Gigabyte has announced its support for Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 technology by providing consumers with a BIOS update for the X99P-SLI motherboard. What makes this update interesting is due to the fact that it has enabled the X99P-SLI to become the world’s first X99 motherboard to have certified support for Thunderbolt 3.
Gigabyte’s announcement means that its X99P-SLI motherboard will now be capable of utilising devices such as an external graphics card enclosures and external quad M.2 or U.2 SSDs.
Thunderbolt 3 comes with several advantages; one of them being faster bandwidth speeds (up to 40Gbps) when compared against the older Thunderbolt 2 technology (up to 20Gbps). In addition to that, Thunderbolt 3 can also carry video signals, which can be utilised via the DisplayPort port on the X99P-SLI motherboard. This will allow users to connect up to six Thunderbolt devices that will be powered by the existing GPU inside their systems.
It is unknown whether or not Gigabyte will expand Thunderbolt 3 support across other motherboards it has recently manufactured. Nonetheless, those that are interested in the BIOS update for the Gigabyte X99P-SLI motherboard can do so here. A more detailed information about the X99P-SLI motherboard can be found here.
(Source: Gigabyte)
