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    Alienware 13 R3 TB3 and AGA bandwidth contention?

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by kiomon, Feb 8, 2017.

  1. kiomon

    kiomon Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi does anyone know if the graphics amplifier port and the TB3 port are on seperate busses? We want to have the AGA connected and also run 10gbe networking via thunderbolt 3 at the same time and have full bandwidth.

    I know the new 15 inch MacBook Pro has 4 independent busses for its TB3 (40gbps each), and just curious if the AGA and TB3 can be both used to their maximum bandwidth.

    If anyone also knows the same for the for the USB ports, I'd love to know as well!

    [mods this should be in the 2015+ forum]
     
    kiomon, Feb 8, 2017
    #1
  2. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    I dont know about the TB3 port if it has 4x lanes. BUt the AGA port disable the internal GPU and takes the lanes from there. So they should be separated.
     
    rinneh, Feb 8, 2017
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  3. kiomon

    kiomon Notebook Enthusiast

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    I asked this in Reddit as well, and it seems that the AGA IS indeed seperate from the TB3 port! So this is excellent news. Now if someone knows if it the TB3 port has 4x lanes, that would be helpful!
     
    kiomon, Feb 8, 2017
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  4. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    @kiomon: I saw your post on reddit.
     
    Vasudev, Feb 9, 2017
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  5. bloodhawk

    bloodhawk Derailer of threads.

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    Yeap, that is the case with every device equipped with the TB3 controller. The PCH takes care of the TB3 to PCIe signal conversion.
    The AGA post basically behaves like a dedicated PCIe 3.0 x4 slot with dedicated bandwidth.

    As for the max book pro, there is no way, that each port can have x4 (36gbps) dedicated bandwidth. That would mean 16 Lanes dedicated to TB3 ? Not gonna happen. At least not with a mainstream BGA processor.

    Hot damn. Awesome!
     
    bloodhawk, Feb 9, 2017
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    Papusan and Vasudev like this.
  6. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    AGA is like another motherboard and works like an extensive pretty neat idea.
     
    Vasudev, Feb 9, 2017
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  7. kiomon

    kiomon Notebook Enthusiast

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    I thought the same thing, but Apple says.

    Thunderbolt 3 data speeds per MacBook Pro port
    MacBook Pro models introduced in 2016 vary slightly in the data speeds they provide to each Thunderbolt 3 port.

    MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) delivers full Thunderbolt 3 performance on all four ports.

    MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) supports Thunderbolt 3 at full performance using the two left-hand ports. The two right-hand ports deliver Thunderbolt 3 functionality, but have reduced PCI Express bandwidth.

    Always plug higher-performance devices into the left-hand ports on MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) for maximum data throughput.

    MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) delivers full Thunderbolt 3 performance on both ports.

    Here is the link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207256

    But maybe I am missing something? Regardless, I am hyped that AGA is seperate and that allows us to connect this easily to our SAN via TB3, and treat the AGA port with a big GPU when docked, and not worry about contention.
     
    kiomon, Feb 9, 2017
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  8. sharpman

    sharpman Notebook Consultant

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    I was looking for the same information before buying the AW 13 R3 or 15 R3 and I found this:

    http://www.dell.com/support/article...underbolt-3-40gbps-data-transfer-rate?lang=en

    It is stated that the Thunderbolt 3 in 13 R3, 15 R2/3 and 17 R3/4 are all with 4 lanes while only 15 R2 is with 2. That's great news for me. Does anyone have information on how the amplifier works with the 13 or 15? Is the performance similar to a desktop and do the 4 lanes cause a bottleneck?

    Br,

    Lucas
     
    sharpman, Aug 9, 2017
    #8