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One Mac Pro, One PC, Sharing Same Monitor?

A

AdiosVista

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 10, 2008
315
6
I tried searching mroogle for awhile but I could not find the answers I needed. I apologize if this is a repeat question.

My situation is I have a 2008 Mac Pro desktop, a PC gaming machine, and a 30" ACD. My goal is to hook both machines up the one monitor and then be able to switch from one computer to the other.

Yes, I have bootcamp, yes I have vmware, no I don't like running windows on my mac! Plus, the PC is for gaming, like I said, and my mac is work only. I really don't feel like shelling out $350 for a decent mac video card when I can buy the same one for under $100 on the PC.

My question is can this be possible? My first thought is the ACD has too few input options. That being said, does anyone know if this would be much easier with a Dell 30"? I'm not opposed to selling the ACD and buying a Dell monitor.

Any info is much appreciated.
 
Very interesting, that looks like the solution. Mind explaining a little more? Is the quality ok? Will I have any issues using this method with the ACD or do I need to switch to Dell monitor? Thanks.
 
AdiosVista said:
Very interesting, that looks like the solution. Mind explaining a little more? Is the quality ok? Will I have any issues using this method with the ACD or do I need to switch to Dell monitor? Thanks.
Click to expand...

You would have to get a KVM switch that supports Dual-Link DVI. There are many cheap KVM switches out there that just have bog standard DVI connectors which won't work with the 30" ACD.

As far as I know, you won't lose any quality by using a KVM switch because all it does it gives you 2 inputs for 1 output. I used a KVM on a 23" ACD and hooked up a Macbook and a PC some time ago and it worked great.

The Dell would be easier as they have a button to switch between inputs, but it really depends if you wanna sell that ACD.
 
Also consider if you want to share audio/mic and usb devices.

I'm guessing the answer is yes. I have the Iogear version and it works well.
 
If you don't feel like sharing the mouse/keyboard, speakers, etc, wouldn't a monitor with two DVI inputs, or one DVI and a DVI-HDMI adapter be fine?
 
Lol this is why you dont get the 30" ACD and get something like the HP LP3065 ;)

Anyway you need a Dual Link DVI switch. I think the Belkin Flip DVI-D is the cheapest at about $120.
 
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