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expired Posted by turns2stone • Dec 25, 2024
expired Posted by turns2stone • Dec 25, 2024

Select Stores: Western Digital WD Black D50 RGB Game Dock (Thunderbolt 3)

& More In-Store Purchase Only

$50

$80

37% off
Micro Center
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Deal Details
Micro Center has select Western Digital WD Black Game Docks (Thunderbolt 3 Connectivity) for the prices listed. In-store purchase only.

Note: Availability for pickup may vary by location.

Thanks to Community Member turns2stone and SD Moderator Mbilo for finding this deal.

Available:Features (D50):
  • Multi-Port Gaming Connectivity
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
  • 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
  • 2 x 10 Gb/s USB Type-C
  • 3 x 10 Gb/s USB Type-A
  • 1 x 3.5mm Audio Input/Output
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
  • Up to 87W of Passthrough Charging
  • Customizable RGB Lighting

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • This price is $30 lower (37% savings) than the list price of $79.99
  • About this product:
    • 5-Years Limited Warranty

Original Post

Written by turns2stone
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Micro Center has select Western Digital WD Black Game Docks (Thunderbolt 3 Connectivity) for the prices listed. In-store purchase only.

Note: Availability for pickup may vary by location.

Thanks to Community Member turns2stone and SD Moderator Mbilo for finding this deal.

Available:Features (D50):
  • Multi-Port Gaming Connectivity
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
  • 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
  • 2 x 10 Gb/s USB Type-C
  • 3 x 10 Gb/s USB Type-A
  • 1 x 3.5mm Audio Input/Output
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
  • Up to 87W of Passthrough Charging
  • Customizable RGB Lighting

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • This price is $30 lower (37% savings) than the list price of $79.99
  • About this product:
    • 5-Years Limited Warranty

Original Post

Written by turns2stone

Community Voting

Deal Score
+51
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Top Comments

turns2stone
4258 Posts
708 Reputation
Every port on a Thunderbolt 4 device that isn't Thunderbolt (i.e. a path to support internal SSD) must share a single 10GBps slice of USB bandwidth.

https://www.owc.com/blog/whats-th...nderbolt-4
sr27
337 Posts
26 Reputation
This is not common knowledge. But leave it to Intel to invent something and cripple it. Not the first time they have done it thinking it will win them market share.

We also have to thank Intel for HDCP whose sole purpose was to prevent some niche pirating that was not a huge problem. A shitty evil
Corp all around.
turns2stone
4258 Posts
708 Reputation
Whoa there cowboy! All of those (save for the Kensington) are standard USB hubs, not Thunderbolt!

Thunderbolt 3 docks inherently have 40Gbps of combined throughput for the ports, whereas those USB-C dock have 10Gbps of bandwidth shared among all of the peripherals, including display. If you're really pushing the limits with simultaneous heavy use of a 4K display, 1Gbps LAN and and attached USB device, you're going to run out of bandwidth.

Even more importantly, those hubs either don't come with a charger, and/or don't support pass-through charging. A Thunderbolt dock does both. And the Kensington supports 60w vs. 87w on this Western Digital.

In summary, you're not comparing apples-to-apples for those (cheaper) USB-C docks. If you're using this D50 dock with a MacBook (or even Mac mini), you'll get two independent video outputs.

I realize you're probably on Windows, but if you bought any of those for use with a Mac, that 'dual HDMI' would literally get you two identical monitor outputs, mirrored to each other.
EDIT - clarifying extended monitor support/mirroring.
EDIT #2 - the other nice thing about the D50 (compared to the cheaper docks linked) is the ability to add/change to a longer cable to your laptop/PC. Most of the hubs have permanently-attached cables, and they're typically short to reduce the chance of signal degradation.

124 Comments

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Original Poster
Dec 26, 2024
4,258 Posts
Joined Feb 2010
Dec 26, 2024
turns2stone
Original Poster
Dec 26, 2024
4,258 Posts
Quote from Rontron :
So it's a 40gbps nvme enclosure with a hub built in?
Ya. And a power supply for a connected laptop.
1
Dec 26, 2024
334 Posts
Joined Dec 2015
Dec 26, 2024
EverettM1119
Dec 26, 2024
334 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank EverettM1119

Quote from SlickStraw6606 :
Hello I am extremely dumb when it comes to computers is this like an external hard drive?
Way I would describe it… it's like a way to turn a laptop (or tablet) with just one USB-C port into a desktop computer.

This dock features extra storage, but also display out, extra USB ports, Ethernet, headphone/audio jacks… so, you leave your monitor or TV, keyboard & mouse, printer, home network, and any other USB peripherals you like attached to this. With one cable, you get all those things added to a laptop/tablet/Steam Deck. It's also great for families, offices, and schools; large files, videos and media, or apps can be loaded onto the storage, and this makes it easy to serve presentations or collaborate on projects. It will also recharge your portable device without needing to have a wall adapter in your case. I also like the idea of mounting this somewhere out of sight… so you just have the one USB cable above the desk and clutter cleared, so the desk is open for whatever current task you face.
2
1
Dec 26, 2024
334 Posts
Joined Dec 2015
Dec 26, 2024
EverettM1119
Dec 26, 2024
334 Posts
Quote from sharkyziff :
I have a new M4 Mac Mini and just wanting to use this as a Dock only to increase port connections / fairly cheap solution. (Albeit, it is a bit on the ugly side. LOL)
Is the WD stable / runs without getting hot without using the internal SSD storage in the base model?
Thanks for your input! Cheers!
Mount it under the desk, off in a corner or something. Just have the computer and cable on top of the desk, all the other connections out of sight.
1
Pro
Dec 27, 2024
6,511 Posts
Joined Sep 2014
Dec 27, 2024
MostBased
Pro
Dec 27, 2024
6,511 Posts
Quote from sr27 :
This is not common knowledge. But leave it to Intel to invent something and cripple it. Not the first time they have done it thinking it will win them market share.

We also have to thank Intel for HDCP whose sole purpose was to prevent some niche pirating that was not a huge problem. A shitty evil
Corp all around.
Then it sounds like karma that they were recently dethroned by AMD as the CPU leader. Hopefully the same happens to Ngreedia.

edit: would be nice to see Apple taken down as well. Abject greed and screwing over customers for years with planned obsolescence should have consequences.
Last edited by 2Slick2Quit December 27, 2024 at 09:13 AM.
2
Dec 27, 2024
575 Posts
Joined Dec 2019
Dec 27, 2024
Dave_B
Dec 27, 2024
575 Posts
It's nice to see a dock that doesn't use a short permanently attached USB cable.
Last edited by Dave_B December 27, 2024 at 04:37 PM.
Dec 28, 2024
575 Posts
Joined Dec 2019
Dec 28, 2024
Dave_B
Dec 28, 2024
575 Posts
Quote from EverettM1119 :
Way I would describe it… it's like a way to turn a laptop (or tablet) with just one USB-C port into a desktop computer.

This dock features extra storage, but also display out, extra USB ports, Ethernet, headphone/audio jacks… so, you leave your monitor or TV, keyboard & mouse, printer, home network, and any other USB peripherals you like attached to this. With one cable, you get all those things added to a laptop/tablet/Steam Deck. It's also great for families, offices, and schools; large files, videos and media, or apps can be loaded onto the storage, and this makes it easy to serve presentations or collaborate on projects. It will also recharge your portable device without needing to have a wall adapter in your case. I also like the idea of mounting this somewhere out of sight… so you just have the one USB cable above the desk and clutter cleared, so the desk is open for whatever current task you face.
Good post, but just wanted to note that the Steam Deck won't work with this dock, as it doesn't have USB4 or TB3. Other laptops and gaming handhelds will work, if they have the right port. Otherwise, good info.
Last edited by Dave_B December 27, 2024 at 04:38 PM.
Dec 28, 2024
50 Posts
Joined May 2008
Dec 28, 2024
jackuiowa
Dec 28, 2024
50 Posts
One left by me. I have a m4 Mac mini on the way and was thinking of adding an ssd to it as a docking station. Not sure if this is overkill for it

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Dec 28, 2024
38 Posts
Joined Jun 2021
Dec 28, 2024
CleverNest280
Dec 28, 2024
38 Posts
Quote from turns2stone :
Every port on a Thunderbolt 4 device that isn't Thunderbolt (i.e. a path to support internal SSD) must share a single 10GBps slice of USB bandwidth.https://www.owc.com/blog/whats-th...nderbolt-4
Where Sharing Occurs:
• Bandwidth sharing can occur when multiple USB devices are connected to a single Thunderbolt 4 hub.
• In this case, USB devices connected to the hub share a single 10 Gbps USB controller available through that port.
• However, PCIe devices, DisplayPort video streams, and Thunderbolt devices operate on separate data paths.
Dec 28, 2024
50 Posts
Joined May 2008
Dec 28, 2024
jackuiowa
Dec 28, 2024
50 Posts
What is the max speed on an ssd we can get with this?
Original Poster
Dec 28, 2024
4,258 Posts
Joined Feb 2010
Dec 28, 2024
turns2stone
Original Poster
Dec 28, 2024
4,258 Posts
Quote from jackuiowa :
What is the max speed on an ssd we can get with this?
About 2,000-2,800MB/s R/W depending on the SSD model.
Original Poster
Dec 28, 2024
4,258 Posts
Joined Feb 2010
Dec 28, 2024
turns2stone
Original Poster
Dec 28, 2024
4,258 Posts
Quote from CleverNest280 :
Where Sharing Occurs:• Bandwidth sharing can occur when multiple USB devices are connected to a single Thunderbolt 4 hub.• In this case, USB devices connected to the hub share a single 10 Gbps USB controller available through that port.• However, PCIe devices, DisplayPort video streams, and Thunderbolt devices operate on separate data paths.
All true, but thankfully not applicable to this model as it's TB3 and the full 4 lanes of PCIe can be used by any of the interfaces (note, the USB ports share the same/single PCIe interface).
Dec 28, 2024
50 Posts
Joined May 2008
Dec 28, 2024
jackuiowa
Dec 28, 2024
50 Posts
Quote from turns2stone :
About 2,000-2,800MB/s R/W depending on the SSD model.
Oh so no reason to get a really fast ssd…thanks
Original Poster
Dec 28, 2024
4,258 Posts
Joined Feb 2010
Dec 28, 2024
turns2stone
Original Poster
Dec 28, 2024
4,258 Posts
Quote from jackuiowa :
Oh so no reason to get a really fast ssd…thanks
Thunderbolt 3 only supports PCIe 3.0 and the theoretical limits of the interface and overhead means the throughput will cap out at ~2,800MB/s.
There are some NVMe drives that have controller issues that can stumble and cap out at ~1,000MB/s via Thunderbolt, so it may take some experimentation and patience to get the full performance.
Dec 28, 2024
877 Posts
Joined Jul 2014
Dec 28, 2024
coppec
Dec 28, 2024
877 Posts
Can this be used as a NAS? Just put an ssd in, plug the ethernet cable and ready to access data from LAN?

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Dec 28, 2024
3,301 Posts
Joined Oct 2003
Dec 28, 2024
DJ_SAMMY_D
Dec 28, 2024
3,301 Posts
Thinking of getting for my Mac mini m2 pro, for Time Machine backups and extra ports.. would not use for video, just because… same reason as would not use it for Ethernet..

Originally going to buy plug able thunderbolt hub

https://a.co/d/9YWYY8M

Three 40gb thunderbolt 4 downstream ports is still nice

Vs 1 on the dock and the others are 10gb

Then one of these enclosures with ssd for Time Machine backups

https://a.co/d/bOEjjbQ

So the $50 dock that puts both these things in one package with some caveats seems appealing.. still on the fence as the reviews seem hit OK but I feel like most complaints might be around it being non functional without an ssd in it or video issues
Last edited by DJ_SAMMY_D December 27, 2024 at 07:51 PM.

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