Also check out our older write-up on docking options specific to Surface Pro

Or our newer write-up specific to 2x 4K@60Hz monitors for Laptop 3 and Pro 7.

Several customers asked about building multi-monitor workstations around various Surface Models including the flagship Surface Book 2 with the NVIDIA GTX 1050/1060 GPU. We investigated a few approaches that work across the Surface Book, Surface Go and Surface Pro lineup. There are unique trade-offs that are not easy to discern from manufacturer marketing materials. Common questions from customers regard:

Power supplies, USB type-C power delivery, charging ,and potential battery drain issues How to connect 4K monitors and ensure they run at 60Hz refresh rate rather than 30Hz for a lag-free experience Monitor performance on DisplayPort vs DisplayLink connections Availability of fully-featured USB-C docks vs Thunderbolt 3 docks Thunderbolt 3 docks won’t work properly on laptops that only feature USB-C support even though the physical connector is the same – so don’t buy a Thunderbolt 3 dock for your Surface! Cost-effective approaches to connect 3 or 4 external monitors

Hopefully this mini guide with several approaches will help our customers and the broader Surface community in choosing the right workstation components. If you’ve had good results with other approaches, please share in the comments.

1. Microsoft OEM Surface docking station for 1-4 external monitors

This approach uses the Microsoft OEM dock. On initial release, these docking stations were rather buggy but with firmware updates they provide excellent docking capabilities and are powering workstations for our customers in 30 countries worldwide. These docks provide a few key advantages but have disadvantages as well so are not for everybody.

Advantages:

Single cable for connectivity and power

Zero-insertion-force magnetically-aligned connector which is easy-to-use especially for folks with disabilities

Adaptable to seamless ergonomic drop-in vertical docking off the side of your monitor

Adds 4 USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, audio, and two mini-DisplayPort receptacles

Able to drive [4K@60Hz + 1080p60] or [2x 4k@30Hz] or [2x 1440p@60Hz] monitors directly via mini DisplayPort edit: Some Core i5 / Core i7 systems can run 2x 4K@50Hz or 4K@60Hz+4K@30Hz via custom resolutions with CVT-RB timings (see comment section for details) Additional 4k@60Hz monitors can be connected via add-on DisplayLink chipset devices using a USB 3.0 port however monitors connected this way may have a 3-6 frame lag (~50-100ms) and will not be suitable for gaming



Disadvantages:

Provides the SB2 Core i7 and SB1 Performance base models with 60 watts while the standalone OEM charger provides up to 95 watts (other models receive the same power as the OEM charger) For office and creative workloads like Photoshop, Premiere, SolidWorks, and ProTools, these docks work fine for the Core i7 Surface Book 2 models except for non-interactive batch rendering workloads or gaming where the battery may gradually discharge over ~5-6 hours. For more info see the power supply FAQ.

While one 4k monitor can connect at 60Hz and will work great for gaming, a second 4k monitor will only connect at 30Hz via a direct connection. An addon DisplayLink USB device (see below) is required to use two or more 4k@60Hz monitors; monitors on DisplayLink connections won’t work well for gaming due to a 3-6 frame latency.

A proprietary connector means the dock can only be used on Surface Surface.

Works with:

Surface Pro 3 / Pro 4 / Pro 2017 / Pro 6 / Pro 7

Surface Book 1 / Surface Book 2

Surface Laptop 1 / Surface Laptop 2 / Surface Laptop 3

Surface Go

Recommended products:

2. Universal USB-C and USB 3.0 docking stations for 1-4 external monitors

USB-C and USB 3.0 based docks are convenient but do not have a magnetically aligned zero-insertion-force connection so are more difficult to use. Many models may not be suitable for gaming since monitors are driven by DisplayLink chipsets or are limited to 30Hz at high resolutions.

Advantages:

Single cable for connectivity and power (USB-C models only)

Adds 4+ USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, audio, and 2 or more display outputs

Able to drive [1x 4k@30Hz] or [1x 1440p@60Hz] monitor natively via USB type-C alt-mode (USB-C models only)

Additional displays supported by built-in DisplayLink chipset or add-on dongle; monitors on these connections won’t work well for gaming due to a 3-6 frame latency and minor CPU-usage penalty.

Disadvantages:

Some not suitable for high-resolution gaming since monitors may be refresh-rate limited or may have lag during game-play due to being connected via a DisplayLink chipset; other workloads will work OK.

Many 3rd-party USB-C-based docks provide the SB2 Core i7 with NVIDIA GPU models with only 60 watts (the MS standalone OEM charger provides up to 95 watts) For office and creative workloads like Photoshop, Premiere, SolidWorks, and Protools, these docks may work fine except for non-interactive batch rendering workloads and gaming where the battery will gradually discharge over ~5-6 hours. For more info see the power supply FAQ. If you plug in the MS OEM power supply alongside the USB-type-C dock, charging via the USB-C dock will be disabled and full charge rate will be available on the MS SurfConnect proprietary port. However this eliminates the advantage of having a single cable for both power and connectivity.

Multi-cable solution for USB 3.0 docks (need to plug in power supply separately)

More expensive than MS OEM dock if you want 4k display capabilities or high power USB-C

Works with:

Any laptop or 2-in-1 with a USB 3.0 or USB-C port Surface Pro 2017 / Pro 6 / Surface Laptop 1/2 devices need a Microsoft OEM USB-C certified adapter to use USB-C docks



Recommended products:

There are dozens of brands of varying quality. Especially for USB-C based products, we recommend sticking with a name brand like Targus, Cable Matters, Plugable, HP, or Dell since these docks are typically USB-IF certified as well as UL/TUV certified for safety.

How to use with 3 or 4 external monitors:

Add a Plugable USB 3.0 4k@60Hz dongle for connecting two or more additional 4k@60Hz monitors via DisplayPort or the similar HDMI 2.0 dongle

3. USB-C portable hub/multi-port-dongle

Portable USB type-C hubs are a good option for folks on the go. But unlike Thunderbolt 3 hubs connected to Thunderbolt-capable laptops, most are unable to display 4k monitors at 60Hz. This is due to the inherent bandwidth limitation of USB type-C where you can either consume all the bandwidth with a single 4k@60Hz monitor or get 4k@30Hz and use the remaining bandwidth for USB ports, Ethernet etc. The exception are hubs designed to work with USB 2.0 devices rather than USB 3.0 devices. For these hubs, the USB devices run slower, but the monitor can run at full 4K@60Hz. 1440p and 1080p monitors will run at 60Hz no problem.

Advantages:

Portable

Inexpensive

Some feature optional 60w-100w charging via USB type-C power delivery when paired with a suitable USB-C power supply

Adds 3 USB 3.0 ports + Ethernet

Able to drive [1x 4K@30Hz] or [1x 1440p@60Hz] monitor natively via USB type-C alt-mode (up to 4K@60Hz on some hubs when used with USB 2.0-only devices)

Disadvantages:

4k monitor only runs at 30Hz (for USB 3.0 enabled hubs)

hubs running at 4K@60Hz can only run USB devices at USB 2.0 speed

Requires purchase of separate USB-C power supply for power delivery

Works with:

Any laptop with a USB-C port including Surface Book 2 and Surface Go

Recommended products:

Cable matters 201046 mini hub – if used exclusively with USB 2.0 devices, then this hub will run a monitor at 4k@60Hz it can also work with a separate USB-C power supply up to 60W to deliver power to your Surface. Similar models from Cable matters offer SD-card readers and different HDMI/DP/VGA port arrangements (202031, 201055, 201056, etc.)

Hootoo mini USB-C hub – dozens of other made-in-China brands appear to use the same circuit board layout as this model although most other brands do not advertise 00W charging

4. USB-C and USB 3.0 un-powered dongles for 2 monitors + Ethernet

For customers that just need to add monitors, a simple dongle will suffice. Models are available that connect via USB 3.0, USB-C with no difference in functionality.

Advantages:

Compact and simple to setup

Runs [2x 4k@60Hz] independent monitors via DisplayLink chipset

Has Ethernet

Disadvantages:

Multi-cable solution (need to plug in power supply separately)

Separate USB hub needed to add USB ports

Monitors connected via DisplayLink chipset based devices won’t work well for gaming due to a 3-6 frame latency and minor CPU-usage penalty.

Works with:

Any laptop or 2-in-1 with a USB 3.0 or USB-C port

Recommended products:

5. DisplayPort MST hubs

MST hubs are available which separate a single DisplayPort connection into two distinct DisplayPort connections supporting distinct images. Note that cheaper DisplayPort “splitters” will only mirror the same image on multiple screens.

Advantages:

Screens are run natively so there is no lag/latency compared to DisplayLink-based solutions

Disadvantages:

screen resolutions and refresh rates are often limited to 1920×1200 @60Hz

can only run a total of 3 screens (3 external or 2 external + Surface)

potential compatibility issues on older devices

high cost

No USB ports

Recommended products:

6. USB or mini-DisplayPort adapter for 1 monitor

For customers that just need to connect a single monitor, the best approach is a simple adapter.

Advantages:

Inexpensive

USB-C and miniDisplayPort models are suitable for gaming

HDMI 2.0 models also work for many VR/MR goggles at 90Hz (see Microsoft.com article for details)

Disadvantages:

Multi-cable solution (need to plug in power supply separately)

Need additional hardware to connect additional monitors and devices

Does not allow the USB-C port to be used for any other devices

Works with:

Any laptop or 2-in-1 with a USB or miniDisplayPort receptacle

Recommended products:

Advantages:

security lock

ability to change angle of Surface

HDMI and DisplayPort outputs

Disadvantages:

High price

need to remove keyboard before docking

Works with:

Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 2017, Surface Pro 6

7. Other Surface Specific Docks supporting multiple Monitors?

Let me know in the comments if you find any good alternates. Surface-specific Docks from Sabrent, ICZI, eTauro, Juiced, SurfaceKit, etc. only support a single monitor output and aside from their compact size, don’t seem any more capable than universal docks that work with other PC brands.

Notes:

It is important to note that Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C are not equivalent. While these two technologies share the same physical connector, Thunderbolt 3 has a specification for more data bandwidth and is able to support more features like multiple 4k@60Hz monitors natively. Some products may be advertised as supporting both Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C. Before purchasing, be certain which features are available on devices that only have USB-C like the Surface Book 2 rather than devices that have Thunderbolt 3 like the 2017 MacBook Pro.