Anandtech reviews Z77A-GD80 (w/ Thunderbolt)

[cosmicjoke]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5829/a-first-look-at-thunderbolt-on-windows-with-msis-z77agd80/1

I've seen a lot of speculation on how a new mac pro would work w/ thunderbolt display and discrete graphics card, and apparently it does on MSI's new board w/ thunderbolt port that is "virtu enabled" or whatever, the thunderbolt display is plugged into the motherboard's thunderbolt port, and the nvidia gtx 680 card is headless.... anyways, thought some of you might be interested.

 

[ugru]

That is quite interesting...

Maybe we will not need "Mac Edition" GPU anymore...

Just stick any nVidia (or AMD) GPU in and send data to the monitor(s) through thunderbolt cable....that would be awesome...

 

[Wardenski]

How many displays use thunderbolt?

Surely you still need the appropriate drivers to get the GPU to function correctly, Apples support for GPUS is pretty woeful at the moment so I am not getting excited about this. Plus a TB cable is rather pricey.

Or am I missing something?

 

[kgian]

I wonder with that mobo a)can windows boot from thunderbolt drive? b)if you connect the thunderbolt display output can you use a 2011 imac as an external monitor?

 

[cosmicjoke]

How many displays use thunderbolt?

Surely you still need the appropriate drivers to get the GPU to function correctly, Apples support for GPUS is pretty woeful at the moment so I am not getting excited about this. Plus a TB cable is rather pricey.

Or am I missing something?

Well, I own two of these displays and have since become fairly interested in GPU intensive activities, so am now looking at potential solutions.... Really I just need rid of these displays lol, was not the wisest purchase by any means in retrospect, but there are at least 4 other people selling on craigslist for $800, which is the bare minimum I'd want from mine per display... So I feel like I'm just kindah stuck w/ them, waiting for technology to catch up. All new options are good options to me, hopefully that will be a new mac pro sooner than later.

 

[theSeb]

How many displays use thunderbolt?

Surely you still need the appropriate drivers to get the GPU to function correctly, Apples support for GPUS is pretty woeful at the moment so I am not getting excited about this. Plus a TB cable is rather pricey.

Or am I missing something?

Every display made today can be plugged in via thunderbolt. I manage to connect to hdmi and dvi inputs just fine through thundebolt outputs.