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๐ŸŒŸ startech.com thunderbolt 3 pcie expansion chassis with displayport and external pcie x16 slot for thunderbolt 3 devices (tb31pciex16) logo

๐ŸŒŸ StarTech.com Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Chassis with DisplayPort and External PCIe x16 Slot for Thunderbolt 3 Devices (TB31PCIEX16) Review

6

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Average

Revainrating 3.5 out of 5ย ย 
Ratingย 
3.7
๐Ÿ’ฝ Hard Drive Accessories, ๐Ÿ–ฅ Computer Accessories & Peripherals

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Details

Compatible DevicesAcer Aspire R13; Acer Aspire V15 Nitro; Alienware 13; Alienware 15; Alienware 17; Asus transformer 3; Asus Zenbook Pro; dell precision 15 7000; dell precision 17 7000; Dell XPS 12; Dell XPS 13; Dell XPS 15; HP Spectre x360; HP ZBook 15; HP ZBook 17; Lenovo IdeaPad Y900; Lenovo ThinkPad P50; Lenovo ThinkPad P70; macbook pro; macbook with usb c
See moreBrand
StarTechSeries
Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Chassis with DisplayPort - PCIe x16Specific Uses For Product
Personal, gaming, businessConnectivity Technology

Description of ๐ŸŒŸ StarTech.com Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Chassis with DisplayPort and External PCIe x16 Slot for Thunderbolt 3 Devices (TB31PCIEX16)

Expand your connectivity: Add an external PCIe (PCI Express 3.0) x16 slot and a DisplayPort connection to your Thunderbolt 3 equipped MacBook or laptop with this Thunderbolt 3 PCIe expansion chassis. High speeds: Experience increased productivity with Thunderbolt 3 and up to 40Gbps bandwidth which is twice the speed of Thunderbolt 2 (20Gbps) and eight times faster than USB 3.0 (5Gbps). Broad compatibility: For ultimate convenience, this Thunderbolt 3 external PCIe enclosure works with both your Mac and Windows computers so youโ€™re not limited to what systems you can use with the expansion box. Displayport connection: This Thunderbolt 3 PCIe expansion slot supports one 4K DisplayPort monitor, and a second extended monitor display through the Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port. Reliable support: Backed by 2-year warranty, this Thunderbolt 3 PCIe expansion chassis has free lifetime technical support.

Reviews

Global ratings 6
  • 5
    2
  • 4
    2
  • 3
    1
  • 2
    0
  • 1
    1

Type of review

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Ideal for adding PCIe to Thunderbolt 3 laptops

Used in conjunction with the StarTech Parallel Port PCIe card to allow Dell XPS 17 to power PlasmaCAM machines. Saved us from buying an entirely separate desktop computer to manage.

Pros
  • Glitter
Cons
  • Can be damaged

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Don't know about this gap but works very well

Product works as described, I'm curious if the gap to use these Decklink Duo Card 2 connectors seems to touch the PCI card and actually bend it. I'll probably grab a ribbon extension cable and move the card to a different lane for optimal space for cooling etc. Needless to say, it works very poorly and well with the drivers installed.

Pros
  • Special
Cons
  • Poorly thought out

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Works great mostly in HDD accessories

Very impressed with the build quality although I wish the fans were easily user replaceable. Map. When creating additional virtual interfaces for VLAN, there are no interface parameters in the Advanced -> Hardware section. In particular, manual selection does not offer speed and duplex settings. Could be a macOS bug, it works on Mac Pro 5.1 in this case but not on Mac mini over Thunderbolt. Cannot be tested with other cases.

Pros
  • Large selection
Cons
  • For old ones

Revainrating 1 out of 5

Manufacturing defects, StarTech does not guarantee

It's a great product in theory, but my Thunderbolt 3 ports aren't working reliably. They are loose and have only sporadic contact. This leads to PCIe errors and system crashes, making this a fairly expensive paperweight. I have attempted warranty service or a motherboard replacement to correct an apparent manufacturing defect in the connectors, but StarTech is refusing to honor the warranty, claiming that the serial number cannot determine the date of manufacture. Buyer Warning.

Pros
  • A dream come true
Cons
  • Available in white only

Revainrating 4 out of 5

It works out! at Hard Drive Accessories

I ventured the purchase of this item to use the Samsung 960 PRO Series - 2TB PCIe on my iMac Pro. As an adapter I used Ableconn PEXM2-SSD M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD to PCI Express 3.0 x 4 Host Adapter Card. I chose a non-StarTech adapter because Revain users rated it better at the time of purchase. My goal was to get the same, close to, or faster read/write speeds than my iMac Pro's internal storage. The good news is that the StarTech Thunderbolt chassis connected straight away. I only give 4 starsโ€ฆ

Pros
  • 1 Year Trial
Cons
  • Crumpled Packaging

Revainrating 3 out of 5

WILL NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS USB-C HOSTS (Mac only)

I had high hopes for this extension. My use case is simple: I want to enable Firewire on a new Windows 10 Pro x64 laptop with USB-C and USB 2.0. The main problem is that no laptop has a usable Firewire-capable hardware interface anymore. It used to be possible to enable Firewire via a PCI Express card and they went the dodo route too. Allen & Heath ZEDR16 mixer for Firewire only. Very good, very expensive, and I can't use it anymore because Firewire compatibility seems to be isolated only fromโ€ฆ

Pros
  • Great design
Cons
  • Terrible hardware