The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC • Hacker News Board

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#101

Post by mastax » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 4:51 PM UTC

The tall thin heatsink at the edge of the motherboard is cooling part of the VRM. The VRM or Voltage Regulator Module is responsible for converting the 12V input down to 1.3V or so for the CPU. Under that heatsink there are 2 of the 8 phases for CPU Vcore and 2 phases for Vsoc. It would be pretty safe to remove that heatsink, even in a passive case because:

- Vsoc draws very little power, especially with no iGPU.

- The VRM is designed to survive providing 200A to a 16 core 3950X, 50A to a 2600 is very easy by comparison. Maybe 6W of heat split among the 8 phases so - The MOSFETs will happily run all day at up to 125C.

- The MOSFETs are smart power stages which communicate their temperature to the controller, and have many built-in protections, so there's extremely little risk of damage. The controller probably shares load amongst the phases based on temperature but I can't find a datasheet to confirm.

Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXwjwxb39EA

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#102

Post by seanalltogether » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

Anyone have any experience with the level1 displayport switches? I've been keeping my eye on the new dp 1.4 switch that is eventually going to be released. https://store.level1techs.com/products/kvm-switch-2-port-dua...

4K 120hz seems about as forward compatible as I'll need for a decade at least.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#103

Post by TheRealDunkirk » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

supermatt wrote: post #40

geertj wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Before the upgrade to 11, wake was FLAWLESS. Since the upgrade, every 4th or 5th time or so, I find I need to cycle power on the monitor, and then the MBP finds it and comes alive.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#104

Post by supermatt » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

selectodude wrote: post #97

supermatt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I have my 2016 15" hooked up to a 4K monitor via Displayport without any issues. Been using this dock + display for a couple years now.

Are you in clamshell mode, or do you use the macbook as an additional display? My problems seemed to be specific to clamshell.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#105

Post by shadykiller » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

My LG Ultrawide 5k2k monitor has TB3 and two USB3.0 ports hub on the back. I can change source for the hub from TB3 to USB B input in the back. TB3 goes to my mac. My linux workstation is connected to the displayport and usb b.

To switch between machines, I just change display and usb hub source. I do this from monitor menu right now, but should be scriptable with dpcc , I recently discovered.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#106

Post by supermatt » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

mnutt wrote: post #60

supermatt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Using the Caldigit TB3 with a 2019 16" MBP in clamshell mode with two 4k LG monitors through the dock, I've found it pretty tedious trying to wake the monitors from sleep. Sometimes it'll take 30-45s of the monitors going in and out of power saving mode before it actually wakes up. This does seem to be the MBP's fault, because I can temporarily fix it by resetting the NVRAM. Other than that, overall I've had a really…

Thanks - I think ill pick one up and see how it fares.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#107

Post by supermatt » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #103

supermatt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Before the upgrade to 11, wake was FLAWLESS. Since the upgrade, every 4th or 5th time or so, I find I need to cycle power on the monitor, and then the MBP finds it and comes alive.

Interesting - so it seems a big sur issue? Its my first dive into docks with the m1, and its REALLY frustrating trying to find one that works in clamshell.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#108

Post by wan23 » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 5:03 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #96

yboris wrote: post #80

Another way to "silence" a PC is to put it in another room. Mine is across the wall - with just the HDMI and USB cables coming through a small wall hole (PVC pipe to make the edges smooth). I highly recommend it.

Modern cables (if you buy high quality ones) support incredible lengths - this is relatively easy to do in many situations.

Except, of course, for Thunderbolt 3, where to get even reasonable lengths you have to pay $$$.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/27/21339861/apple-thunderbol...

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#109

Post by js2 » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

gehwartzen wrote: post #64

benfrain wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazing, like MagSafe again. I'm thinking that may be the way forward to avoid a KVM. With TB — can you literally just unplug from one Laptop/PC and connect to another and everything is back up and running on the 2nd computer?

Yep! As long as each PC is setup with all the necessary drivers and such its all plug and play. No issues with just ripping the cable out of my MacBook without "undocking" anything. It just reverts to the internal display without issues. I kind of wish there were manual/dumb TB3 switches for this sort of thing but I have not seen any.

You're not ejecting the external SSD before disconnecting?

I have a TB2 dock which I connect to using Apple's TB3 to TB2 adapter. I keep my Time Machine backup drive connected to the dock (along with 4K monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers). If I don't eject the drive before disconnecting from the dock, macOS complains about disconnecting the drive without ejecting it first.

Re: The beautiful Silent ThunderBolt-3 PC

#110

Post by Technically » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 5:06 PM UTC

yboris wrote: post #80

Another way to "silence" a PC is to put it in another room. Mine is across the wall - with just the HDMI and USB cables coming through a small wall hole (PVC pipe to make the edges smooth). I highly recommend it.

Some cables—such as thunderbolt 3 itself—are length-limited, sadly.