ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 with Intel® Thunderbolt™ 4 JHL 8540 Controller, 2 USB Type-C Ports, up to 40Gb/s bi-Directional Bandwidth, DisplayPort 1.4 Support, up to 100W Quick Charge.

Product Information

The internal connectors include a 6-pin PCIe power connector, USB 2.0 header, and a 14-1 pin Thunderbolt 3 header. The card has a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface that installs to an open PCIe x4 or higher expansion slot. Therefore, ensure you have an available expansion slot, Thunderbolt 3 header (TB_HEADER), and an internal USB 2.0 header on your motherboard. Accessories A thunderbolt header is a connection between the PCIe card and the motherboard. This connection is in addition to the PCIe bus and USB 2.0 header. There isn’t any definitive consensus on why these header cables are needed, and manufacturers seem to be silent on the topic. Still, they are most probably used for discrete graphic interfacing. They also ensure that a card is only used with the respective manufacturer’s motherboard, containing the header port required. What does daisy chain mean?

Two mini DisplayPort cables that draw graphics output from the motherboard’s or dedicated DisplayPort to the mini DisplayPort inputs on the adapter. Unfortunately, being late to the market with such a thing would have likely pressured many of those customers to other models or brands already. If you need TB, you need TB. If a company isn’t delivering on time, it’s sometimes best to move on. If a customer is willing to wait a year for features like this, they must not have needed it that badly.The card includes a Thunderbolt header (1 x 5-pin J1 header) and a PCIe x4 interface for connecting to your motherboard. Therefore, your motherboard must consist of the two slots to utilize this add-in card fully. Other ports include two Mini-DisplayPort (DP IN) slots that connect to your onboard graphics card. Accessories The internal ports include a Thunderbolt 3 header and a PCI Express 3.0 x4 interface, which connects to your motherboard’s PCI Express (x16/x8/x4) slot. Accessories Whether you’re looking for a Thunderbolt 3 PCIe card or a Thunderbolt 4 PCIe card, the following factors will help you find just the right adapter for your motherboard. Alternatively, if you’re considering a broader upgrade, you can get a motherboard with a built-in thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt PCIe Card Compatibility – Pin Layout

ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 is a Thunderbolt™ 4 add-on card that offers 40 Gbps bi-directional bandwidth, USB4™ device compatibility, and DisplayPort™ 1.4. It supports up to five Thunderbolt devices in a daisy chain and enables up to 100-watt USB-C® charging for laptops. We tested it against various external TB4 SSD models, and Samsung’s C34J791 TB3 34-inch ultra-wide QHD monitor (which can also daisy chain and looks to be on sale right now!).There are not many Thunderbolt 4 devices on the market yet, but seasoned manufacturers have released one or two products to whet the consumer’s appetite. Thunderbolt 4 also requires a more stringent compatibility spectrum, which might limit certain cards to certain motherboards. This means it’s a good idea to research the top products in the market and be absolutely sure that the card you are buying is compatible with your current hardware and provides the full range of functionality that you expect from a Thunderbolt 4 device. A 4K HDR monitor brings out more color and detail. You can also run a dual 4K setup at 60Hz. Alternatively, connect a single 5K or 8K monitor to play a growing number of titles that support these ultra-high resolutions. USB 2.0 cable for linking the USB 2.0 header on the motherboard card to the adapter’s USB 2.0 header.

The DisplayPort signal input by DP IN 1 can only be output via USB-C 1, and input by DP IN 2 can only be output via USB-C 2. Support up to 8K display (need to connect the DisplayPort of the motherboard or discrete graphics card to the DisplayPort Input port on the ThunderboltM4 8K card) Thunderbolt™ external capture device. Adding a Thunderbolt-enabled capture device to your setup can give your live-stream’s video quality a big boost.Connect additional accessories to your gaming rig for improved performance and functionality. Thunderbolt 4 ports support high-speed SSDs, gaming monitors, and external graphics. The Mini DisplayPort cables included in a Thunderbolt PCIe card enable display output from the Thunderbolt ports. Connect one of the Mini DisplayPort cables to the DisplayPorts on your GPUs and the other end to the DisplayPort inputs on the Thunderbolt PCIe card. Can I add Thunderbolt 3 to my motherboard? A Thunderbolt 3 PCIe slot lets you integrate Thunderbolt 3 technology in your PC without having to upgrade to an entirely new system. All the featured TB3 add-in cards in this post achieve the same thing of implementing Thunderbolt 3. Also, the disconnect sounds that Windows plays despite no activity in the logs and no devices actually disconnected, is a bit odd. It doesn’t stop a single thing from working. Just odd. Odd enough to bring the score down some more as it feels like something is broken despite everything working just fine (from what we can tell, at least).