I do own a Dell XPS 15 9530 with kind of top-notch specs and I really like it. Of course, the first thing I did after turning it on was to remove the bloody Microsoft Windows 🤮! Hence, I got myself a well-working Linux Mint with Cinnamon installation. It works really good, I can also play some games on it and my productivity is increased.
Speaking of productivity, did I tell you about my screen setup? It's one of the best setups I've ever had. Bear with me to find how I managed to connect an additional full-HD screen and a 4K Samsung monitor at 240Hz refresh rate!
Now this laptop features 3 Type-C ports, one audio jack and an SD reader. In the package there's a USB hub included with HDMI output. Of course this supports only one external screen so I used an additional hub branded by ASUS. They do work somehow just that you will not be able to enjoy the 240Hz refresh rate supported by the Samsung monitor even in 4K mode.
The fact that you cannot activate the 240Hz refresh rate is due to limitations of HDMI and the intermediate hubs described above. More than that, HDMI does not support a refresh rate of 240Hz in 4K resolution. For 4K, it allows maximum 140Hz. You know that I'm an idealistic person so I wanted the full potential of the screen.
After doing a bit of research, I understood clearly that the best solution was to use a DisplayPort cable. I had one around but no hubs supporting DisplayPort. Then I also understood that you need DisplayPort 1.4 compatible cable and USB hub in order to make that work.
But you can find on the market Type-C to DisplayPort 1.4 adapters which will do the trick! I also decided to connect my ASUS full-HD monitor with a Type-C to HDMI adapter. Hence, I ordered the adapters and started to test the new setup!
I was really excited by the setup, just that I could not connect any normal USB devices and have the laptop charged at the same time. The reason is that 2 Type C ports were busy with the display adapters and the other one had one USB hub connected. The Dell laptop charges via Type-C, so one of the ports also needs to be an active charging port.
The caveat here is that not all USB hubs support charging and I managed to get a LINQ USB Hub which supports just that. I've had some hiccups with it, but they were fixed by a BIOS update.
Here's my final working setup of which I'm super proud:
Note: I also tried to use the LINQ adapter's HDMI output, but I know I had some issues with it so I preferred to use the Type-C cables instead.
There you go, I believe this is a very nice setup for my working laptop. There were some hiccups along the way since I needed to update the BIOS, the charging USB hub and the Type-C adapter which supports DisplayPort version 1.4. Let me know if this works for you and the challenges you might face, I'd be happy to help you. Use the contact form to get in touch! Cheers!