Thunderbolt 3 question

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marklcfc

Gold Level Poster
I recently bought a PC from PC Specialist, initially I wanted a PC that had Thunderbolt 3 but I was put Intel PC's and went ahead with a AMD Ryzen. I have since noticed that a new Thunderbolt PCIE 3 has been released, and it's compatible with my motherboard (TUF B550-PLUS)

ASUS ThunderboltEX 3-TR Expansion Card for Z490 (Intel 10th Gen CPUs)motherboard (PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, 2 x Thunderbolt™ 3 USB Type-C® ports with 100w USB quick charge, 2 x mini DisplayPort IN ports) : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy
www.amazon.co.uk

I was just wondering are these hard to install? I am now thinking its a shame I couldn't have had this installed with the original build as it looks like what I wanted.

Unfortunately the reviews are not good though, which is the case for most Thunderbolt cards for some reason, are they just not good with Windows?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
marklcfc said:
initially I wanted a PC that had Thunderbolt 3 but I was put Intel PC's and went ahead with a AMD Ryzen.
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Sorry confused by this, what were the specs you went for?

Thunderbolt is an intel technology and only available on intel platform.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
marklcfc said:
Oh right, I thought it is would work when I saw the compatibility list included my motherboard. I have a Ryzen 3600x on a B550-PLUS motherboard
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Where did you see your motherboard listed as compatible? Thunderbolt is a controller on the CPU, currently it’s an intel feature not available on other chipsets. The rumour is that they will be integrating thunderbolt and USB with USB 4 but that won’t be for a while.
 
M

marklcfc

Gold Level Poster
SpyderTracks said:
Where did you see your motherboard listed as compatible? Thunderbolt is a controller on the CPU, currently it’s an intel feature not available on other chipsets. The rumour is that they will be integrating thunderbolt and USB with USB 4 but that won’t be for a while.
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THUNDERBOLTEX 3-TR｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

ASUS offers different kinds of motherboard accessories including Thunderbolt™ expansion cards, M.2 add-on cards, and fan extension cards give DIY PC users better choices when it comes to building their perfect workstation or gaming rig.
www.asus.com www.asus.com
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Sorry Mark, I’ve just checked the ASUs product page and you’re absolutely right, this will work on B550 SO LONG as it has a thunderbolt header.

Let me just clarify if yours does?

This is all very new until now, intel have kept it exclusive to intel boards so forgive my ignorance.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Yep, just confirmed the board has a thunderbolt header! Well blow me, this is literally like the first time in about a decade that Intel have allowed AMD to their IP!

I’m truly impressed!

AFAIK, you just slot the board into the PCIe4 lane, and there will be one cable off it that plugs into the thunderbolt header on the motherboard, very easy to do, we can help you out if you have any difficulties.

It should work fine in windows, it’s been on some higher end intel boards for years now.

Price is steep but for having this facility on AMD that’s a true game changer!
 
M

marklcfc

Gold Level Poster
SpyderTracks said:
AFAIK, you just slot the board into the PCIe4 lane, and there will be one cable off it that plugs into the thunderbolt header on the motherboard, very easy to do, we can help you out if you have any difficulties.
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I've never installed anything before, the whole thing scares me as I once tried to add ram and pressed too hard and broke my motherboard, so daren't do the same again especially as I just paid alot for this PC and its working great so far
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
marklcfc said:
I've never installed anything before, the whole thing scares me as I once tried to add ram and pressed too hard and broke my motherboard, so daren't do the same again especially as I just paid alot for this PC and its working great so far
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Was that some time ago you broke the motherboard? All components used to be very sensitive, it’s just not the case any more. I remember when I started getting into building systems, at the shop I used to buy parts from, they had a photo of a CPU that had had too much pressure applied when applying the catch and the CPU had actually broken in two. That could never happen these days without undue force, literally talking about taking a hammer to the thing.

With a PCIe slot, the card simply lines up with the slot, apply gentle pressure until it slots in and that’s it. Then just screw in the fastening screw on where it fits with the case and attach the thunderbolt connector to the board.

9B264F3E-B078-4B70-831D-B98856D5496C.jpeg
 
M

marklcfc

Gold Level Poster
SpyderTracks said:
Was that some time ago you broke the motherboard? All components used to be very sensitive
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It was at least 10 years ago.
Does the thunderbolt card come with the cables that are needed and are any changes required in bios? I broke a computer fiddling in there once too :censored:
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
marklcfc said:
It was at least 10 years ago.
Does the thunderbolt card come with the cables that are needed and are any changes required in bios? I broke a computer fiddling in there once too :censored:
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You can't break a computer in the BIOS these days either, you can just "reset defaults" at any time within the BIOS, or reset the CMOS on the board itself and that does the same thing.

All cables will be included for attaching it internally. You'd need any thunderbolt cables for the devices you're going to attach to it.
 
M

marklcfc

Gold Level Poster
SpyderTracks said:
You can't break a computer in the BIOS these days either, you can just "reset defaults" at any time within the BIOS, or reset the CMOS on the board itself and that does the same thing.

All cables will be included for attaching it internally. You'd need any thunderbolt cables for the devices you're going to attach to it.
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Ok. If by chance I do manage to set it up, will adding this mean the computer needs more power to run? Will the motherboard run hotter too due to this?
 
AgentCooper

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
(I’m almost genuinely shocked that SpyderTracks didn’t know about this. One of his secret techno spies is going to be terminated with extreme prejudice over this scenario 🤭)
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
AgentCooper said:
(I’m almost genuinely shocked that SpyderTracks didn’t know about this. One of his secret techno spies is going to be terminated with extreme prejudice over this scenario 🤭)
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This is a monumental move by intel, I’m amazed it hasn’t hit my Flipboard feed, they’re usually pretty good! I shall be sending a stern email to the techno gods!
 
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