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901
March 2nd, 2023 11:00
XPS 9560 - which TB dock will actually work for 4k 60hz over HDMI
Hello - I have an older XPS from 2017 model 9560. I have read most of the posts on here about the lack of hdmi 2.0, and how you can achieve 4k @ 60hz over a usb-c to display port cable but none of them quite solve my issue.
I am hoping to find a dock that I can use that will provide me at a minimum - an ethernet port, and a 4k60hz hdmi port. HDMI is important because I have no DP on a projector that I would like to use. I don't need PD as I don't mind having to still plug my laptop in directly.
I purchased one online that I thought would work, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095821QGP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
but it does not give me more than 30hz. I suspect the problem might be that this claims to be "Thunderbolt Compatible" which means it doesn't actually use thunderbolt. On the otherhand this whole thunderbolt/usb-c thing is so confusing compounded with the fact that the 9560 only uses 2 lanes of PCI-e that I'm not sure this model supports 4k@60hz + ethernet at all.
Is there anyone that can definitely answer the question as to why I can't get 4k@60hz over HDMI through the thunderbolt port and will something like a TB16 provide that through its HDMI port ( or will TB16 only provide 60hz over the display port)?
jphughan
9 Legend
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14K Posts
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March 2nd, 2023 12:00
@dna113p Short version: If you want 4K 60 Hz without an actual Thunderbolt peripheral, you can't use an adapter that does anything other than providing a video output off that USB-C port. So you can either achieve your other desired connectivity through a USB-A port, or get an actual Thunderbolt device (not "Thunderbolt-compatible") that can leverage enough bandwidth to run 4K 60 Hz (or actually dual 4K 60 Hz) and still have enough for USB 3.x and related traffic such as Ethernet.
If you want to understand why, see this explainer post I wrote long ago because this topic was coming up often even back then, and it still does years later.
jphughan
9 Legend
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14K Posts
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March 2nd, 2023 12:00
@dna113p I will amend the above to say that it applies to the XPS 15 9560 since it only supports DP 1.2 over USB-C. The first XPS 15 model to support DP 1.4, which would allow simultaneous 4K 60 Hz and USB 3.x, was the XPS 15 9510, which is 4 generations newer.
Technically your system can achieve simultaneous 4K 60 Hz and USB 2.0, but that would of course bottleneck Ethernet and USB 3.x peripherals, and even if you were ok with that, finding an adapter that deliberately limited itself to USB 2.0 to allow 4K 60 Hz from older systems would probably be tricky.
dna113p
2 Posts
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March 2nd, 2023 12:00
Ultimately the confusion for me had come from the "Thunderbolt Compatible" marketing on some of these products that are actually just a USB device, how frustrating. Thank you for sharing that explanation post and it makes a lot more sense now.
Even if you search for "Thunderbolt certified" on amazon you will get a whole lot of "Thunderbolt Compatible" devices
jphughan
9 Legend
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14K Posts
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March 2nd, 2023 13:00
@dna113p Something like this would work.
P_Gizzle
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3 Posts
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November 9th, 2023 14:47
The Startech dual Display Port thunderbolt 3 adaptor works on an XPS 9560 - gives two external displays 4k @60fps, note that this still works at 60fps when using Amazon Displayport to HDMI cables.
https://amzn.eu/d/ddvOuvh
StarTech.com Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort Adapter DP 1.4 - Dual 4K 60Hz or Single 8K/5K Thunderbolt 3 to DP Adapter - TB3 to 2x DisplayPort Monitor Video Display Adapter - Mac/Windows (TB32DP14)
(edited)