Totally silent PC? Just use HDMI and/or DVI KVM Extenders?
Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:52 pm
My first post!....and surprise surprise it's a question!
So I've built about 10 or so PC's in my time but only recently (due to a desire to build a PC for audio recording as a DAW) have I become interested in the powerful AND silent types. Boy, does that throw a monkey wrench in everything.
Right now I have 4 computers that I use in the house, and they're all networked together. At the center, I run a server (Windows Home Server ver. 2003) that basically functions as a media server but it also automatically backs up all my other computers. It's got all my movies, tv shows, music, files etc. on four 2TB drives. I've got a small ATOM-based HTPC (Acer Revo with Nvida ION chipset) by the big 65" plasma tv (hdmi out) that streams everything (gigabit ethernet) from the server...1080p no problems. Then I've got a laptop and an office PC as well. Now what's awesome about the tiny htpc is that it's functionally silent and can do one-thing-at-a-time no problem, streams 1080p content to the big 65" plasma or browse the internet, etc. In fact, I've been sort of spoiled in that my "muscles" (the server and/or the office PC) are upstairs in a different rooms...and I can use my silent little Revo HTPC to remote desktop into either of them to process files or do something that the tiny, silent little htpc would complain about. It's a pretty sweet setup, and it got me thinking. Since I am soon going to build a POWERHOUSE computer for audio work...something that would only approach "silent" if watercooling, a royal pain in the butt, was used....the only way to keep something like that silent would be to....you guessed it....put the damn thing in another room. Now obviously I can't be remote-desktoping into it for latency reasons, but it did make me wonder how far along HDMI or DVI KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) extender technology has gotten...and how expensive it is. I mean, once the technology is fast enough and cheap enough, you wouldn't really need to worry about "silent" computers in many settings (like a networked house) as you could just stick it somewhere else and use the extender console where ever you were originally going to place the computer.
So after a little searching I found a higher-end HDMI KVM extender console pair here:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/ext-hdkvm-lan. ... d_id=10594
It does usb 2.0 and hdmi at 1080p over Cat5 for a grand. Now, yes, that is expensive, but worth it to me if it does what it says it will do.
Here's another extender, this on a Dual-Link DVI KVM model that supports higher resolutions:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/ext-2dvi-dlkvm ... d_id=10257
As you can see, this one is two grand...no thanks...but good to know that it's available.
So finally, my questions:
Have any of you had experience with these types of products, even these specific gefen products?
If so, did you notice any latency issues or problems with 1080p video quality or any other issues?
If I'm gonna drop 4k into my audio computer, I would gladly spend another grand to make it "completely silent" but putting it in another room and using an HDMI or DVI-based KVM extender. All I'd be after is 1080p resolutions at this point, and I'd also need a firewire extender (which they also have) for my external audio interface. Then I'd be able to air-cool my powerhouse audio computer, stick it in another room, and access it all in complete and beautiful silence...right? RIGHT?!?
Tell me why I'm wrong and ruin my weekend. Go ahead.
(thanks for reading )
So I've built about 10 or so PC's in my time but only recently (due to a desire to build a PC for audio recording as a DAW) have I become interested in the powerful AND silent types. Boy, does that throw a monkey wrench in everything.
Right now I have 4 computers that I use in the house, and they're all networked together. At the center, I run a server (Windows Home Server ver. 2003) that basically functions as a media server but it also automatically backs up all my other computers. It's got all my movies, tv shows, music, files etc. on four 2TB drives. I've got a small ATOM-based HTPC (Acer Revo with Nvida ION chipset) by the big 65" plasma tv (hdmi out) that streams everything (gigabit ethernet) from the server...1080p no problems. Then I've got a laptop and an office PC as well. Now what's awesome about the tiny htpc is that it's functionally silent and can do one-thing-at-a-time no problem, streams 1080p content to the big 65" plasma or browse the internet, etc. In fact, I've been sort of spoiled in that my "muscles" (the server and/or the office PC) are upstairs in a different rooms...and I can use my silent little Revo HTPC to remote desktop into either of them to process files or do something that the tiny, silent little htpc would complain about. It's a pretty sweet setup, and it got me thinking. Since I am soon going to build a POWERHOUSE computer for audio work...something that would only approach "silent" if watercooling, a royal pain in the butt, was used....the only way to keep something like that silent would be to....you guessed it....put the damn thing in another room. Now obviously I can't be remote-desktoping into it for latency reasons, but it did make me wonder how far along HDMI or DVI KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) extender technology has gotten...and how expensive it is. I mean, once the technology is fast enough and cheap enough, you wouldn't really need to worry about "silent" computers in many settings (like a networked house) as you could just stick it somewhere else and use the extender console where ever you were originally going to place the computer.
So after a little searching I found a higher-end HDMI KVM extender console pair here:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/ext-hdkvm-lan. ... d_id=10594
It does usb 2.0 and hdmi at 1080p over Cat5 for a grand. Now, yes, that is expensive, but worth it to me if it does what it says it will do.
Here's another extender, this on a Dual-Link DVI KVM model that supports higher resolutions:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/ext-2dvi-dlkvm ... d_id=10257
As you can see, this one is two grand...no thanks...but good to know that it's available.
So finally, my questions:
Have any of you had experience with these types of products, even these specific gefen products?
If so, did you notice any latency issues or problems with 1080p video quality or any other issues?
If I'm gonna drop 4k into my audio computer, I would gladly spend another grand to make it "completely silent" but putting it in another room and using an HDMI or DVI-based KVM extender. All I'd be after is 1080p resolutions at this point, and I'd also need a firewire extender (which they also have) for my external audio interface. Then I'd be able to air-cool my powerhouse audio computer, stick it in another room, and access it all in complete and beautiful silence...right? RIGHT?!?
Tell me why I'm wrong and ruin my weekend. Go ahead.
(thanks for reading )