XPS 13 9305 Connecting Dual Monitors via DisplayPort

I'm in the United States and order most frequently from Amazon.

Thank you! We have received the required details. We will work towards a resolution. In the meantime, you may also receive assistance or suggestions from the community members.

Hey @jphughan I've looked around the forums and seen you provide some great help on connecting monitors efficiently. Could you assist me here? Thank you!

Looked at more posts on this. The monitors each only have one displayport. No additional output, so no chance of daisy chain.

@BravoLimaSierra  A Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort or Dual HDMI adapter would work, but it would also be overkill for what you're trying to achieve. It's functionally similar to an MST hub, but since it taps into Thunderbolt, it can access more video bandwidth, enough to run dual 4K 60 Hz. An MST hub depending on the system and DisplayPort over USB-C standard it supports might only have enough bandwidth to run dual 1440p.  But you're only trying to run dual 1080p, and as it happens, with your system you'd be able to run dual 4K 60 Hz through a suitable USB-C MST hub like the one I linked.

Your proposal of allocating your ports to charging, a dual display adapter, and a hub would work, but unless you find a dual display adapter for appreciably less than the triple display MST hub I linked, then I figure you may as well take the third output (especially since you don't have built-in HDMI) and the power passthrough capability.  You never know when you might want to connect something else, like an actual Thunderbolt peripheral or something.

DisplayPort vs. HDMI won't make a difference in terms of image quality, but since USB-C/Thunderbolt use DisplayPort protocol natively and your displays have DisplayPort inputs, I'd go with DisplayPort cables to keep things simple.  USB-C to HDMI setups incorporate an active signal converter chip to switch the DisplayPort signal over to HDMI (that's not just a pin remap; it's an entirely different signal type), and I've seen issues with USB-C to HDMI scenarios.  They shouldn't exist, but not everything in the tech world works the way it should, so I prefer setups that achieve the desired end result with minimal complexity.  Good luck!

Thank you for the reply @jphughan ! 

I'll plug up the two displays the old fashioned way (via a power strip plugged into the wall).

I actually picked up these used displays almost for free but they didn't have any cables with them. I scrapped an old Dell power cable for one. Still need to buy another power cable for the other. I don't have any display cables for them yet so I am open to getting either displayport to HDMI if that makes more sense for the MST hub I buy or displayport to displayport, or displayport to Thunderbolt, displayport to USB-C - I am fine with anything. Whatever I can find is what I'll get I guess.

Do I need a MST hub or would a Thunderbolt 4 to Dual Displayport or dual HDMI adapter work and then I buy the appropriate cables to connect to the monitors?

I actually have three USB-C shaped ports on my XPS. Two are thunderbolt. I thought maybe charge in one. Put a dual display adapter in the second Thunderbolt to run my two monitors. And then a USB-A multiport hub/dongle that plugs into my USB-C on the other side of the machine to connect my keyboard, mouse, and maybe printer. What do you think?

Oh I see @jphughan . The charger the XPS comes with says 65 Watt on it. So I should be good then.

@BravoLimaSierra  Interesting, I just checked the Setup and Specifications document for that system and it does indeed come with a 65W adapter as standard. But that suggests to me that it’s set to EXPECT that. This really surprises me because all other XPS 13 models have come with 45W adapters, and the 9305 is essentially a hybrid model that has newer internals with modifications on an older chassis — but both of the models it’s based on also used 45W adapters. Very odd….

Makes total sense, @jphughan ! Only thing I don't understand is the power delivery on the hub you suggest. If I plug up my laptop's charger into this, will it charge my laptop at the full rate it would if I just plugged straight into my laptop? If I did this, it would free up a thunderbolt port which I think is what your strategy is!

@BravoLimaSierra  That’s the one thing I’m not sure about. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to avalanche you with information and because as you noticed, if the power delivery is “skimmed” a bit, you can still plug the charger directly into the system to work around that — although apart from avoiding the Windows warning, the end result will be the same because the MST hub is going to require power one way or the other. You can either have the hub skim it from the source directly or send full power to your system through one port and then have your MST hub take the power it needs right back out another. The third option would be the dedicated charger option I mentioned upfront. If you get a 60W+ charger, it should be able to provide 45W even AFTER whatever amount the MST hub skims off.

That is interesting @jphughan 

I found this gadget. Would it work for everything I need? 

@BravoLimaSierra  I've never heard of that brand, but judging by the specs it would indeed seem to cover all of your bases.  The fact that two of its three USB ports are only 2.0 is a bit of a bummer, but I guess that might be fine for a variety of use cases.  Good luck!

@jphughan I just ordered:

USB-C hub w/ displayport, HDMI, VGA, power passthrough, and a variety of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. Got lightning sale for $60. Researched and found several reliable websites citing this brand as a good quality economical option. If it doesn't charge laptop at full capacity, i'll just plug up the laptop directly. I'll have my keyboard, mouse, printer, and one display plugged up (via displayport).

Then I ordered a USB-C to Displayport cable for $10 and will use my third USB-C port on laptop to plug up display directly. Voila! 

I went this route so I could have the benefit of both being on displayport and still have plenty of USB ports, HDMI, and VGA (I occasionally hook up to some projectors at an event space still using this).

Thanks a ton for the help!

@BravoLimaSierra  Sounds like a well thought out plan.  Hope it all works out, and happy I was able to help!