Why is Thunderbolt 3 a rarity on desktop computers?

1

Most recent higher-end laptops seems to have a Thunderbolt 3 connection. However, this does not seem to be case for recent motherboards or graphics cards for desktop computers.

I know that one application of Thunderbolt 3 is connecting external GPUs, which is a laptop-specific need. However, Thunderbolt 3 has other uses as well:

  • Seems to provide access to the PCI Express bus in general (although I do not know whether there is any other practical application for this than external GPUs).
  • Can provide a high-bandwidth video signal for external displays.

At least the latter would seem to be useful on desktop computers as well. Why is Thunderbolt a mostly laptop-only technology then?

Zoltan

Posted 2018-09-23T22:02:37.327

Reputation: 137

(This is primarily opinion) Re: Video Signal: Won't desktop motherboard already have multiple video output (VGA / DVI / HDMI / DP) - so there is little need for another one? TB3 is nice and small, which the compactness of that port is definitely a plus for laptop, but for a desktop PC that have built-in multiple-port video output... (and if you add a discrete GPU). Re: PCIe bus access - do you have a TB3 capable external drive? Exist, but rare. – Darius – 2018-09-24T00:24:24.427

Thunderbolt is primarily a data transfer, the fact it can connect to an eGPU, is due to the transfer speeds – Ramhound – 2018-09-24T00:41:24.097

Answers

1

It is not so much being a laptop-only technology but rather it just being that motherboards for desktop computers usually have multiple PCI-Express slots.

PCI-Express has many different hardware protocols and most motherboards for desktop computers often have;

  • At least one PCI-E x16/x8/x4 slot that is utilised by graphics cards, which already use the hardware standard outputs for current display input standards (HDMI/DVI-D/Display Port) and,
  • At least one PCI-E x1 slot for utilisation by storage expansions peripherals that use SATA Express or NVM Express.

angelofdev

Posted 2018-09-23T22:02:37.327

Reputation: 1 024

Asked: 2018-09-23T22:02:37.327

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Active: 2018-09-24T01:11:08.667