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Thunderbolt 3 40gbps Data Transfer Rate

Summary: This article gives information about Thunderbolt 3 USB-C transfer rates on Dell systems.

This article may have been automatically translated. If you have any feedback regarding its quality, please let us know using the form at the bottom of this page.

Article Content


Symptoms

Customers using Dell systems with a Thunderbolt 3 port may report they are unable to achieve data transfer rates up to the maximum 40gbps. Some customers may report that the data transfer speeds vary depending on the system they are testing on.

Customers may also report that the system only has 2 lanes of data and not the expected 4 lanes. See the chart below on which systems were designed with 2 lanes and which were designed with 4 lanes.

Note: Any system that is not listed in the article should be 4 lanes as Intel has standardized to 4 lanes.
 
Platform Lanes of PCIe capable using Thunderbolt 3 port
Dell Precision 3510 * 4 lanes
Dell Precision 3520 * 4 lanes
Dell Precision 5510 2 lanes
Dell Precision 5520 2 lanes
Dell Precision 7510 4 lanes
Dell Precision 7520 4 lanes
Dell Precision 7710 4 lanes
Dell Precision 7720 4 lanes
XPS 12 2-n-1 2 lanes
XPS 13 9365 2-n-1 4 lanes
XPS 13 9350 2 lanes
XPS 13 9360 2 lanes
XPS 13 9370 4 lanes
XPS 15 9550 2 lanes
XPS 15 9560 2 lanes
Latitude 7275 4 lanes
Latitude 7285 4 lanes
Latitude 5570 * 4 lanes
Latitude 7370 4 lanes
Latitude 7280 4 lanes
Latitude 7480 4 lanes
Latitude 5480 4 lanes
Latitude 5580 4 lanes
Alienware 13 R2 2 lanes
Alienware 15 R2 4 lanes
Alienware 17 R3 4 lanes
Alienware 13 R3 4 lanes
Alienware 15 R3 4 lanes
Alienware 17 R4 4 lanes
Inspiron 7577 4 lanes

* Only select configurations have Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Cause

No cause information is available.

Resolution

Thunderbolt 3 ports can be configured with 2 or 4 PCIe lane designs. Alpine Ridge uses separate inputs for Display Port 1.2 data (DP stream is not part of PCIe traffic).

Thunderbolt 3 bandwidth is shared bandwidth which means all connected devices use the bandwidth for all protocols that transfer through the same Thunderbolt 3 cable (DisplayPort over USB-C traffic and PCIe traffic such as USB, Ethernet, and Audio). Below is a chart that can help explain how different items can use the 40gbps total bandwidth. The Dell Thunderbolt TB16 dock can use up to the full 40 Gbps of bandwidth depending on what devices are attached to the TBT dock.

Port Version Throughput Output
HDMI 1.4 10.2 Gbps Up to 4K2K @ 30 Hz true color
Mini Display Port 1.2 Up to 16 Gbps per lane Up to 4K2K @ 60 Hz
Full-Size Display Port 1.2 Up to 16 Gbps per lane Up to 4K2K @ 60 Hz
VGA      
RJ45 IEEE 802.3   10/100/1000 Mb/s
USB (2) 2.0 Type A 480 Mbps 5 V @ 500 mA, 2A Peak
USB (2) 3.0 Type A 5 Gbps 5 V @ 900 mA, 2A Peak
USB w/Powershare (1) 3.0 Type A 5 Gbps 5 V @ 2A Power Share
USB Type-C Thunderbolt™ Gen 3 Up to 40 Gbps Up to 60 W*

For more information go to: Thunderbolt 3 Tech Brief This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.

Note: Systems with the 2 lane design will only support up to 20gbps data transfers over PCIe devices such as external hard drives or PCIe video cards. Systems with 4 lane design will support up to 40gbps of data transfer over PCIe depending on the device in use.

Article Properties


Affected Product
Alienware 13 R3, Alienware 13 R2, Alienware 15 R3, Alienware 15 R2, Alienware 17 R4, Alienware 17 R3, Latitude 7280, Latitude 7370, Latitude 5480/5488, Latitude 7480, Latitude 5580, Latitude 7275, Latitude E5570, Precision 3520, Precision 5520 , Precision 3510, Precision 5510, Precision 7510, Precision 7710, XPS 12 9250, XPS 13 9350, XPS 13 9360, XPS 13 9365 2-in-1, XPS 15 9550, XPS 15 9560 ...
Last Published Date

31 Oct 2023

Version

4

Article Type

Solution