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MP 7,1 Recommendations for Thunderbolt 3 Dock with New Mac Pro 2019
- Thread starter H. Flower
- Start date
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I'm using OWC's TB3 dock for the reason you've raised. It works perfectly for me. ? It would be even nicer if it had a remote power button as well.
My OWC TB3 dock is not the latest revision model and I purchased it in Dec 2016.
CalDigit TS3 Plus is a great dock, especially since you do not need the 96W/100W PD for charging. Has a TB3 pass through and USB-C 10Gbps, which not many offer.
If you just want a lot of USB-C ports, I’d actually get a Sonnet USB-C PCIe card, run longer cables and leave them accessible with a cable holder.
If you just want a lot of USB-C ports, I’d actually get a Sonnet USB-C PCIe card, run longer cables and leave them accessible with a cable holder.
Here is a picture to give an indication of the size of the CalDigit Tb3 Hub relative to the 7.1
I also included another picture of the 7.1 - the editor who mainly uses it has dongled it up good. They say that the two top Tb 3 ports are their favorite part of the 7.1 at this point. They use them as the go-to plug and play for a lot of devices (easy and fast) instead of using the CalDigit.
I also included another picture of the 7.1 - the editor who mainly uses it has dongled it up good. They say that the two top Tb 3 ports are their favorite part of the 7.1 at this point. They use them as the go-to plug and play for a lot of devices (easy and fast) instead of using the CalDigit.
Does the Caldigit TS3 Plus have loud fan noise? The OWC dock I have is super loud, kinda ruining the peaceful quiet of the Mac Pro.
My OWC TB3 dock is deadly quiet and has no fan. What model OWC TB3 dock do you have. Mine was likely a Version 1 model purchased back in Dec 2016.
The "new" OWC Thunderbolt 3 Pro seems to be based off of the Akitio Thunder3 Dock Pro. Both have a fan switch for "silent" mode. Both output more Amps than the previous OWC docks ( but only supply 60W for the laptop docking. )
So one factor is the amount of power guzzling the USB Type-C and Thunderbolt devices looking to hook up. ( no laptop but the computer link is somewhat covered by the Mac Pro).
I had a TS2 - the only thing I disliked about it was that when the computer was powered off, it made a weird high pitch buzzing noise. As soon as it had a thunderbolt input, it was dead silent. Have they fixed that?
Yes! I don’t experience any sound whatsoever.
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Sorry to hear. The TS3 is a large heatsink, no fans. No noises.
To go in a different direction from the other posters — as there is no such thing as an actual "thunderbolt hub", and the OP specifically mentioned USB-3 ports, I'd like to throw in a mention of a really excellent USB-C hub (!) that I've been using for the last few weeks:
Juiced Systems VertexHUB
It takes one upstream USB-C 10Gbps port, and provides four full-speed 10Gbps-capable USB-C ports as well as three superspeed USB-A ports on the back, also 10Gbps. It's also got a dedicated power-brick, and thus can power high-speed spinny drives and whatnot.
The advantages here over the CalDigit (which I also have, but for a completely unrelated reason) being 1. cheaper, 2. more USB-C ports, 3. more 10Gbps ports (the CalDigit only has one, the rest are 5Gbps), and a smaller form-factor if you don't need all the additional functionality of the CalDigit.
The build-quality is also unparalleled; and since it's USB-C, not Thunderbolt, you can place it more than 2 meters away from your Mac Pro, lol. (I'm using this active cable, run upstream to the Mac Pro in my rack.)
Juiced Systems VertexHUB
It takes one upstream USB-C 10Gbps port, and provides four full-speed 10Gbps-capable USB-C ports as well as three superspeed USB-A ports on the back, also 10Gbps. It's also got a dedicated power-brick, and thus can power high-speed spinny drives and whatnot.
The advantages here over the CalDigit (which I also have, but for a completely unrelated reason) being 1. cheaper, 2. more USB-C ports, 3. more 10Gbps ports (the CalDigit only has one, the rest are 5Gbps), and a smaller form-factor if you don't need all the additional functionality of the CalDigit.
The build-quality is also unparalleled; and since it's USB-C, not Thunderbolt, you can place it more than 2 meters away from your Mac Pro, lol. (I'm using this active cable, run upstream to the Mac Pro in my rack.)
I have a TS3-Plus/Mac Pro 7.1 related question, but really maybe more of a TB3 protocol related question in general (I have never used Thunderbolt).
I have seen TS3-Plus videos where they connect to a MacBook Pro TB3 port via the TB3 port on the back of the TS3 unit (labeled "computer") and it instantly starts charging the laptop. So here are my (ignorant) questions:
1) Is the TB3 port on the back of the TS3 the only port on the unit capable of "delivering" power to a computer? It obviously transfers data back and forth at the same time?
2) I am assuming that the same TB3 port is required to be connected to a computer for the TS3 to be of any use?
3) If I connect the TB3 port labeled "computer" to one of the TB3 ports on a 7,1, how does it know "not" to try to supply power to the Mac Pro? I am assuming that would be a disaster?
Sorry for my complete ignorance of how Thunderbolt actually works when it comes to power delivery/management.
I have seen TS3-Plus videos where they connect to a MacBook Pro TB3 port via the TB3 port on the back of the TS3 unit (labeled "computer") and it instantly starts charging the laptop. So here are my (ignorant) questions:
1) Is the TB3 port on the back of the TS3 the only port on the unit capable of "delivering" power to a computer? It obviously transfers data back and forth at the same time?
2) I am assuming that the same TB3 port is required to be connected to a computer for the TS3 to be of any use?
3) If I connect the TB3 port labeled "computer" to one of the TB3 ports on a 7,1, how does it know "not" to try to supply power to the Mac Pro? I am assuming that would be a disaster?
Sorry for my complete ignorance of how Thunderbolt actually works when it comes to power delivery/management.
1: Yes. 2: Yes. 3: If the computer that's connected to it doesn't draw power, none will be sent. And none of the TBolt ports on the Mac Pro will try to draw power. There's absolutely no harm in connecting a TS3+ up to any of the TBolt ports on a Mac Pro. I have one on mine. And two for my laptop. As someone pointed out: they get very warm. So does their Tbolt-3 to 10GigE dongle that I use for my laptop. It gets quite toasty under use.