F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Check if your Thunderbolt expansion card works with your motherboard.

Check if your Thunderbolt expansion card works with your motherboard.

Check if your Thunderbolt expansion card works with your motherboard.

A
AC0DER
Junior Member
3
05-15-2021, 02:46 AM
#1
I'm an audio engineer and producer seeking expert advice. I'm aiming for the least latency possible with an external sound card and recently bought a Thunderbolt 3 card from Universal Audio. Excited about this upgrade. My motherboard lacks native TB3 support, so I ordered an expansion card – the Alpine Ridge Gigabyte model worked best for fitting with my Gigabyte B560 HD3 board. Interestingly, the seller emailed me saying my board isn't listed in their compatibility guide even though it's from the same manufacturer. My board features two Thunderbolt headers labeled "THB_1" and THB_2, an open PCIe 4 slot, and Thunderbolt compatibility info. I'm confused because Gigabyte's site doesn't specify which Thunderbolt generation it supports, and the header labels seem to restrict it to versions 1 and 2. I've searched online but found little help. PCpartspicker doesn't show Thunderbolt expansion options either. If I can't resolve this, I might need to switch to newer Mac Mini models, which would affect my gaming compatibility. I'd rather keep using PC. Any guidance? My Intel i5 11600k, Gigabyte B560 HD3, Tforce Vulcan, DDR-4 2x8GB.
A
AC0DER
05-15-2021, 02:46 AM #1

I'm an audio engineer and producer seeking expert advice. I'm aiming for the least latency possible with an external sound card and recently bought a Thunderbolt 3 card from Universal Audio. Excited about this upgrade. My motherboard lacks native TB3 support, so I ordered an expansion card – the Alpine Ridge Gigabyte model worked best for fitting with my Gigabyte B560 HD3 board. Interestingly, the seller emailed me saying my board isn't listed in their compatibility guide even though it's from the same manufacturer. My board features two Thunderbolt headers labeled "THB_1" and THB_2, an open PCIe 4 slot, and Thunderbolt compatibility info. I'm confused because Gigabyte's site doesn't specify which Thunderbolt generation it supports, and the header labels seem to restrict it to versions 1 and 2. I've searched online but found little help. PCpartspicker doesn't show Thunderbolt expansion options either. If I can't resolve this, I might need to switch to newer Mac Mini models, which would affect my gaming compatibility. I'd rather keep using PC. Any guidance? My Intel i5 11600k, Gigabyte B560 HD3, Tforce Vulcan, DDR-4 2x8GB.