GIGABYTE launches Thunderbolts 5 AIC with Thunderbolt 5 ports with Gen4 interface

GIGABYTE has just silently released its first Thunderbolt 5 add-in card (AIC) with the introduction of Thunderbolts 5, yeah... what an original name.

2

Inside, there's nothing much going on that differentiates Thunderbolts 5 from a regular Thunderbolt 4 card except that we have 3 x Mini DisplayPort inputs, and two USB Type-C outputs with up to 100W USB-PD charging thanks to the 6-pin PCIe power connector giving the GIGABYTE Thunderbolts 5 AIC some more juice.

GIGABYTE is tapping Intel's new JHL9580 "Barlow Ridge" controller, with native support for DisplayPort 2.1 and support of resolutions of up to 8K 60Hz, and data speeds of 80Gbps or a blistering 120Gbps in asymmetric mode. Intel's new JHL9580 controller uses a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, which matches ASMedia's new ASM4242 USB4 host controller, and a big upgrade from the PCIe 3.0 support on Intel's former Thunderbolt 4 controllers.

• Read more: Sabrent tests out its new Thunderbolt 5 external SSD: 6GB/sec+ at just 45C
• Read more: MAINGEAR ML-17 gaming laptop: up to 14900HX, RTX 4090, Thunderbolt 5
• Read more: World's first Thunderbolt 5 cable: 120Gbps speeds, 240W charging for $23
• Read more: Intel Thunderbolt 5 debuts with Arrow Lake CPUs: PCIe Gen4 x4 for external GPUs

Intel's new JHL9540 uses a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface with DP2.1 support, but at lower speeds, while both of the new Barlow Ridge controllers also support USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) which is something that previous Thunderbolt controllers didn't.

GIGABYTE Thunderbolts 5 AIC key features:

• Intel® Thunderbolt™ 5 Certified add-in card​
• Intel® JHL9580 Thunderbolt™ 5 controller​
• Dual Thunderbolt™ 5 Ports (USB Type-C™)​
• Deliver up to 80 Gb/s bi-directional bandwidth, or up to 120Gb/s single-direction bandwidth.
• Provides maximum support for DisplayPort™ 2.1 with 8K at 60Hz*​
• Daisy-chain up to 10 Devices (5 devices per port)​
• Support PD3.1 standard (up to 100W)