bother if a KVM degrades picture quality
substantually. Does anyone know about this before I pay up? What should I
be looking/asking for in a good KVM and cables? Ideally I want a 4port KVM.
I don't know much about KVM's and graphics cards.

Thanks

Paul

 

[philo]

Hi,

I want to use a KVM switch on my games PC so I can control another PC and
get rid of of one of my monitors. The games PC has a fairly decent
graphics card in it and I won't bother if a KVM degrades picture quality
substantually. Does anyone know about this before I pay up? What should
I be looking/asking for in a good KVM and cables? Ideally I want a 4port
KVM. I don't know much about KVM's and graphics cards.

first off...
do not get one of those cheapies with merely a mechanical switch inside
or your image will be slightly blurry.
i ended up getting an inexpensive electronic variety that did not degrade
the video at all...except the mouse had an "emulated" feel to it!

 

[Adam Leinss]

Hi,

I want to use a KVM switch on my games PC so I can control another
PC and get rid of of one of my monitors. The games PC has a
fairly decent graphics card in it and I won't bother if a KVM
degrades picture quality substantually. Does anyone know about
this before I pay up? What should I be looking/asking for in a
good KVM and cables? Ideally I want a 4port KVM. I don't know
much about KVM's and graphics cards.

At work, I went from a Belkin 2 port to a Belkin 4 port and noticed the
picture quality take a nose dive.

Adam

 

[Bennett Price]

Hi,

I want to use a KVM switch on my games PC so I can control another PC and
get rid of of one of my monitors. The games PC has a fairly decent
graphics card in it and I won't bother if a KVM degrades picture quality
substantually. Does anyone know about this before I pay up? What should I
be looking/asking for in a good KVM and cables? Ideally I want a 4port KVM.
I don't know much about KVM's and graphics cards.

Thanks

Paul

Can't offer specific advice but be advised that cable quality is all
important- and the shorter the better.

 

[Synapse Syndrome]

Hi,

I want to use a KVM switch on my games PC so I can control another PC and
get rid of of one of my monitors. The games PC has a fairly decent
graphics card in it and I won't bother if a KVM degrades picture quality
substantually. Does anyone know about this before I pay up? What should I
be looking/asking for in a good KVM and cables? Ideally I want a 4port KVM.
I don't know much about KVM's and graphics cards.

Some KVMs can't support the higher resolutions and refresh rates that I use.
I couldn't afford the ones that could, so I just use XP's Remote Desktop
instead. It works great.

ss.

 

[Grinder]

Hi,

I want to use a KVM switch on my games PC so I can control another PC and
get rid of of one of my monitors. The games PC has a fairly decent
graphics card in it and I won't bother if a KVM degrades picture quality
substantually. Does anyone know about this before I pay up? What should I
be looking/asking for in a good KVM and cables? Ideally I want a 4port KVM.
I don't know much about KVM's and graphics cards.

Something else to think about:

If your KVM supports switching through your keyboard, you may experience
a tiny bit of latentcy. It's hardly noticable in normal operations, but
can be quite visible in game play.

 

[kony]

Some KVMs can't support the higher resolutions and refresh rates that I use.
I couldn't afford the ones that could, so I just use XP's Remote Desktop
instead. It works great.

That is the key, the higher the refresh and resolution, the more
the image will typically degrade, even with good, short cables
(which also make a difference). That is, assuming this is
typical analog monitor output.

 

[Azaran2003]

ome KVMs can't support the higher resolutions and refresh rates that I use.

I couldn't afford the ones that could, so I just use XP's Remote Desktop
instead. It works great.

ss.

Could you go in to a bit of a quick how to on this, or point to a "how to"
online? I currently use a KVM but it freaks out my logitich mouse a bit (losses
button fuctions, occianal eratic movment) when I switch between computers and
I'd love to be rid of dealing with it.

Thanks
~A

 

[Synapse Syndrome]

Could you go in to a bit of a quick how to on this, or point to a "how to"
online? I currently use a KVM but it freaks out my logitich mouse a bit (losses
button fuctions, occianal eratic movment) when I switch between computers and
I'd love to be rid of dealing with it.

You need XP Pro or WinServer 2003 (It's called terminal server on previous
server editions i think) on the remote machine.

If you have anything less than XP Pro on the client you can download this:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tools/rdclientdl.mspx
This was useful when I accessed my server from my university CAD labs.

I'm currently runnign at 100Mb/s on my LAN, but I'll get a gigabit NIC for
my server soon and I suppose it'll be just like running the remote PC
directly with a crossover cable between the two.

Once you have it all set up it is very good to use. It's better if you are
running the remote machine at a lower screen resolution than your main PC.

Search on Google. There's loads of help there. This is what I just found.
http://www.2000trainers.com/article.aspx?articleID=201&page=1

ss.

 

[Azaran2003]

Groovy, thanks for the heads up on remote. I got a preview of it for win2003
during a seminar but never got around to trying it out.

 

[~misfit~]

Groovy, thanks for the heads up on remote. I got a preview of it for
win2003 during a seminar but never got around to trying it out.

I use Ultr@VNC which does a similar job I believe and is cross-platform.
Open-source freeware. Just install the 'server' part on the machine(s) you
want to control over your LAN and the viewer on the machine you want to
control them from.

Not as good as a KVM (although I have to drop the resolution on my main
machine for it to work on my KVM) but a workable solution for remote
management over multiple machines. Just for the hell of it I tried to play
Dungeon Siege using it and it's not very easy. The data requried to be
transfered must max out my 10/100 connection.

 

[David Wang]

Most KVM switches produce acceptable image quality. When buying a KVM switch
make sure that a particular switch supports your graphic card. I have been
using a switch that had difficulties displaying images with ATI Rage XL
card. Do a research and asking vendors the compatibility questions before
investing in an expensive KVM switch.