7 ms·
From the performance PoV, PCIe/Thunderbolt dock is clearly better than USB-C, but there are also other factors: 1) Thunderbolt dock requires Thunderbolt port,
by zajio1am 5y ago
From the performance PoV, PCIe/Thunderbolt dock is clearly better than USB-C, but there are also other factors:
1) Thunderbolt dock requires Thunderbolt port, while USB-C dock works with just much more common USB-C + DP alternate mode port.
2) USB-C docks just work, while Thunderbolt docks often require magic steps to enable them (like changing options in BIOS).
3) USB-C is relatively secure, while PCIe is just a gaping security hole unless IOMMU is used and configured. I am not sure how common that is.
- hatware 5y agoThunderbolt also comes with licensing, those docks aren't cheap. IMO, 20% of folks using thunderbolt for the bandwidth actually need it, the other 80% are flexing. If you want to take advantage of those speeds, you also need to drop money on fast drives. It adds up quick.
- smachiz 5y agoNo, it doesn't. Intel stopped charging licensing fees a while back: https://bit-tech.net/news/tech/peripherals/intel-thunderbolt-3-licensing/1/ https://bit-tech.net/news/tech/peripherals/intel-thunderbolt... If you needed 4K/60Hz you need thunderbolt not USBC until recently. It is hardly flexing, they aren't that much more expensive - and provide significantly more bandwidth.
- hatware 5y agoI call it flexing specifically because most folks don't need that bandwidth. Thunderbolt docks are way, way overpriced if there's no licensing fees anymore.
- crest 5y agoModern UIs with all the bloated animations are painful to use with the 30Hz limit imposed on by most USB(-C) to HDMI or DisplayPort adapters. The USB-C alt modes except Thunderbolt just lack the raw bandwidth for 4K@60Hz.
- zajio1am 5y agoAFAIK for 4K/60Hz you can just use USB 3.2 with DP 1.4 alternate mode with 2 lanes for DP and 2 lanes for USB.
- smachiz 5y agoYes, in the newer spec, but it does only leave you with 10Gbps for everything else on your dock.
- hatware 5y ago_only_ 10Gbps
- smachiz 5y agoI mean... if you're doing some video editing at work using remote storage on a 10G NIC or have an external SSD plugged in, you're easily going to find yourself in a contention scenario that would just be solved by using Thunderbolt. A modern SSD will easily pump out 5GB/s reads/writes (40Gbps).
- kitsunesoba 5y agoOn the other hand, USB hubs/docks in my experience are much more likely to be flaky, presumably due to less adherence to specs, and this can be exacerbated by connecting the hub/dock with third party USB cables (which also often don’t adhere to the spec). Personally speaking I’ve had terrible luck with USB hubs ever since USB 3 appeared, long before any of the newer Type C higher capability stuff came about. Almost invariably USB 3 hubs are a pain in the the butt.