Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Synchro3

macrumors 68000
Jan 12, 2014
1,987
850
No, no USB-C card has alternate display mode. Afaik this must be supported by the chip set/mobo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: h9826790

eksu

macrumors 6502
Aug 3, 2017
329
151
There’s a ~75 dollar card that takes DisplayPort in and will slam it into your USB-C signal. Let me see if I can find it...

SUNIX UPD2018 & Delock 89582.

Very interested if you go with one of these, how it works. Should give you brightness controls etc on the LG ultra fine and such, but won’t ever supply a ton of power to charge / boot the devices.
 
Last edited:

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
There’s a ~75 dollar card that takes DisplayPort in and will slam it into your USB-C signal. Let me see if I can find it...

SUNIX UPD2018 & Delock 89582.

Very interested if you go with one of these, how it works. Should give you brightness controls etc on the LG ultra fine and such, but won’t ever supply a ton of power to charge / boot the devices.

Is this it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: h9826790

pixelatedscraps

macrumors 6502
Jul 11, 2017
288
190
Hong Kong
That is a bus-powered card so it should work fine with anything that isn't super power hungry like charging an iPad or something like that. But if you want to hook up the optional supplemental power, it's a SATA connector.

Unfortunately it uses the NEC chipset, which is not a great choice for Macs since the drivers are not built into MacOS. Personally I would have bought a card with an Apple-supported chip like Fresco Logic or Asmedia.

As others have mentioned, Sonnet or CalDigit cards really are the best solutions but it seems you went and bought something else - I assume a bit of googling and wading through the brand's website, manual or support forums maybe help you. This thread is a sticky that should really have been read first but as they say, you live and learn...good luck with it.
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
As others have mentioned, Sonnet or CalDigit cards really are the best solutions but it seems you went and bought something else - I assume a bit of googling and wading through the brand's website, manual or support forums maybe help you. This thread is a sticky that should really have been read first but as they say, you live and learn...good luck with it.

Are you sure you replied to the correct person. He actually created the thread in your citation, and probably knows more about USB cards than 98% of thepeople who visit these forums.

I’m guessing this comment was intended for someone else, but was accidentally selected for reply.
 

Draeconis

macrumors 6502a
May 6, 2008
987
281
No, with usb-c/tb3 port on these cards?

USB-C does not equal Thunderbolt 3. Though they share the same visual design, they are not the same.

This thread specifically is adding USB-C ports to a Mac Pro; Thunderbolt cannot be added to these machines as the chipset does not support it.

I think the confusion lies in the fact that TB3 ports can be used as USB-C. It doesn’t work the other way around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheStork

pixelatedscraps

macrumors 6502
Jul 11, 2017
288
190
Hong Kong
Are you sure you replied to the correct person. He actually created the thread in your citation, and probably knows more about USB cards than 98% of thepeople who visit these forums.

I’m guessing this comment was intended for someone else, but was accidentally selected for reply.

Lol. You’re absolutely correct. I think I started my reply by supporting ActionableMango (a most knowledgeable MR user!) and then veered off into replying to someone else. A 9 week old newborn’s sleeping patterns will do that to you! My apologies ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: crjackson2134

themachacker

macrumors newbie
Sep 15, 2018
11
2


Thanks for the suggestion. It’s the perfect card, but FYI for everyone; I Spoke with caldigit yesterday. They said the card is discontinued. If anyone knows where to get one let me know. Otherwise know that it will be difficult to find. I found the USB3 version up on eBay and went for that until (if) I ever find the usb-c version. Using it to get large video files from my NVMe raid to deliverable SSD’s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Synchro3

gadgetfreak98

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2009
297
180
By the way, is it generally possible to hook up a USB-C hub to any of these to expand the number of available USB-C ports?
 

themachacker

macrumors newbie
Sep 15, 2018
11
2
By the way, is it generally possible to hook up a USB-C hub to any of these to expand the number of available USB-C ports?

It should generally be fine. I’ve been using a usb-c hub with my abelcon cards. (Mentioned above) so far, so good. Speeds are fine. I’d probably stick with a powered hub though. They seem to work better when not drawing too much power. Especially if you want multiple drives using bus power.
[doublepost=1548265291][/doublepost]Also update on the cal digits. If you find an older USB-3 model don’t bother as it doesn’t work on macs either. Caldigit stopped updating the drivers and it only works with much older MacOS.
 

gadgetfreak98

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2009
297
180
Great. I ordered the Abelcon card. By the way, does anyone know of an actual USB C 3.1 hub with multiple actual USB Type C ports?
 

ZombiePhysicist

Suspended
May 22, 2014
2,884
2,794
Great. I ordered the Abelcon card. By the way, does anyone know of an actual USB C 3.1 hub with multiple actual USB Type C ports?

No, lots of people have been asking about this, and for some reason, the market is completely silent on this. Part of the problem is making those hubs thunderbolt/display capable I suspect, but there is such an easy answer.

Have 2 ports be passthrough (which seems the limit for one reason or the other) and the rest just all be the type-C connector and just USB 3.1 gen2 ports, say 8 more of those. Most people would be thrilled with this.
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: w1z

CaliforniaDreamin

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2019
75
5
Bay Area
Will this work for cMP 5,1? I’m looking for USB 3.1 A and C inputs. Is additional power needed? How would that be achieved?

 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
Will this work for cMP 5,1? I’m looking for USB 3.1 A and C inputs. Is additional power needed? How would that be achieved?

Yes, it's just an Asmedia ASM1142 based PCIe 2.0 x2 card. This means speed will be limited to 8 Gbps instead of 10 Gbps.

The card probably works without additional power. You can get SATA power from one of the four drive bays using a SATA power splitter.

The card probably just needs 12V power, which you can get from the DVD drive bays.
 

CaliforniaDreamin

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2019
75
5
Bay Area
Yes, it's just an Asmedia ASM1142 based PCIe 2.0 x2 card. This means speed will be limited to 8 Gbps instead of 10 Gbps.

The card probably works without additional power. You can get SATA power from one of the four drive bays using a SATA power splitter.

The card probably just needs 12V power, which you can get from the DVD drive bays.

Thanks for the help with this. I think I am going to get both products.

If it needs 12V power, do I have to unplug the current factory DVD drive that's in there?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.