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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?
(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