Dell U2724DE vs Gigabyte M32U-SA: Gigabyte’s 4K needs separate docking, while Dell combines laptop power and Ethernet

Check these before you buy

• Make sure the listing is the exact US Dell U2724DE or Gigabyte M32U-SA monitor, and check the supplied standard stand, condition, seller, cables and return terms. U2724D, M32UC and arm-equipped M32U packages are different purchases. This page claims no current price, stock, delivery or seller advantage.
• On the Dell, the Thunderbolt upstream marked 90W is the one that carries the laptop’s video, data and charging. The separate USB-C upstream carries data only. A desktop connected over HDMI needs an additional USB upstream cable, and HDMI must be assigned to USB-C in USB Selection. If you use DP, assign DP to the upstream plugged into that computer. The keyboard and mouse go into the monitor’s downstream USB ports. Plugging a host into a downstream socket will not give you laptop video or 90W charging.
• Dell’s Auto KVM procedure calls for PBP Off, Auto Select On, Auto Select for Thunderbolt set to Yes, and correct video and USB pairing. Thunderbolt video and data are paired on their own. The separately assigned USB Switch shortcut only works in PBP Mode. Keep it distinct from ordinary full-screen Auto KVM, and do not expect both modes to run at once.
• Using the Dell RJ45 port means plugging a separately purchased Ethernet cable into a suitable network and installing the correct Realtek USB GBE Ethernet Controller driver on the host. An upstream USB or Thunderbolt data connection is required. Verify operating-system support and the link that gets negotiated. Advanced wake, MAC pass-through and network-boot features depend on the host BIOS and operating system, so none of them is promised here.
• A compatible DisplayPort Alt Mode host can also use Dell’s Thunderbolt upstream, but that fallback has different bandwidth. In DP Alt mode, USB-C Prioritization offers High Resolution or High Data Speed, and High Resolution can drop USB data to 480 Mbps. In that setting, the RJ45 label does not mean full 2.5GbE throughput, and the highest video, USB and network figures cannot be assumed to run together.
• For M32U KVM, the desktop needs a DP or HDMI video cable and a separate USB-A-to-USB-B upstream cable. The other compatible host connects over USB-C carrying video and data. In KVM Wizard, bind the video input you intend to use to USB-B first and to Type-C second. Attach the keyboard and mouse to the monitor and leave KVM ON so its button works. By default HDMI 1 maps to USB-B and Type-C video maps to Type-C data. If you change the video input without fixing the mapping, you can end up with a picture but no control of that computer.
• A host that has no USB-C video can still be handled in the M32U KVM Wizard, which can map a separate HDMI or DP video input to USB-C data. Both cables are needed for that. Once USB-B Display is set to Type-C, the separate TYPE-C Display selection is disabled, so do not count on two independent Type-C video hosts. When the selected source has no input signal, the documented behavior is to switch back to the previous connected input.
• Look up the M32U’s supported timing for the input you will really use. In the manual, both the HDMI and DP columns list 3840 by 2160 at 144Hz, with DP specified as version 1.4 with DSC. For HDMI 4K144 at full 4:4:4 chroma, Display Stream Compression is required, and without it 4:2:0 reduces color sampling. The manufacturer specifies PS5 and Xbox Series X 4K120 at 4:2:0. Confirm the GPU or console output, the cable, the monitor’s HDMI setting and the selected resolution, refresh rate and chroma. These supported signals are not measured frame rates or latency.
• There is no USB-C column in the M32U timing table. Its Type-C Compatibility option supports devices without DSC, but the manual does not use that setting to establish USB-C 4K144 across the board. Check your exact laptop’s video output on its own. A socket shaped like USB-C can be data-only on the computer, and on the Dell monitor too.
• Each display has to be plugged into mains power. Dell’s Thunderbolt upstream profiles are 20V/4.5A, 15V/3A, 9V/3A and 5V/3A, reaching 90W. The M32U lists 5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A and 15V/1A, tops out at 18W, and recommends another supply for anything above 18W. Compare what the laptop needs to operate and to charge, and do not go by the connector alone. For the Dell to charge while the display is off, its 90W charging setting must be enabled. The M32U’s Standby Charge setting changes standby charging behavior but does not establish a 90W supply.
• Plan around the Dell’s 612.24 mm width and 192.28 mm stand depth, or the M32U’s 715.3 mm width and 244.3 mm stand depth, and leave space to reach the cables. Think about app scaling and how far away you will sit. With a matching signal and a full-screen viewer, a native 4K panel can show a complete 3840 by 2160 still one-to-one, though toolbars and app zoom can shrink the image area available. None of this is a measured color or text-comfort advantage.
• Go through the whole cable bundle. Dell lists DP, Thunderbolt 4 and USB-A-to-C cables, and the Ethernet cable is a separate item. The M32U package list covers HDMI, DP and USB-A-to-B cables. A USB-C cable shows up in its connection diagram but not in that package checklist. Check the offer you are choosing, rather than assuming it includes every cable for two computers, a laptop charger or a network accessory.