Hardware Will there ever be a 8x thunderbolt slot

[Dominator211]

I know what i am saying sounds crazy but as graphics card keep getting better a 4x slot may not be able to keep up in the future. I amalso just curious as to why there is nit any 8x slots out there. And if there us some limitation to it. Why not use two 4x slots. IE two thunderbolt or 1 thunderbolt and a m.2

 

[TotalInsanity4]

That honestly will most likely be Thunderbolt 4

 

[Dominator211]

That honestly will most likely be Thunderbolt 4

i mean yes most likely until controllers improve and throughput improves but i technically have 4 4x slots at my disposal and i would like to figure out how to make the best of them. I heard from a technician that it is ether the North-bridge or South-bridge that is the limiting factor

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Oh I see what you mean. I think the problem is that they all share bandwidth with each other, so while PCIe 3.0 4x is the max you'd get with only one Thunderbolt port occupied, it doesn't get any better than that and will only go up to that speed on all ports combined no matter how many things are plugged in. Think of it as though you're splitting a single PCIe slot into four parts and then plug four cards into that single slot

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Oh I see what you mean. I think the problem is that they all share bandwidth with each other, so while PCIe 3.0 4x is the max you'd get with only one Thunderbolt port occupied, it doesn't get any better than that and will only go up to that speed on all ports combined no matter how many things are plugged in. Think of it as though you're splitting a single PCIe slot into four parts and then plug four cards into that single slot

Except PCie slots are normally 16x or 1x.

I know what i am saying sounds crazy but as graphics card keep getting better a 4x slot may not be able to keep up in the future. I amalso just curious as to why there is nit any 8x slots out there. And if there us some limitation to it. Why not use two 4x slots. IE two thunderbolt or 1 thunderbolt and a m.2

I see no reason why not although it would require a higher pin count making 8x thunderbolt over USB-C not possible. But a dedicated thunderbolt port would solve that. But most machines with thunderbolt support these days do so over USB-C. Only Apple seems to have dedicated thunderbolt ports.

 

[Dominator211]

Oh I see what you mean. I think the problem is that they all share bandwidth with each other, so while PCIe 3.0 4x is the max you'd get with only one Thunderbolt port occupied, it doesn't get any better than that and will only go up to that speed on all ports combined no matter how many things are plugged in. Think of it as though you're splitting a single PCIe slot into four parts and then plug four cards into that single slot

each 4x is that and that only. I dont see why someone doesn't make a dock with two thunderbolt in to a 8x slot. but i guess that data will be split. there would need to be some development on that end

 

[TotalInsanity4]

each 4x is that and that only. I dont see why someone doesn't make a dock with two thunderbolt in to a 8x slot. but i guess that data will be split. there would need to be some development on that end

Are you positive they don't share a controller?

 

[Dominator211]

Are you positive they don't share a controller?

How would I tell?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

How would I tell?

You'd have to look at a spec sheet. But that's what I'm saying, you otherwise wouldn't. However, what you're proposing would pose the same issue as if someone designed an external SSD that could pull from multiple USB 3.0 ports for double the speed; if you plugged both cables into ports that share a controller (and therefor, bandwidth), as is common with most consumer devices, you'd see virtually no benefit. Since individual TB controller cards are rather expensive to the end user, I'm guessing that most peripheral manufacturers are counting on said consumers only having the one included on the motherboard. And, as I've said, if that's the case, then no matter how many ports your device has, you won't see a benefit between using one and any number of more cables

 

[Dominator211]

You'd have to look at a spec sheet. But that's what I'm saying, you otherwise wouldn't. However, what you're proposing would pose the same issue as if someone designed an external SSD that could pull from multiple USB 3.0 ports for double the speed; if you plugged both cables into ports that share a controller (and therefor, bandwidth), as is common with most consumer devices, you'd see virtually no benefit. Since individual TB controller cards are rather expensive to the end user, I'm guessing that most peripheral manufacturers are counting on said consumers only having the one included on the motherboard. And, as I've said, if that's the case, then no matter how many ports your device has, you won't see a benefit between using one and any number of more cables

I would have to think the storage and external ports would be on 2 different controllers, becuase why would two nvme ssd share the same bandwidth. I have the hades canyon nuc if that makes it any easier

 

[TotalInsanity4]

I would have to think the storage and external ports would be on 2 different controllers, becuase why would two nvme ssd share the same bandwidth. I have the hades canyon nuc if that makes it any easier

That's not what I'm saying, I was making a comparison between the two scenarios

 

[Dominator211]

That's not what I'm saying, I was making a comparison between the two scenarios

They share a controller. It is what it is at this point

 

[TotalInsanity4]

They share a controller. It is what it is at this point

Correct. And you understand why that's an issue now, right? Cause if not I can draw a picture of what I'm talking about