How long before we can buy external graphics cards that utilize thunderbolt? It'd save me the hassle of having to build gaming PCs every couple years.
You can lease your card: http://cuttingedgegamer.com/
Thunderbolt
41–50 of 211 posts
Re: Thunderbolt
#42Wonder how many monitors this can push. Also, what will happen to Apples 30pin connector on their iPods,iPhones... I guess we will know Tuesday. Are there any external hard drives with thunderbolt yet?
The bandwidth is apparently entirely unimpressive. DisplayPort is currently at 17.28 Gbps, so Thunderbolt can push ... 0.6 monitors? ;) (In the worst case, at least) I have been excited about Light Peak/Thunderbolt for a year or so now, but in that time it seems the ambitions have become smaller, and the competition has developed as well.
Well possibly, if it's in displayport mode using all four lanes in one direction, it can push that much bandwidth. How much bandwidth does a 27" apple display use?
Re: Thunderbolt
#43Is this peer-2-peer like FireWire was or it is a client-server model like USB? I see people talking about this being copper or fibre. If this is fibre, then it can't supply power to the device like USB? I don't see that catching on for most portable devices (e.g. hard drives). It's extremely convenient to just have one cable for a device that needs connectivity and power when it comes to portable devices.
You can always have one optical fiber for data, and a metal conductor for power, wrapped up in the same cable / connector.
Re: Thunderbolt
#44So I guess the official branding of Lightpeak is Thunderbolt, even from Intel? And the standard connector (even outside of Apple products) is essentially Mini-Displayport?
I wonder if Apple will eventually replace the dock connector on the iPhone/iPad with Thunderbolt? That would be a compelling reason to upgrade: your music sync time would be freed of another bottleneck.
Of course, it kind of messes with the third-party accessory market, but I'm sure they'd love another reason to get people to buy new stuff.
Re: Thunderbolt
#45What happens if I plug a PC into another PC via thunderbolt?
Re: Thunderbolt
#46So the whole USB2.0/Firewire is going to repeat? Sigh.
Apple seems to be targetting a whole different sector with this technology. See Cringley's take on this (http://www.cringely.com/2011/02/attack-of-the-minis/) about how this technology could go into data centers. Interesting move by Apple.
Re: Thunderbolt
#47So the whole USB2.0/Firewire is going to repeat? Sigh.
I’m happily using my FireWire 800 port on my 2007 MacBook Pro. I don’t really have a problem with the competition.
(What’s nice for Apple is that this port isn’t exactly risky for them. If it doesn’t succeed their Macs have a glorified Mini DisplayPort with a lighting bolt symbol next to it. It might cost a bit more for them to add but that’s about it. It seems to me that only Intel has a problem if this fails.)
Re: Thunderbolt
#48So I guess the official branding of Lightpeak is Thunderbolt, even from Intel? And the standard connector (even outside of Apple products) is essentially Mini-Displayport?
I wonder if Apple will eventually replace the dock connector on the iPhone/iPad with Thunderbolt? That would be a compelling reason to upgrade: your music sync time would be freed of another bottleneck. Of course, it kind of messes with the third-party accessory market, but I'm sure they'd love another reason to get people to buy new stuff.
Also remember that the doc connector is a revenue source. I'm having trouble finding a source right now, but if I am remembering right Apple sells the actual dock connectors to accessory makers.
Re: Thunderbolt
#49Technically it seems nice, but what's up with reusing the "high voltage" symbol for this? And "thunderbolt" is a very tacky name...
I was surprised about the symbol as well. It's just a matter of time until someone gets hurt while trying to connect their peripherals to a transformer.
Perhaps true, but how exactly would you mate the connector with a high voltage power source without a massive amount of kludgery?
Re: Thunderbolt
#50It really seems to me a lot of this is about making your current peripherals obsolete so they can sell you new ones.