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dazed

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 23, 2007
911
211
Now that thunderbolt is out, could this mean we will never see an esata connection on the imac ?

If thunderbolt is as good as they suggest could this be the end of esata anyway ?
 
Definitely! With the video showing Thunderbolt speeds giving a real world 800MBp/s transfer rate, I think Thunderbolt is without doubt the future. The fact that it can take many forms as well and will be compatible with other interfaces through adapters and a big point being it is backed by Intel, then I'd say it's here to stay.
 
I read somewhere (macbook pro forum maybe?) that possibly in the near future that thunderbolt can be used to connect a video card. Not that I will need it as I will be getting a new imac when they come out, but would this be possible? I know it won't be easy, just curious.

I apologize if this is a stoopid question, just thought I'd ask.
 
Yes

Because thunderbolt can do "more" (has multi functions) and is faster

Woahh, wait a minute. You can connect a graphics card to thunderbolt? This would open up many doors to people with faulty graphics cards, or could imrpove performanec greatly :confused::confused::confused::confused:

Is this true!?!?
 
Woahh, wait a minute. You can connect a graphics card to thunderbolt? This would open up many doors to people with faulty graphics cards, or could imrpove performanec greatly :confused::confused::confused::confused:

Is this true!?!?

Oh sorry! I wasn't saying yes to the graphics card question, that is something I do not know
 
Woahh, wait a minute. You can connect a graphics card to thunderbolt?

No. CopperPeak is connected directly to the computer's video card so plugging a display into it will either add a display or switch the output to it.

CopperPeak maxes out at 800MB/sec, even the old AGP standard could do over 2000MB/sec. So a video card attached to it wouldn't even match the graphical power of a card from 10 years ago.
 
Woahh, wait a minute. You can connect a graphics card to thunderbolt? This would open up many doors to people with faulty graphics cards, or could imrpove performanec greatly :confused::confused::confused::confused:

Is this true!?!?

This is theoretically possible (maybe not in the current implementation, but in the future ones). The huge advantage of thunderbolt are not only the instance transfer speeds, but also the extremely low latency. Basically, its pci express which can be daisy-chained. If I understand it correctly, the interface also bypasses the usual device bus and is connected "directly" to the CPU and memory subsystem (this is one reason why it is so fast, and why it is not possible to make extension cards for it).

This is actually the reason why I have been very excited about Light Peek since the moment I first read about it :) It solves two big problems of modern computing: interface hell and extendability hell. With Light Peek, you can connect EVERYTHING to a single port, via a single cable, not worrying about speed, order of the connection or the kind of the device you are going to connect.
 
No. CopperPeak is connected directly to the computer's video card so plugging a display into it will either add a display or switch the output to it.

CopperPeak maxes out at 800MB/sec, even the old AGP standard could do over 2000MB/sec. So a video card attached to it wouldn't even match the graphical power of a card from 10 years ago.

Makes sense!
 
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