Intel Thunderbolt Coming to Windows PCs in April

[Guest]

Thunderbolt could become much more available in April as Intel is apparently working with first-tier vendors to integrate the interface in their systems.

Intel Thunderbolt Coming to Windows PCs in April : Read more

 

[warmon6]

Jeez, about time! I was wondering when they would get thunderbolt to others.

 

[loomis86]

It's not TRUE thunderbolt anymore. Its plain old copper wires instead of fiber optic cables.

 

[eatfoodnow]

sweet, soon they'll develop some stuff that actually uses thunderbolt now that the technology is being brought to PCs.

 

[amk09]

Why did they have to go and get us all excited about light-peak last year and now in 2012 we are only getting the watered down version of it

 

[warmon6]

[citation][nom]loomis86[/nom]It's not TRUE thunderbolt anymore. Its plain old copper wires instead of fiber optic cables.[/citation]

Yeah, most of us already new that for months now. Intel decided that copper could handle the speed requirement + it's cheaper than optics so they went with that for now.

 

[iLLz]

[citation][nom]loomis86[/nom]It's not TRUE thunderbolt anymore. Its plain old copper wires instead of fiber optic cables.[/citation]

It certainly is TRUE Thunderbolt! It's not TRUE LightPeak. They figured out how to get the full 10Gbps speed on copper so it will be cheaper for us to buy. They won't need the fiber optic cabling until the spec gets bumped to 50 or 100Gbps. Also, I heard you can still get the fiber cabling but it will cost much more.

 

[SteelCity1981]

So i take it Windows 8 will not support Thunderbolt natively then since their hasn't been any mention about it.

 

[iamtheking123]

Meh....Firewire: The Sequel. Another port on my computer I won't use.

 

[nikorr]

I kind of like another option like T-bold.

 

[DSpider]

The Wikipedia article mentions something about PCI Express compatibility and DisplayPort at the same time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Thunderbolt

I wonder if they'll ever come out with some external (upgradable) GPUs which you can also use on laptops, netbooks (maybe even tablets) using this technology. Probably something resembling a HDD rack, but for GPUs. Hmmm...

 

[jn77]

This is funny.... I want to know where Firewire would be right now if we were using Firewire 3200, 6400 or 12,800.... and not Firewire 400 or 800. The thing is while all this is great on paper.... (like USB 2.0 was faster than firewire 400) In real life use, Firewire 400 blew USB 2.0 away in real life usage (day to day). ( Will I really get 10gb with thunderbolt?) prob, not.

 

[loomis86]

Aren't we due for a new USB standard? When does USB 4.0 come out?

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]iamtheking123[/nom]Meh....Firewire: The Sequel. Another port on my computer I won't use.[/citation]

Not quite. Firewire was a proprietary port. Thundrbolt not only has its own port but supports USB, DP, ePCIe as well as eSATA. Its more like USB 4.0.

 

[molo9000]

[citation][nom]iamtheking123[/nom]Meh....Firewire: The Sequel. Another port on my computer I won't use.[/citation]

Firewire was hugely superior to USB in both speed and "features". daisy-chained devices (no need for hubs), lots of power for external hard drives (45W I believe), dedicated hardware to manage communciation (USB relies on the CPU to manage all the low-level communication)...

The only reason it never caught on was that it was more expensive to implement than USB.

Thunderbolt might suffer the same fate.

 

[freggo]

Any word as to which OS will support it ?
i.e. all the way back to XP / Win2k or just Win7 and newer ?

 

[anonymous_user]

I suppose its a good thing Intel switched to copper wires else I'd hate to see what the fiber optic option would end up costing.

 

[southernshark]

I see this as a complete who cares????

 

[jkflipflop98]

I see the successor catching on like crazy. This one won't go too far I think. It's just here to win hearts and minds before the real show.

 

[madooo12]

[citation][nom]jimmysmitty[/nom]Not quite. Firewire was a proprietary port. Thundrbolt not only has its own port but supports USB, DP, ePCIe as well as eSATA. Its more like USB 4.0.[/citation]
is there a USB 4.0, gotta check wikipedia

 

[madooo12]

[citation][nom]madooo12[/nom]is there a USB 4.0, gotta check wikipedia[/citation]
Nope nothing on wikipedia

 

[rakeshsachdev2003]

Its launched in apple before and provides best speeds of 10 Gbps with co axial cables. But,still looking for devices which can be connected to thunderbolt port. But,It will definitely better than USB 3.0.

 

[jacobdrj]

Maybe this will allow Thunderbolt/ESATA enclosures to exist for easy implementation of externally bootable SSDs...

Right now, the only option is a Promise 1200 dollar RAID array... Not my idea of an affordable solution...

 

[jacobdrj]

[citation][nom]anonymous_user[/nom]I suppose its a good thing Intel switched to copper wires else I'd hate to see what the fiber optic option would end up costing.[/citation]
The irony here is that the widespread implementation of a fiberoptic technology would drive the prices for Fiber Optic wire down... Fiber isn't expensive because of the manufacturing process or the materials used to make it... In fact, the materials are much much cheaper than copper... The problem is that the demand is so low that there just are not enough manufacturers of Fibre to make it cost effective...

Economies of scale will inevitably reduce the price of FiOs. It is just a matter of time...

 

[dimar]

I really hope they provide enough power with this connector, so we don't need to use an external power supply for HDDs and whatever devices.