Looking for Thunderbolt 3 Internal Card

[LimeCordil]

Hey Everyone,

 

I'm looking for an internal thunderbolt 3 card that's compatible with multiple types of motherboards (specifically Asus Z97-K and MSI Z370-A Pro).

 

I'm wanting to be able to use 2 Blackmagic Ultrastudio Minis. I've been using my MBP for them but it's struggling... badly. So let's attach it to the beefy Xeon PCs.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Most Thunderbolt 3 AICs are only designed for specific boards.

Asus has this, but you're not gonna get Thunderbolt 3 on anything lower than Z170: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessory/ThunderboltEX-3/

 

I can't find an AIC from MSI, though.

[LimeCordil]

13 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Most Thunderbolt 3 AICs are only designed for specific boards.

Asus has this, but you're not gonna get Thunderbolt 3 on anything lower than Z170: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessory/ThunderboltEX-3/

 

I can't find an AIC from MSI, though.

So you don't think there would be any hope for my Z97 rig?

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 minute ago, Limo1300 said:

So you don't think there would be any hope for my Z97 rig?

Not likely, but you could get Thunderbolt 2 cards for it.

[Dredgy]

The ultrastudio is thunderbolt 2 iirc so should be fine.

[LimeCordil]

8 hours ago, Dredgy said:

The ultrastudio is thunderbolt 2 iirc

Just spoke to Blackmagic and they said thunderbolt 2 onward works!

 

13 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

you could get Thunderbolt 2 cards for it.

Any recommendations for thunderbolt 2 cards?

[Dredgy]

3 minutes ago, Limo1300 said:

Just spoke to Blackmagic and they said thunderbolt 2 onward works!

 

Any recommendations for thunderbolt 2 cards?

There’s a reason why so many creative professionals use a Mac, and I’m betting most of it is because how well Apple supports thunderbolt/FireWire/the technology of the day.

 

I am in the same boat of trying to get a thunderbolt PC made and it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Your motherboard needs to have a thunderbolt header on it to even be able to plug in the expansion card.

 

Only Gigabyte and Asus have implementations for this so you’re out of luck with the MSI board. Of course Asus doesn’t have it on every board either which means you’re also out of luck with Z97-K. 

 

The only card that will work with Asus boards is this one which is discontinued and seems to demand a price premium, though you may be able to find one cheaper in the US.

 

To avoid replacing your entire system, you’d have to do a motherboard swap to a compatible board such as the Asus Z97-A and get the expansion card as well.

 

Is a horrible implementation.