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The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

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31–40 of 213 posts

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#31
post #5

Which CPU did he use? And why is there a Macbook on all drawings? How is it related to the actual silent PC?

I found this write up confusing also. At the end when he said, "Apple announced a fanless M1 which would have solved my problems", I was like, Wut? You problem was sharing peripherals between a pc and a laptop, right?

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#32
post #2

I just also started looking into Thunderbolt 3 docks after only getting 4k30hz. $400+ CAD is so much though! Im curious if anyone here has recommendations

If you don't already have the 4k monitors, just get one with a thunderbolt input/output. A slightly more expensive dell monitor with good thunderbolt/usb-c support basically replaced my $300 dock, and it only cost about $100 more than the cheaper 4K monitors. Mine takes thunderbolt input, provides one usb-c port, and 4 usb-3 ports. Daisy chaining is supported, but note that you can't run 2 4k@60hz monitors with perip…

I would definitely get a USB C screen if I didn't already have one!

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#33
post #19
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ryzen 5 2600 is the cpu listed on the original spec sheet. I don’t think it supports thunderbolt though.

The Thunderbolt in this case is coming from the chipset on the motherboard, not the CPU. He lists the motherboard as an X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 which supports 2nd gen Ryzen, and which has that support built in.

Does this explain the author’s surprise that apple’s fanless MacBooks can handle thunderbolt 3 without getting hot? If they’re doing it on cpu then I suppose that could bring about a lot of cpu i/o efficiency.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#34
post #7
post #2

I just also started looking into Thunderbolt 3 docks after only getting 4k30hz. $400+ CAD is so much though! Im curious if anyone here has recommendations

It depends on the configuration you're interested in, but there are some _relatively_ inexpensive ones from Monoprice [0]. I've tested this one with dual 4k monitors @ 60Hz, and USB 3. It works reliably, which is the most important aspect for me. No laptop charging and fixed TB cable however. [0] https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=31262

Note that this working will depend heavily on what usb-3 peripherals you're plugging in, and the exact resolution of your 4k monitors.

a display at 3840x2160@60hz will eat up about 19.8gbps. Two of them together will use 39.6gpbs.

Thunderbolt 3 only supports 40gbps. So if you have peripherals that need anything more than basic mouse/keyboard (in my case, a decent webcam and a usb to ethernet adapter) this setup will fail.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#35
post #11

Something I highly recommend avoiding (though it may look tempting) is the TB16 thunderbolt dock from dell. There is something really screwy with the USB controller in that device, the ETH is on the USB hub and corrupts Ethernet frames, under Linux you can force disable hardware offloaded CRC checksumming as a workaround, but still the USB devices that are directly connected can just stop functioning. It also has the…

I have the WD19TB and it is great. I've never had problems with it, though Dell updates its firmware frequently, so it seems they are still tuning it.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#36

Thunderbolt 3 really is amazing. Im using a OWC Thunderbolt Dock to connect my MacBook to: an eGPU thats driving a 5K monitor, a 1TB TB3 SSD, and 24/96 USB audio to my stereo. All over one cable. BTW if your using TB3 as your main connection to your laptop I highly recommend a magnetic TB3 adapter. This has been working great in my setup for over a year and makes docking/undocking a snap. https://www.amazon.com/Magne…

Is it possible to buy an PCIe to TB3 adapter cable and connect any modern graphics card to a laptop or mini atx board that has TB3?

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#37
post #11

Something I highly recommend avoiding (though it may look tempting) is the TB16 thunderbolt dock from dell. There is something really screwy with the USB controller in that device, the ETH is on the USB hub and corrupts Ethernet frames, under Linux you can force disable hardware offloaded CRC checksumming as a workaround, but still the USB devices that are directly connected can just stop functioning. It also has the…

I had tons of problems with my TB16 and one prior Dell dock but the WD19 has been working flawlessly all year. I have used it with my XPS 7550 and 7590 and had no problems. I also have had good experience using it with a MacBook Pro 15.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#38
post #11

Something I highly recommend avoiding (though it may look tempting) is the TB16 thunderbolt dock from dell. There is something really screwy with the USB controller in that device, the ETH is on the USB hub and corrupts Ethernet frames, under Linux you can force disable hardware offloaded CRC checksumming as a workaround, but still the USB devices that are directly connected can just stop functioning. It also has the…

I started with the TB16 but after finding all these things out I actually switched to the TB15 and had much more success with that.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#39
post #30

There's something I don't understand: does switching between laptop and pc with that hub require unplugging one usb c cable from the back of the hub and plugging the other one in? I'm very interested in a similar setup. So far I don't think I've figured out an elegant solution. My current solution is to have both devices plugged into the monitor, and use a usb hub to share the peripherals, manually moving the cable t…

I do something similar, but I got a $20 usb3.1 switch on Amazon and taped that to the back of my monitor. When I want to switch, I just change the input on the monitor and press the button behind it. It’s not the 1-click solution that I wanted, but it’s close enough and cheap. Switching USB ports is cheap, switching video signals isn’t.

You can buy cheap Displayport switches that work just like the usb one you have.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#40
post #24

All the docks seem like they are bad in their own way. Almost every one has a flaw. I can understand why Apple didn't bother making one.

I'm having good luck with the CalDigit TS3

if you are in clamshell mode, with display connected through the dock, will the display resume from sleep?

I have tried a number of TB3 docks (pretty much all except the caldigit), and they ALL have the problem (on MBP m1 at least) that the display will not wake when in clamshell mode. Display wakes fine when connected directly as USB-3 monitor.

Appreciate if you can test this and let me know :D

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