Thunderbolt GPUs

N

NoWorthWhile

n00b
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
24
Hi,

When Thunderbolt was anounced, there had been word of putting eGPU's connected via Thunderbolt.I believe Sony did a dock for a laptop just like that.

But I'm interested in the opposite.

I know motherboards are Thunderbolt enabled now, but to be honest, I don't think the iGPU is capable of driving 2-3 high resolution panels smoothly.

Is there any news about GPU's with Thunderbolt out? I think this can facilitate Eyefinity/NVSurround. One cable out of your pc, daisy-chaining a couple of monitors (+ usb hubs, mics, speakers, webcams...)

But I don't know if PCI-e is able to push 10Gbps up/down x2 + a high end GPU on x16 lanes?

Thanks for your comments.

Regards
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

Why would you want a pretty much 100% proprietary Apple interface that requires a overly expensive cable?

I can guarantee you there will not be a Thunderbolt port on any non-Apple discrete graphics card (and maybe not even then).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express
2.0 x16 - 4 gigabits/s each way (effective)
3.0 x16 - 8 gigabits/s each way (effective)
4.0 x16 - 16 gigabits/s each way (effective and estimated as it is not out)

There are some devices that are available for it - but it is and will stay a very limited market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Thunderbolt_compatible_devices
 
Last edited:
kcthebrewer, thank you for you reply.

The reason I would want it is because if I were (for instance) to go with 3 monitors, I'd need 3 cables + 3 Usb cables for each hub going to my PC. Thunderbolt could simplify this by needing only one cable.

Honestly, it's just esthetics more than anything else. But it could get functionnal I guess.
 
NoWorthWhile said:
Is there any news about GPU's with Thunderbolt out? I think this can facilitate Eyefinity/NVSurround. One cable out of your pc, daisy-chaining a couple of monitors (+ usb hubs, mics, speakers, webcams...)
Click to expand...

NoWorthWhile said:
The reason I would want it is because if I were (for instance) to go with 3 monitors, I'd need 3 cables + 3 Usb cables for each hub going to my PC. Thunderbolt could simplify this by needing only one cable.

Honestly, it's just aesthetics more than anything else. But it could get functional I guess.
Click to expand...

Even if you were to go with Thunderbolt, you would still be daisy chaining monitors for the video signal, so that's multiple cables. And honestly, would you really need to have USB going to/from all your monitors? I can see the convenience for stand alone hubs with Thunderbolt's large, and many bi-directional data lanes. But for the majority of peripherals out there (or rather, lack thereof), Thunderbolt is a bit of an overkill. It may be more aesthetic, but not real practical, at least at the moment.
 
NoWorthWhile said:
Hi,

When Thunderbolt was anounced, there had been word of putting eGPU's connected via Thunderbolt.I believe Sony did a dock for a laptop just like that.

But I'm interested in the opposite.

I know motherboards are Thunderbolt enabled now, but to be honest, I don't think the iGPU is capable of driving 2-3 high resolution panels smoothly.

Is there any news about GPU's with Thunderbolt out? I think this can facilitate Eyefinity/NVSurround. One cable out of your pc, daisy-chaining a couple of monitors (+ usb hubs, mics, speakers, webcams...)

But I don't know if PCI-e is able to push 10Gbps up/down x2 + a high end GPU on x16 lanes?

Thanks for your comments.

Regards
Click to expand...

GPUs with thunderbolt will not happen. Displayport supports nearly twice the bandwidth than TB (10Gbit for TB vs 24Gbit for DP) with more features (for displays) than thunderbolt does, so it is a moot point - thunderbolt is also pin compatible with mini displayport, although the waters are quite murky in this area. Thunderbolt display will not work on most mini DP's.

Thunderbolt is designed for different things. It isn't explicity designed for displays, but it is useful for external storage - but the cost is outrageous.
 
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