Back in December, we reported that Intel’s Maple Ridge Thunderbolt Four controller was delivery to prospects. We can now report that ASUS has unveiled a Thunderbolt Four growth card, the ASUS ThunderboltEX 4. It consists of assist for 100 W fast charging, features a 40 Gbps bi-directional change, and might assist as much as 8K extremely HD resolutions.
Since the launch of Intel’s Z590 chipset on socket LGA1200, we have seen a few of the extra premium fashions that includes Intel’s newest Maple Ridge Thunderbolt Four controllers. This is primarily a function we see on fashions wanting so as to add performance for content material creators. Native Thunderbolt Four is constructed into Intel Tiger Lake. Still, for motherboards with out Thunderbolt capabilities, the ASUS ThunderboltEX Four add-on card permits customers so as to add Intel’s newest Maple Ridge controller into current programs.
ASUS hasn’t unveiled a full record of technical specs on the time of writing. Still, we cross-referenced the specs we do know with Intel’s JHL8540 Maple Ridge TB4 controller, they usually match. The equipment embrace every thing wanted to get the ThunderboltEX Four operational, which implies customers would require a PCIe 3.zero x4 (or PCIe 4.zero x2) and USB 2.zero motherboard header out there, in addition to a 6-pin PCIe 12 V ATX energy cable free from the facility provide.
Adding not only one port however a complete of 4, the ASUS ThunderboltEX Four consists of two Type-C and two mini-DisplayPort inputs, which permit for as much as 5 units to be daisy-chained. This consists of as much as three units and two Thunderbolt screens, or 4 units and one monitor. The prime Type-C port consists of assist for 100 Watt fast charging and might even energy a appropriate pocket book, with the second Type-C port providing as much as 27 Watts of fast charging functionality. We also needs to word that the ThunderboltEX Four can accommodate screens with resolutions as much as 8K as a consequence of conforming to DisplayPort 1.4.
At the time of writing, ASUS hasn’t specified when the ThunderboltEX Four growth card might be out there, nor how a lot it would price.
Source: ASUS