Dell G5 5590 docking solutions

Did you ever find a docking solution for this setup?

@jphughanthank you for the in-depth reply, I kind of gave up on the whole docking setup as I wasn't in a rush to get it running yet and I haven't been able to find definitive information online regarding this laptop running on a dock.

You mentioned that the Nvidia GPU uses optimus therefore any freesync or gsync monitor is useless, is that still the case if the monitor was connected via the miniDP or the HDMI (I believe supports 144hz?) now, having freesync/ gsync support isn't a huge deal, just a nice plus to have.

I'm still figuring out what monitor setup I'd like to have; dual or single, I need a good colour accurate monitor (work related) and a high refresh rate monitor for gaming (mainly csgo which runs at 300+ fps), either that or a single widescreen capable of both needs such as the Samsung CHG90/ CRG90; essentially whichever is cheapest and can work with my laptop.

Overall, do you think it's even worth it to get a TB dock for this setup, I've seen some cheaper USB3.0/ USB-C docks but like I said, information on whether it's viable is still scarce. I'd just like to come home and plug in as little cables as I need so I can continue working; so far it seems I need the power/ minidp/ tb3 plugged in if I want this specific setup.

Again, thanks for replying, I kind of gave up on the thread after a few weeks haha

@Sinuous  to my knowledge, the G5 systems do not support being charged over their USB-C/TB3 port, so no matter what amount of wattage the dock offered, it wouldn't matter.  But as you say, Dell docks only offer a max of 130W to attached systems anyway, which isn't enough to run your system optimally, so even if your system DID support charging over USB-C/TB3, you'd want to keep the system's AC adapter directly attached to it anyway to maintain an appropriately sized power source.

A Thunderbolt 3 dock would have access to enough display bandwidth to run your proposed display setup because it can run dual 4K at 60 Hz, which is a far higher bandwidth requirement than a QHD display plus a high refresh rate 1080p display.  I don't know how well the GPU will run 144 Hz, however.  Again, to my knowledge, with the exception of the Precision 7000 Series that allow customization here, all Dell and Alienware systems have their USB-C/TB3 video output wired to the Intel GPU, not the NVIDIA GPU.  The NVIDIA GPU operates only indirectly via a technology called NVIDIA Optimus.  But since the Intel GPU has direct control of the display output, I don't know how well it runs 144 Hz.  In addition, NVIDIA GPUs using Optimus cannot use Adaptive V-Sync or G-Sync.  Your only options are V-Sync Off or V-Sync On, and that creates a bit of dilemma when dealing with a high refresh rate display.  If you use V-Sync Off, then you can see frame tearing, which is precisely what V-Sync is meant to eliminate.  But if you turn V-Sync On, then when using a 144 Hz display, you'll need to make sure your system can maintain a stable 144 fps, because whenever it can't, you'll see stuttering or judder, which can be just as distracting and annoying as frame tearing.  A mid-range gaming laptop is unlikely to be able to sustain 144 fps in modern games, at least not without turning the detail way down.  This dilemma is precisely why G-Sync was created, since it eliminates frame tearing while also allowing the display's refresh rate to change based on the frame rate the GPU can handle at any given time, which means you also eliminate stutter/judder -- but again that probably won't be available here.

But in terms of docks, the newest Dell Thunderbolt dock is the WD19TB.  There are also third-party options like the CalDigit TS3+, and since again you won't be requiring the dock to power your system, you won't have to worry about power specs, which simplifies things.

@Sinuous  sorry I didn't see this thread when you originally posted it.  Not sure what happened there.

In terms of the G-Sync/FreeSync question, I'm not sure about FreeSync, but I know that G-Sync only works over DisplayPort (which would include USB-C, since it outputs a DisplayPort signal), so HDMI wouldn't be able to use it no matter which GPU that port was wired to.  The HDMI port may well be able to handle the high refresh rate, but G-Sync is variable refresh rate.  I believe that's now supported in the HDMI spec, but even if your display supports it, that doesn't mean G-Sync itself supports running over HDMI, since that's a proprietary NVIDIA standard.

As for the system's separate Mini-DisplayPort output, if that's wired directly to the NVIDIA GPU -- and I would bet that it is since the USB-C port could be used as a DisplayPort output if you want one wired to the Intel GPU -- then G-Sync would work there.  If you want to check your GPU wiring, open NVIDIA Control Panel and go to the PhysX Configuration page.  It will show your various display outputs and which GPU each one is wired to (even if it's the Intel GPU), although it might only show outputs that actually have displays attached to them.  I can't remember at the moment.

In terms of whether docking is worth it, the fact that you'd have to keep the AC adapter connected separately already reduces some convenience, and if you also had to keep your display(s) attached directly to the Mini-DisplayPort output, that would reduce the value proposition even further.  I personally don't use a docking station.  Instead, my two Dell U2717D displays support DisplayPort daisy-chaining, so I can run them both from my laptop's single Mini-DisplayPort output.  Then I separately connect power, external speakers, and a USB 3.0 cable that connects to a USB 3.0 hub where everything else is connected.  So it's 4 cables, but all 4 of those ports are near each other on my system, so I just use a Velcro tie to hold those cables together in a bundle even when my system is disconnected.  In your case, I don't know if the Mini-DisplayPort output would have enough bandwidth to run a QHD display plus a 144 Hz FHD display either via daisy-chaining or a DisplayPort MST hub.  If the FHD display were only running at 120 Hz, I'm almost certain that would work, but 144 Hz might be pushing a bit too far.  I'm just not sure because that's not a common setup.

Hopefully this helps, and good luck with your setup decisions!

@jphughan I didn't get a notification of your reply for some reason, sorry if I'm making you read through all that again

I recently got a QHD monitor (75hz + FreeSync) which seems to be running fine on the miniDP, I'll be getting a QHD 144hz screen soon https://www.box.co.uk/Acer-Nitro-VG271UP-27-WQHD-HDR-IPS-Free_2464304.html, so the setup will be the higher refresh monitor directly connected to the miniDP on the laptop and the normal screen connected via HDMI or DP through a TB16 dock which I managed to score from eBay... I'm hoping it will work with a 130w power adapter as the dock states it supports 6.7A/9.23A/12.3A aka 130w/180w/240w and to just have the laptop powered directly with the supplied 180w brick

I currently have x6 cables (3x USB, Ethernet, miniDP, power) connected to my laptop which is too much hassle moving in and out from, so having the dock will cut that down to 3, potentially 2 if the dock will support the dual monitor setup; I'll update this thread once I test that out for others to reference from.

@Sinuous  if you've got the laptop's AC adapter connected, then you're not counting on any power from the dock, so 130W will work fine.  Technically a much lower wattage power supply should also work in that setup since the dock itself obviously doesn't need that kind of power, but I don't know if the dock would be set up to work like that.  It's definitely not officially supported.  Good luck with your setup!

@jphughan you're right, I am able to run games well sometimes when running on the dock supporting your claim that the nvidia gpu is acting as the driver with the intel gpu as a medium to pass on that signal to the dock then to the screen, and that would also support the fact that nvidia optimus won't always work to my favour. I'm using mpc-hc with madVR renderer, when I play a video the "video decode" graph in the performance tab of the task manager shows the rtx 2060 working and the "3d" graph for the intel gpu working which leads me to believe that nvidia optimus is working just not optimally. 

also, the terms are so out of whack it's hard to keep track, but yes I'm referring to 2560x1440 as I mentioned in earlier responses.

I'm not quite sure if a solution can be reached for this problem... ideally I'd like the nvidia gpu to be running the entire time (rendering the frames while the intel gpu outputs them) so I can just have peace of mind and not have to worry when and if nvidia optimus is working as I am right now.

@jphughan quick update: I got the TB16 and it's hooked up to a 130w power adapter with the laptop running on it's own 180w adapter, however it seems the dock doesn't have enough juice to run the miniDP as when I try to open certain games they won't run, or if I try to watch a 4k video on my 2k screen, the image is choppy and unwatchable, now this isn't the case when the connection is made directly to the laptops' miniDP which is why I assume the problem is from the dock/ and or lack of power.

Do you think a higher watt power adapter would fix this problem or was I damned from the start? 

Thanks,

Sinuous

@Sinuous  MiniDP doesn't supply any meaningful amount of power.  The display runs from its own power source.  My guess as to what's happening here is that the GPU outputs driving the USB-C/TB3 port on that system are wired to the Intel GPU and the MiniDP port built into the system is wired to the NVIDIA GPU.  You can confirm this if you go to NVIDIA Control Panel and select PhysX Configuration, which will show you which displays are being directly driven by which GPU.  See how your display shows up when connected via both methods.  The NVIDIA GPU can work even on displays connected to the dock through a technology called NVIDIA Optimus, which allows the NVIDIA GPU to act as a "render-only" device that passes completed video frames to the Intel GPU for output to the display(s) that it's directly driving (which likely includes the system's built-in display, fyi), but it's possible that the Intel GPU is trying to decode that 4K video itself and/or that the NVIDIA GPU is doing it and Optimus isn't working as it should.  What application are you trying to use?  Does it allow you to choose different video render engines?

In any case, no a higher wattage adapter won't do anything because the dock isn't supply power through its Mini-DisplayPort output or doing any other sort of graphics work.  It's just passing a DisplayPort signal from the laptop out of that port.

On a side note, I really recommend against using "2K" as a resolution term because so many people use it incorrectly to refer to 2560x1440 resolution, which creates confusion, and sometimes the difference can matter for technical reasons. 2K resolution is technically a film resolution of 2048x1080, but when used to refer to "consumer" resolutions, it actually refers to the nearest and slightly lower consumer equivalent, which is 1920x1080, aka Full HD or 1080p -- because 1920 is very close to 2000, i.e. 2K, horizontal pixels. Similarly, 4K is also technically a film resolution of 4096x2160 pixels, but when used in the consumer world refers to the slightly lower resolution of 3840x2160, aka Ultra HD or 2160p. If you actually meant to refer to 2560x1440, that resolution is rightfully called 1440p or QHD (or I guess you could call it 2.5K, but nobody does).  Using either of those terms would make it much clearer to everyone what you're talking about. The reason it can matter is because the bandwidth difference between 1080p and 1440p displays affects available display configurations in certain setups. For example, if someone had a WD15 dock and said, "Why can't I run dual 2K displays?", if they were trying to use dual 1080p displays, that should be possible -- but if they were trying to run dual 1440p displays, that would not be possible because the WD15 doesn't have enough bandwidth for that. But if they say "2K" meaning one thing and someone else assumes they mean the other, you could end up going down the wrong path on troubleshooting for a while.

@Sinuous  well even if the NVIDIA GPU could be set to run the entire time and you didn't care about the battery life impact of that while you were on the go, you'd still be using Optimus, and there would still be some applications that wouldn't work well that way and some technologies that wouldn't work at all through Optimus, such as VR, Adaptive V-Sync, G-Sync, stereoscopic 3D, and 5K resolution.  That's why some gaming-oriented systems sometimes have display outputs wired straight to the discrete GPU.  That said, if you right-click an application shortcut, you should see an option that says "Run on graphics processor", where you can select the GPU that will be used with that app.  I've never messed with it myself since Optimus has never been a problem for me, but it might be worth looking into.  Otherwise, see if you can configure your video application to use Intel's hardware decoding.  Hardware support for decoding 4K video and H.265-encoded video in general was added to Intel CPUs with Core 7th Gen, so you might find that the Intel GPU works just fine for that purpose.