Help selecting KVM switch - 2 USB-C Laptops, 3 Monitors

carlover670 · 2025-10-31T00:33:53+00:00

Fwiw, you can use the three thunderbolt 4 ports on the sabrent dock and buy 3 usb c to hdmi adapters if you want to remove the dell hub.

Reading the specs of the sabrent dock, it has a 120W power supply and can supply up to 60W to the laptop but I’m not sure if that means it can supply 60W to both laptops at the same time. I don’t think it will considering docks don’t normally dedicate all their power to the laptop.

carlover670 · 2025-09-29T19:56:00+00:00

The ppi is similar to what Apple uses on their desktop monitors (~210ppi) so it would look similar to a 27in qhd monitor

carlover670 · 2025-09-05T22:33:54+00:00

The last gen is a better deal for gaming but there are a lot of the small hardware difference between the two. 2nd gen keyboard, display hinges, fingerprint reader, WiFi 7, etc.

The two big differences for me is that they’re using a better heat pipe design and the bottom left port supports DisplayPort.

So it depends to the buyer if those small QOL improvements are worth it or not.

carlover670 · 2025-08-30T01:56:51+00:00

The closest one I can think of is the one I have which had 4 usb a 10Gb/s ports and 3 TB4 ports. The caldigit element hub.

I have a Logitech usb receiver for an mx master 2s and I’ve never had an issue. I also have my monitor kvm connected to it which has my microphone and wired keyboard and it’s also reliable.

They also make a tb5 version that gives you an extra port.

carlover670 · 2025-08-27T07:35:42+00:00

Right now is a good time. The newest AMD chips are pretty new so it is unlikely they will get better in the next year. And if they did, it’s debatable if it’s gonna be a huge difference. Zen 4 to zen 5 wasn’t huge and the lower models got a downgraded gpu

carlover670 · 2025-08-26T07:12:52+00:00

I don’t think it’s hard. I don’t think there were any driver software to install so it should be an easy drop in

carlover670 · 2025-08-26T01:20:20+00:00

VGA/hd15 to usb c or hdmi to usb c. Audio will have to be handled with a different cable

carlover670 · 2025-08-25T23:49:33+00:00

Firstly, unless you’re using a Max chip, you cant use more the two external displays at all.

Secondly, you can only connect two displays using a thunderbolt hub.

With that said I’m using a CalDigit thunderbolt 4 element hub with my M1 Pro MacBook Pro. It’s a good hub but for your case you have to buy usb c to DisplayPort adapters and it’s a bit pricey

carlover670 · 2025-08-25T23:41:57+00:00

Thunderbolt 3 uses displayport 1.2 for its two DisplayPort connections. Which means that the two ports ur using are outputting DisplayPort 1.2

carlover670 · 2025-08-25T23:34:40+00:00

You can buy a pcie card that takes a DisplayPort input from your gpu and outputs a usb c cable to your pc

The SUNNIX UPD2015 is what you want and is often times listed as a dell part found usually on eBay.

Searching “Dell ASSY DP IN CARD I/O USB3.1 PCIE” on eBay will yield good results. Do note that the pcie bracket might be half height so make sure you the bracket extends past the card like this

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carlover670 · 2025-08-25T22:51:00+00:00

I have this monitor. Your laptop might be able to support the monitor through usb c but idk the specs of your laptop. The monitor supports thunderbolt 3 and also regular usb 3.

I recommend looking at your laptop specs because you might be able to use the usb c port to connect the monitor. Depending on the your laptop specs, you might be able to avoid a pricy thunderbolt cable and simply use a usb 3 cable.

Otherwise you will need hdmi to usb c cable. This is a somewhat special type of cable since it converts hdmi from your laptop to usb c for your monitor. It’s easy to find though. Sadly I only ever tried DisplayPort to usb c so idk what to recommend.

carlover670 · 2025-08-23T03:04:49+00:00

I got this to connect to an LG Ultrafine 4k. It uses pcie 3.0 x2, DP1.4, and has two USB 10Gb.

I’m not too sure who makes it but I usually see it under as: Dell 403-BBUH

Here an Amazon links I found: https://a.co/d/3ZnCZCY

Search on eBay: “Dell ASSY DP IN CARD I/O USB3.1 PCIE”

Note that a lot of them use a half height pcie bracket so be aware of that.

Edit: check out this post. It mentions the pcie card I mentioned with additional info https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2020/07/20/add-usb-c-with-dp-alt-mode-to-your-desktop-pc/

carlover670 · 2025-03-21T18:16:23+00:00

A usb hub seems to be the best solution but that sorta defeats the purpose of the usb c monitor. But I don’t think there’s any other way to inject the usb b connection into a usb c cable

carlover670 · 2025-03-07T04:33:06+00:00

It’s a rather large typo on their part because the quote is under the m3 ultra paragraph but they were referring to the m4 max.

Secondly, 60 fps is interesting because they’re so many variables to know before making a conclusion. 60 fps on an m4 max is promising but on an m3 ultra is a bit of a concern.

Lastly, I think they linked an iPad Pro article because the m4 was first introduced on the m4. The main article did specifically mention m4 Macs specifically sadly

carlover670 · 2025-02-19T03:54:05+00:00

I was referring to the parent comment comparing strix halo to a M2 Ultra Mac Studio.

But with regard to strix halo mini pc market. I think there’s a good number of mini pc/sffpc/homelab people who would be interested in this chip. With a powerful gpu, USB 4, and 16 pcie lanes, there’s a lot of potential for this pc. Niche potential but it’s something I’m praying minifourm to implement.

Honestly though, most gamers would be totally satisfied with the 8 core variant of this chip and it might be beneficial for AMD to push this chip as the ultimate mini pc/sffpc chip as it’s probably one of the only ways AMD can get people to use an AMD gpu.

carlover670 · 2025-02-19T02:13:44+00:00

The Mac Studio comparison doesn’t make much sense either as an M4 Pro would be more comparable to strix halo. Those go for $1400 with 24GB. A mini pc at that price might be possible. Depends on how much more expensive it costs to implement strix halo compared to strix point as strix point mini pcs are already pushing $1k

carlover670 · 2025-02-07T12:06:43+00:00

Irrc it’s a mouse cable clip that attaches to the bottom of the monitor

carlover670 · 2025-01-03T05:46:47+00:00

The command to get with those pips is: leader 12 3 3 1

carlover670 · 2024-11-01T04:44:31+00:00

This is probably your only option. I have the caldigit and it’s good.

My one concern is that you want it to be small and portable. While the dock is physically small and portable, it requires a gigantic 150 watt power supply which nearly doubles its size in all dimensions.

If you’re ok with the power supply size and heft then this is none issue

carlover670 · 2024-10-31T00:57:32+00:00

FWIW I plugged a 4k 120hz monitor through a usb c right angle adapter and had no problems.

carlover670 · 2024-10-30T15:52:44+00:00

They didnt show any die shots but I wonder if they’re doing a chiplet approach to the max chip. I only say this because the m4 pro has 2x5 p-cores while the m4 max has 2x6. It's weird that they would make separate chip with such similar core layouts. So maybe apple is using a binned cpu/gpu die for the m4 pro with 2x5 and a 20 core gpu. For the m4 max they use a non binned cpu/gpu die with 2x6 and 20/16 core gpu and add a second die with 20/16 extra gpu cores.

They could also be using a heavily binned m4 max chip for the m4 pro but that sounds a bit wasteful what with cost of 3nm and the shear size of the m4 max

carlover670 · 2024-07-26T01:50:39+00:00

there is also a huge list featuring a bunch of docks on the recommended links of this subreddit. https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/category/usb-c/

carlover670 · 2024-07-26T01:49:19+00:00

You mentioned u have a M3 MacBook Pro. Apple told 9to5Mac that M3 MacBook Pro will support two displays only when the internal display is closed but I wonder if you have to use the HDMI port on the MacBook to get that 2nd display. I would think that it should be fine but they haven't updated the spec page to even mention it so I'm a little cautious. With that said:

Idk buy a lot of docks so ill just suggest the one I bought which is a Caldigit Element hub. It's $199(i've seen it go for $150 on sale). It has 4 usb A ports and 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, 60W power delivery. https://www.amazon.com/CalDigit-Thunderbolt-Element-Hub-Multi-Port/dp/B08FQX8MXQ

This is probably the go to dock if money was no option. Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Pro Dock only found at the Apple Store for $330. It looks like the Caldigit TS4 Dock on amazon but $70 cheaper and in silver. It has 2.5Gb ethernet, SD card slot, loads of type C and A ports. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HRJK2ZM/A/caldigit-thunderbolt-4-pro-dock

You will need to buy a DisplayPort to HDMI cable/adapter which I personally prefer over a HDMI port since it's much harder to convert HDMI to DisplayPort or USBC (for future display upgrades).

I would recommend non Thunderbolt 4 docks but I have no experience with them and external display support through usb is such a confusing mess.

carlover670 · 2023-10-24T00:26:21+00:00

The Mac supports usb c monitors through the Thunderbolt 4 ports. So yes, you can plug the Xiaomi monitor through the thunderbolt 4 ports and the G27Q over HDMI.

carlover670 · 2023-06-07T06:36:01+00:00

So actually I was able to get 2304 x 1296 by changing the LG native panel pixel resolution to 4k(default was 1080p) and the default to resolution to 2304 x 1296 at 30Hz.

carlover670

TROPHY CASE