Although Intel Z77 board was released a couple of weeks ago, most were disappointed that Thunderbolt wasn’t integrated into the chipset although this technology has been on the Mac.
PC users wait is over as Intel’s DZ77RE-75K motherboard comes with the Thunderbolt interconnect, allowing faster transfer than before. USB 3.0 has transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s) and Thunderbolt is up to 10 Gbit/s.
The board’s Thunderbolt Technology Interface is supported by an Intel® L3310L CIO 10 Gb Controller.
The Thunderbolt controller connects a PC and other devices, transmitting and receiving information for both PCI Express and DisplayPort* protocols. The Thunderbolt controller switches between the two protocols to support communications over a single cable.
Thunderbolt technology is implemented on Intel Desktop Board DZ77RE-75K as a plug and play interface. No software drivers are required. A PCI Express x4 is linked from the Intel Z77 PCH to support the high bandwidth transfer of Thunderbolt.
Below is a picture of the box and motherboard.
