KVM switches, question...

[e_storm]

I'm looking at getting a KVM switch and I have it narrowed down to an IOgear switch. My main question is whether to get the PS/2 or USB one...

I have a USB mouse and PS/2 keyboard. I like the responsiveness of the USB mouse when gaming and don't want to lose that. If I put the adapter on it and make it a PS/2 mouse, will the performance decrease enough to notice?

also, has anyone had experiences with IOgear KVM switches? good or bad? I just wanna make sure they're not buggy or start acting weird after a while...

*edit*... heres the one I'm looking at...its the Miniview SE 4 port - GCS84A
http://www.iogear.com/products/productselect.php?CATEGORY=IOGEAR_KVM

[dugans]

One thing to think about: if you do any serious OCing usb may get twitchy- it doesn't always do well at high fsb.

My MSI board has no trouble with usb at 150 FSB, but my Abit doesn't like it at all.

Don't know about the performance issues really, but I would think the mouse itself would matter more than which bus its on.

[e_storm]

My main rig is not overclocked, so that isn't an issue. I do have one that is OC'd, but only to 133mhz. I'm not hard core in that area, I like to have it fast, but not at the expense of having it sound like a tornado whipping through my room.

As for the performance, I'm not really sure either and I may not even notice going from USB to PS/2. I do play first person shooters and move the mouse pretty quick, so as long as the mouse can keep up, I have no problems with either one.

How about the KVM switch though? Anyone out there have an IOGEAR or know someone who did?

[Kingslayer]

Get a KVM that supports USB. I have used nothing but USB mice and keyboards and the KVM switch I have doesn't support USB. Luckily I still have the adapter for my mouse, but I dont for my keyboard, so I'm stuck using two keyboards.

You may or may not notice the difference in taking your mouse from USB to PCI. I for one did. Although it wasn't as fast moving around, it was alot more stable in photoshop, where when it was running USB, the pointer on the screen used to vibrate the tiniest bit in photoshop and it was enough to be a pain.

Also keep in mind that for most mice and especially keyboards, if you dont have the USB to PS2 adapter that came with it, chances are, any old adapter isn't going to work. They have become quite proprietary.

[e_storm]

I thought the matter through a bit more and I might end up having to go with the PS/2 KVM switch. I only have 1 usb device (mouse) and not all my computers have USB capability (some are pretty old). So instead of having to buy all kinds of adapters for everything, I'll just get a PS/2 adapter for the USB mouse and have everything I need.

You were right by the way, I called a few places and adapters were kinda expensive.