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April 3rd, 2020 03:00

Part number for WD19 dock TB module

I have two Dell laptops, one with USB-C and the other with Thunderbolt and I have a WD19 dock.

Rather than have to buy another TB dock it would be nice to just swap out the USB-C module for the TB one, but I don't know which part number to order

9 Legend

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14K Posts

April 3rd, 2020 10:00

@pwhatcher  yes it is a change, and it was enabled by the new Intel Titan Ridge Thunderbolt chipset that supports backwards compatibility with regular USB-C devices, at reduced functionality.  The previous Alpine Ridge chipset did not support this.

Also, I hope you meant to say your old TB16 rather than TB15.  All TB15 docks were recalled by Dell a long time ago after a huge number of problems and were replaced free of charge with TB16s.

In any case, 2560x1440 is QHD resolution, so what I said above applies, i.e. if you get a WD19TB, then a Thunderbolt system would be able to drive both at full resolution, but you'd only be able to do that from a USB-C system if it supported DisplayPort HBR3 over USB-C.  The vast majority of systems right now, including many being sold right now, still only support DisplayPort HBR2 over USB-C.  But if you have an HBR3 system, the WD19 family support using HBR3.

There is another option for running dual QHD 60 Hz from an HBR2 USB-C system, which would be to use a pure video link on the USB-C connector rather than setting up the link to run video and USB 3.x as a docking station would.  That would provide enough video bandwidth to run that, but then of course you lose the ability to run a docking station.  But there are some options here: if your displays support daisy-chaining, you can use a USB-C to DisplayPort cable/adapter to connect to the first display, then connect the first display to the second, and you've got dual QHD from a USB-C HBR2 system.  There are even some USB-C to DisplayPort cables/adapters that have a USB-C power input so you could at least get video and charging through USB-C.  If your displays don't support daisy chaining, there are USB-C DisplayPort MST hubs that you could use, but I don't know of any of those that would pass through power, so you'd then need separate connections for both power and USB 3.x data.

9 Legend

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14K Posts

April 3rd, 2020 07:00

You might have to call Dell Spare Parts about this.  I remember seeing the advertising about swappable modules, but I think that was geared more toward organizations that have dozens or hundreds of these rather than as an upgrade path for end users, so the module might not be advertised as a typical product.  However, be aware of a few things even if you can find it:

- The WD19TB is only sold with a 180W power supply, whereas the WD19 is sold with a 130W or 180W power supply.  So if you have the 130W version, I'm not sure the dock would function properly if you installed a WD19TB module.

- The WD19TB module is backward compatible with regular USB-C systems, so you could just permanently attach the WD19TB module and your USB-C system would still function with it.  However, when the module operates that way, it behaves equivalently to the regular WD19.

- If you're considering the Thunderbolt module because you're implementing a setup that will actually require Thunderbolt, then in most cases that won’t work so well for the regular USB-C system you're trying to use.  For example, if you'll be connecting dual 4K 60 Hz displays, then your Thunderbolt system will be fine with that, but a USB-C system wouldn’t be able to run that. You'd have to give up on some combination of resolution, refresh rate, and/or quantity of active displays when using that system.  The exact fallback possibilities would depend on whether the USB-C system supports DisplayPort HBR2 or HBR3 over USB-C.  The only use cases I can see where this issue wouldn't come into play would be if you a) want the Thunderbolt module in order to attach another Thunderbolt 3 peripheral to its "upstream" port and you only care about using that peripheral with your Thunderbolt system, or b) if your Thunderbolt system only supports DisplayPort HBR2 while your USB-C system supports DisplayPort HBR3, in which case moving to a Thunderbolt module would allow both of them to run certain setups, such dual QHD 60 Hz displays, for example.  An HBR2 system would need a Thunderbolt dock for that, while an HBR3 system could run that over a regular USB-C dock.

7 Posts

April 3rd, 2020 08:00

That's a change regarding the TB module being backwards compatible as if I plug the Latitude into my old TB15 dock then it says its not compatible.

The two screens are 2560x1440 so with USB-C I can only drive one at full resolution.

So the best bet might be to return the WD19 for a WD19TB?

7 Posts

April 3rd, 2020 11:00

Yes, you're right it's a TB16.

The monitors (U2715s) do support daisy chaining - I've got it set up that way so I can switch from the desktop to the laptop just by changing the signal source.

I like your idea of the USB-C to DisplayPort adapter to drive from the laptop(s), but it costs me the external keyboard/mouse and ethernet which are plugged into the docking station; I can't plug them into the monitor as it's USB is attached to the desktop.

Supposed to be getting a new work laptop soon, so hopefully it will be HBR3 and with the WD19TB I can run all three machines at full resolution - in the mean time I can cope with one screen QHD and the other HD

9 Legend

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14K Posts

April 3rd, 2020 12:00

@pwhatcher  interesting, I thought I remembered reading a note in the TB16's documentation indicating that its DisplayPort and Mini-DisplayPort outputs don't support DisplayPort MST (daisy chaining), so I'm surprised that setup is working for you, but my memory may be incorrect, or it wouldn't be the first time that documentation hasn't aligned with real world usage.

If you're already using the display's built-in USB hub with a third system, then I agree you'd be a bit stuck here.  The only way to have it all would be to add a KVM into the mix, but a triple source KVM that supported dual QHD displays is fairly expensive, in fact even a dual source KVM would be, and of course it's one more box to stash somewhere and a bunch more cables to deal with.  A friend of mine does have a setup like that though and loves it.  He's got a dock for his laptop plus a desktop system, both wired into the KVM, and then the USB peripherals like his keyboard and mouse that should be "switchable" between systems are plugged into the KVM, while the USB peripherals that should always be attached to a particular system are connected to the laptop dock or desktop PC.

9 Legend

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14K Posts

April 3rd, 2020 12:00

@pwhatcher  one more thing: In terms of getting an HBR3 system, there are pretty much only two categories of systems that support DisplayPort HBR3 over USB-C right now:

  • Systems with Intel "Ice Lake" CPUs, which are the Core 10th Gen CPUs that end with a "G" followed by a number.  They incorporate a newer "Gen 11" GPU that added HBR3 support.  The Core 10th Gen CPUs that end with a U or H are using an older architecture that still uses an older GPU that only supports DisplayPort HBR2. Intel somehow found a way to make their processor naming scheme even more confusing, and that is really saying something.  (And this by the way is why most systems even being sold today still only support HBR2.)
  • Systems that have discrete GPUs that have direct control of the display outputs. These are fairly rare even among systems that have discrete GPUs, and when it comes specifically to Dell systems, to the best of my knowledge the USB-C/TB3 output is always controlled by the Intel GPU, even if the system might have one or more other display outputs that are directly controlled by the discrete GPU (such as certain gaming systems).  The only exception to this is Dell's Precision 7000 Series models from the 7x20 onward, which offer a BIOS option allowing you to choose which GPU controls the display outputs. They're able to do that because they use a more complex and expensive motherboard design.  But they also come with Thunderbolt 3 anyway.

Or if your employer gets you a system that supports Thunderbolt 3, you'd be good to go even if it was an HBR2 system.

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