ASUS X99-A compatibility with Thunderbolt Expansion Card and Windows 10

[CTrap33]

I am trying to determine if this Thunderbolt Expansion card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813995027

is compatible with this ASUS motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132261&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Also, whether or not the Thunderbolt card is compatible with Windows 10.

According to the expansion card product description, the answer to both of these questions is "no".

However, the motherboard does have a thunderbolt header. So, there seems to be conflicting info. I can't imagine that there isn't a newer BIOS available that makes Windows 10 compatible with the card.

If they are not compatible, do I have any other options besides getting a motherboard that is listed as compatible?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Karsten75]

Did you even bother to look on Asus website: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessories/ThunderboltEX_II/

where your motherboard is NOT listed and there is a specific footnote that says:
*ThunderboltEX II series add-on cards are compatible with selected motherboards only.

 

[CTrap33]

Did you even bother to look on Asus website: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessories/ThunderboltEX_II/

where your motherboard is NOT listed and there is a specific footnote that says:
*ThunderboltEX II series add-on cards are compatible with selected motherboards only.

Of course I have. But like I said, the motherboard has an onboard Thunderbolt header:https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/X99A/specifications/. You might note on this product page that it does not list Windows 10 as being compatible with the motherboard. This is incorrect. Thus, these pages can be incorrect likely because they are not updated. I view them more as "out of the box" compatibility. More compatibility can be had through the release of new patches/drivers.

Moreover, the motherboard manual (http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA2011/X99-A/E10088_X99-A_UG_V3_U_for_web_only.pdf) specifically does list the ThunderboltEX II Series as compatible (page 10). So, again we have conflicting information.

I might think that there has been a patch which has fixed (enabled) compatibility. I've looked through the drivers and I can see a single reference to the Thunderbolt header. Also, under the Memory/Device Support tab, there was an update on 3-19-2015 that addressed new devices. Though I don't quite know what this description means.

 

[CTrap33]

Did some more digging from the Thunderbolt FAQ page and found this list of motherboards compatible with Windows 10:

http://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1013093/


I am guessing since it links to the Thunderbolt page that this confirms compatibility with both Windows 10 and the Thunderbolt card.

 

[Karsten75]

You did a lot of homework, and you ran into some of the very reasons I don't like, use, or recommend Asus motherboards (I love their monitors, though).

Their support pages are up to maggots. If you look on the Thunderbolt add-in card for driver downloads, there aren't any Win 10 entries. SO while an older driver may work, it's a crapshoot, since neither the motherboard nor the card lists one another as compatible - leaving me to surmise that there might be other cards that are, in fact explicitly compatible.

If I were in your position, I'd contact Asus tech support (good luck with that, also) and see if they will commit to supporting that card on that motherboard under Windows 10. I suspect your requirement is narrow enough that you may not find any other posters here on Tom's that can share experiences.

If you do get to hear from Asus, then please post back with their response, as well as ultimately your experience. It may be useful for those coming behind.

 

[CTrap33]

You did a lot of homework, and you ran into some of the very reasons I don't like, use, or recommend Asus motherboards (I love their monitors, though).

Their support pages are up to maggots. If you look on the Thunderbolt add-in card for driver downloads, there aren't any Win 10 entries. SO while an older driver may work, it's a crapshoot, since neither the motherboard nor the card lists one another as compatible - leaving me to surmise that there might be other cards that are, in fact explicitly compatible.

If I were in your position, I'd contact Asus tech support (good luck with that, also) and see if they will commit to supporting that card on that motherboard under Windows 10. I suspect your requirement is narrow enough that you may not find any other posters here on Tom's that can share experiences.

If you do get to hear from Asus, then please post back with their response, as well as ultimately your experience. It may be useful for those coming behind.

I'm going to roll the dice here and just test this myself. Since both components are ASUS, I cannot imagine them to be incompatible. We have one component indicating the answer is yes, and one that is questionable. It would be pretty ballsy to list the exact series card as compatible in the motherboard manual and have it not be the case. This is my opinion anyway. I'm not going to bother with tech support unless I find that the parts do not work. I have contacted Newegg with the question, though. Hopefully they might have an answer.

Maybe there is some other third party card out there, but the one I listed is the only one I could find. ASrock has their own brand as well.

 

[white174]

Hello!

Any luck getting the card to work? Ran into a lot of the same conflicting information and would love to hear about if you had any success? Thanks!

 

[CTrap33]

Hello!

Any luck getting the card to work? Ran into a lot of the same conflicting information and would love to hear about if you had any success? Thanks!

I decided to go with the ASRock X99 Extreme4 and the ASRock branded thunderbolt adapter. No issues. Asus support never got back to me about the compatibility question. Sorry, but that's the best answer I got. You might try emailing them yourself.