Free Republic

Here is one for our FR computer gurus: Why are PCIe expansion cards with a DisplayPort capable USB-C port (DP alternate mode) hard to find for desktop PC's? Many laptops, like my Dell Latitude 5490, have a DisplayPort capable USB-C port. Yet it seems most desktops of roughly the same vintage, such as my Dell Precision 3430 (and many a newer desktop too), do not have a DisplayPort capable USB-C port. (My 3430 has a high speed USB-C port, but it is not DP capable.) Why the omission on the desktops?

Texas Instruments just put a chip through the heart of Intel’s Thunderbolt folly with their new HD3SS2521 DockPort controller. This little $1.85 chip both vastly simplifies the user experience and shines a harsh light on what Intel can’t do with a closed and 75x more expensive solution. If you haven’t been paying attention, DockPort is the sane and open answer to Intel’s still broken and anti-user Light Peak/Thunderbolt interface. Formerly called Lightning Bolt, DockPort was AMD’s answer to the non-solution that Intel tried to spin Thunderbolt as. Several years in Thunderbolt is achieving some of the features promised at release...