Two MacBooks + gaming PC, 2-3 4K144 monitors. Can this be done with one KVM?

Hardware Hub Other Hardware
,
1

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to put together a setup with two MacBooks (work and personal) and a gaming PC with an RTX 4070 SUPER. I’ve been going in circles looking at KVMs and docks, so I’d appreciate some advice from people who’ve actually built something similar.

I’d like three independent 4K144 monitors, though I’d settle for two if it makes the setup much simpler. Each Mac should connect with one Thunderbolt cable for video, USB and charging. Separate video cables and USB from the PC are fine.

I want HDR and VRR/G-SYNC to keep working for gaming, ideally together at the target refresh rate, with 10-bit colour and full RGB/4:4:4. I also watch movies, so HDCP support matters. On the Macs, I need native extended displays without DisplayLink or MST. DSC is fine.

One of my current Macs is an M1 Pro. I know it only supports two external displays. The three-monitor goal is for after I upgrade.

There’s also a switching feature I care about: if I’m on a work call, I want to leave my USB headset and webcam connected to the work Mac while switching the keyboard and mouse to my personal Mac or PC. Showing different computers on different monitors would be useful too.

So far, the plan is:

  • TESmart DKS403-M24

  • Two CalDigit Element 5 Hubs, one per Mac

  • USB-C-to-DisplayPort cables and USB from each hub to the KVM

  • PC connected directly to the KVM

The Element 5 hubs appeal to me because they’re compact and have the ports I need. But that still leaves me with three boxes, three power supplies and a bunch of cables. I haven’t bought anything yet, and I don’t know whether this whole chain will work reliably with the features above.

What I’d really like is something like the TESmart HDC403-P23-USBK-N, but with Thunderbolt docking for both Macs and support for 2-3 independent 4K144 displays. Basically, the KVM and both hubs in one box.

Does anything like that exist? Or are there any concrete announcements worth waiting for?

If separate hubs are the way to go, has anyone used this combination or found a simpler one? I’m willing to pay more for something that works well, but I’ll have to import everything without testing it first. I’d really like to hear what works in practice and what compromises I should expect.

2

the problem is bandwidth. you can kinda cheat with displaylink and your display will show “144hz” but its not 144hz.

I have been looking at building such a thing for an age, and you can kinda get there with our multi-display usbc KVMs but the problem is you still need multiple connections from the mac. You can do 2x 4k144 + 1 other display thats lower res with the usb ports.. but you need to plug in at least 3 cables to the mac.

You want a “dedicated” connection for that display in any scenario then

3

Thanks! Three cables per Mac would be too much for me. I could live with two on the same side, but I’d still prefer one.

On the gaming PC side, I was planning to run a separate DisplayPort cable from the 4070 SUPER to the KVM for each monitor. When you say “dedicated connection” for HDR and G-SYNC, does that include going through the KVM, or do you mean connecting the gaming monitor straight to the GPU? I’d like to keep that monitor switchable between all three computers.

For the Macs, I’m planning around an M5 Pro upgrade. I know the current M1 Pro has its own limits. If I settle for two 4K144 monitors, the plan would be one Thunderbolt 5 cable from each Mac to its own Element 5 hub, then two USB-C-to-DisplayPort cables and a USB connection from each hub to the KVM. DSC is fine.

Does your bandwidth concern also apply to that TB5 setup, or would you expect it to work? The PC would use the separate DisplayPort connections described above.

I can live with keeping the two hubs if that’s the practical option. I’ll have to import everything, so I’m trying to pin down the limitations before buying.

4

thunderbolt 5 is only 80/80 and in practice two connections for 4k/144 is going to make a lot more sense and be more stable than one. It’s maybe reachable from 120/80 but all the current TB5 chipsets out there kinda suck. Keychron has an amazing TB5 hub but even it can’t support dual HDMI 2.1 ouputs because Mac Things ™. Like most specs, its misleading, at best and misrepresenting reality at worst.

thunderbolt, as a switching technology, is trash. maybe in thunderbolt 6 they’ll consider this use case.

a keychron TB5 dock with dual USBc to DP cables into a DP kvm would give you dual 4k/120 with DSC and reduced bit-depth color, and charging, on one cable but more realistically probably “real world” 4k/120 + 4k/60

2 Likes