XPS 9560 with two displayport monitors

Hi

I'm considering replacing my 2013 Macbook Pro with a new XPS 9560 with the 4K.

I have two Dell U2515H monitors connected using a daisy chained mini-display port currently.
Can I daisy chain them on the XPS 9560 as well?

What would be the recommended approach? Is there a DisplayPort to USB-C cable or would you recommend a USB-C hub of some sort instead?

 

Have a look at the TB16 Dell dock as that will cover your needs

 

Do you actually need this dock to daisy chain the monitors? I'm running an XPS 9560 and have just bought two U2414H monitors to use with the laptop. I bought these because of the ability to daisy chain them whilst using the single HDMI port from the XPS.

This issue is I simply cannot get the second monitor to work. I can independently get a picture on either monitor but not linked together giving an extended desktop.I'm using the supplied DP cable from the monitor, I've messed with the settings enabling DP1.2 etc etc but no dice.

The XPS's GPU needs to be DP1.2 complaint to dasiy chain and as I understand it the GTX1050 is way higher at DP1.4 so I'm assuming it should all technically work?

I really don't want to go down the road of more expense of buying the Dell dock (which looks great but is brutally expensive) especially as this relatively expensive high spec laptop with two good quality monitors (from the same manufacturer) should do really be doing the trick.

Any help much appreciated.

 

The GTX1050 on the XPS is considered a "render only" graphics card, and doesn't actually output any video on its own. All of the video outputs (the internal display, the hdmi port, the TB3 port, etc) are wired to the intel processor which takes the data from the 1050 and pushes it to the display(s).

As for your problem, it seems like your using the on board HDMI port (which is HDMI 1.4 fyi) to the 1st monitor, then daisy chaining via a displayport out on the 1st monitor to the 2nd. Is that correct?
If so, your problem is trying to daisy chain using HDMI. I am unaware of any monitor that supports an HDMI input and then a 2nd monitor daisy chained with displayport (this would require HDMI to support daisy chaining, which I don't believe it does, and the monitor to convert the 2nd HDMI stream to displayport, which is extremely unlikely)

You must use the TB3 port for either just the 2nd monitor or both monitors. You can either get a USB-C to displayport cable to go to the 2nd monitor (make sure the cable specifies that is supports DisplayPort alternate mode) and use the onboard HDMI for the 1st monitor, or get a TB3 to dual DisplayPort or HDMI ports for both monitors. You will also likely be able to daisy chain using the TB3 port with a USB-C/displayport cable to the 1st monitor, but I have not personally tested this and cannot guarantee

 

Ahh, thanks for the great info. Now it makes more sense. I'll get a Display Port to USB-C cable to run from the laptop to monitor 1. Hopefully this should fix it.

I have a second question. I have the option of using (buying from a friend) a single 2560 x 1440 monitor at home but am not sure if the 9560 will output at that resolution. Do you know?

 

Yes it will. You can use either the built-in HDMI 1.4 port or some variation of TB3 to DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0 to get 2560 x 1440 at 60hz.

For further reference, see here:
Graphic output limits of the Intel processor: https://ark.intel.com/products/97185/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz
Output limits of various HDMI specification (built in is HDMI 1.4; you can also get an adapter to do TB3 to HDMI 2.0 but are somewhat hard to find a good model so far): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison
Output limits of TB3 to Displayport (the TB3 supports two DP 1.2 streams): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Resolution_and_refresh_frequency_limits_for_DisplayPort

 

Removed - posted as new question as doesn't relate to OP's original post.

 

So much confusion in this thread.

You don't need Thunderbolt. You don't need two independent DisplayPort connections either independently or multiplexed into Thunderbolt.

"Daisy chaining" in these kinds of monitors is a layman term for a simple DisplayPort MultiStreamTransport Hub.You take one DisplayPort 1.2 connection and run as many displays as your video bandwidth allows. Windows handles this best, Linux support is patchy. 1440p uses 35% of your video bandwidth thus you can use two but not three -- a lower resolution third is a possibility. You could even decide to just use two ordinary 1440p monitors and purchase an MST hub separately for $80 or so. You can't run three because, as far as I am aware, there are no MST chips for the raised bandwidth of DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 (called HBR3). - As an aside, in very high resolution monitors, daisy chaining might mean each monitor demultiplexes one DisplayPort connection from the Thunderbolt bus. That's an entirely different thing at an entirely different price point but the industry, just to confuse everyone, uses the same name. Sigh.

USB C to DisplayPort cables switch the USB C physical port into DisplayPort Alternative Mode which is for all intents and purposes is the exact same as a normal DisplayPort connector except with slightly different pins. The cable is simple and cheap because while it needs to contain a little negotiating circuit, it's not that much.

HDMI, for these purposes, is completely useless. Not just for these -- long ago it should've abandoned and the sideband (CEC and such) things merged into DP. Anyways, forget about HDMI too, there's no MST, you can't daisy chain.

 

You're confusing our mentions of the Thunderbolt port with the Thunderbolt protocol. The only displayport output on the XPS 9560 is via the Thunderbolt 3 port which, as you mentioned, then switches into the DisplayPort via USB-C alternate mode.
To address the original question, the cheapest way to connect two separate monitors remains using a USB-C to DP cable in the TB3 port, and then daisychaining a 2nd monitor if the 1st supports it, or connecting the 2nd to the built in HDMI.
Also, Thunderbolt 3 contains two discrete DP 1.2 streams, meaning a better solution than any $80 multistream hub is the available adapters for TB3 to dual DP 1.2, as it allows for two 4k 60 Hz monitors, but is not at a different price point (such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...rds=thunderbolt+3+to+dual+displayport+adapter).
A true Thunderbolt 3 hub, such as the Dell TB16, does support 3 monitors (although not at 4k 60 Hz)
Most of what you said is right on, just not especially applicable to the XPS 9560

 

> The only displayport output on the XPS 9560 is via the Thunderbolt 3 port

There is no such thing. That's a USB C port which is capable of Thunderbolt and DisplayPort alternate modes both.

 

I completely disagree. From a technical perspective, it is very much a Thunderbolt 3 port which is then capable of USB, DisplayPort, and PCIe. All physical TB3 ports are connected to an Alpine Ridge controller (at least for now, future models may have the TB3 chip integrated into CPU), which then connects to the CPU using PCI lanes. The TB3 controller is the only USB controller for the port, and it is not at all a USB port that converts into a TB3 port.
You can see this most clearly in motherboard schematics, as seen for the 9350 here http://www.mediafire.com/file/atbraqj4xkv19xx/DELL_XPS_13-9350_AAZ80_LA-C881P_r1.0_A00.pdf on pages 1, 11, 39. The traces go from the CPU to the alpine ridge controller as PCIe, and then the USB traces go from the Alpine Ridge controller to the respective pins on the port. USB ports are completely different as they have USB traces directly from CPU to the physical ports

 

What are you even talking about?

The physical format is USB C. Then it is the USB PD standard that defines the ways to switch the USB C to various Alternate Modes. One of the Alternate Modes is Thunderbolt 3. This is the order of the standards.

 

You've managed to pull this conversation into the gutter, where it seems to be becoming pointless.
Nevertheless, describing a Thunderbolt 3 port as a "USB port capable of Thunderbolt" is fundamentally incorrect, on a technical level and in the use of the port. It is akin to describing a Thunderbolt 2 port as a DisplayPort 'port' capable of Thunderbolt. Sure, the visible portions of the port are Displayport and USB-C respectively. But your concept is simply not how any of it works, as I've attempted to demonstrate using the schematics above.
For clarity, the external port, that is a USB-C connector, is directly connected to a Thunderbolt 3 chip, which is then capable of USB 3.1, DisplayPort 1.2 (x2), and PCIe (there are add'l standards in TB3 as well). This Thunderbolt 3 chip, codenamed Alpine Ridge, is what controls the mode of the Thunderbolt 3 port to one of those configurations. There is no discrete USB chip involved, so it is not a USB port.
And USB PD (power delivery) has nada to do with switching into alternate modes, and is not even dependent on USB-C (nor is USB-C dependent on USB-PD). As you can see here, http://www.usb.org/developers/powerdelivery/PD_1.0_Introduction.pdf, USB-PD was even compatible with USB-A, which cannot support alternate modes. Additionally, there is a USB-PD chip connected to the Thunderbolt chip and port to control the PD negotiations.
You declare "this is the order of the standards", but have never cited any standards. I'd be happy to continue the conversation if you have some sources or can add depth to your points, but am uninterested in wrong claims espoused repeatedly

 

Do it via PM then

 

A bit of a contradiction with the policy in your signature about public posts

 

Not at all, I don't want people asking me questions via PM that can be done (without acting like primary school children) in a public post to help other people, you are both going down the path of the keyboard warriors playing up to the crowd, it isn't needed or wanted here.

 

Hypocritical considering you joined a conversation in which you had little involvement to add that it's pointless, when I have already suggested it's pointless. Personally don't care about any crowd.
Thread is dead, let's move on

 

To be fair you killed it, and considering I was subscribed the last thing I wanted to see was a notification each time you pair continued your a spat, but now you turned it into a 3 way spat instead of having your hissy fit in private, well done. I will make use of the ignore button now so you can continue talking to yourself.

 

The only reason I continue in public because the USB C standard is confusing -- it did confuse you too -- and I think it's helpful trying to clean it up.

Here's TI presentation http://www.ti.com/lit/wp/slly021/slly021.pdf because it's simpler in language than the actual standard:

and

Why is it a keyboard warrior playing it up to the crowd trying to educate the crowd? My highest voted answer on Superuser.com is also about USB C. I am just trying to disseminate knowledge about USB C because man, that's one complicated mess.

And these quotes also underline what I said: there's no TB3 port only an USB C port (physical port defined in the USB C standard) capable of going (how to do that is in the PD section of USB C standard) into TB3 alternate mode (what happens now is in the TB3 standard). That's what TI says, that's what the standard says and that's what http://www.ti.com/tool/TPS65983EVM facilitates.

What matters here is that only some USB C ports are Thunderbolt capable but not all of them. There might be a lightning icon to indicate this but that's not a requirement.