Skip to main content

Thunderbolt 3 on the way to desktops with the Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH motherboard

thunderbolt 3 coming to desktops with the gigabyte z170x ud5 th motherboard z170xthunderboltmobo
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Back in June, Intel announced Thunderbolt 3, and now desktop users are going to get to enjoy the technology with the introduction of the Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH motherboard. This is the first desktop motherboard with announced support for Thunderbolt 3 over USB Type-C, though we expect to see more announced over the coming weeks and months.

What makes Thunderbolt 3 a worthwhile piece of technology is support for dual 4K displays running at 60 frames per second, or a single 5K display, and Power Delivery 2.0 for up to 36W. There are two USB Type-C ports installed on this particular motherboard. These ports are capable of achieving data speeds of up to 40 gbps, which is twice as fast as Thunderbolt 2. Compare that to USB 3.0, which is impressively fast in its own right at 5 gbps, and there’s a massive difference.

Aside from the two Thunderbolt 3 over USB Type-C ports, this motherboard also features HDMI 2.0 output for onboard graphics, four fast PCIe 3.0 ports for installing GPUs and other devices, and support for 2-Way SLI or 3-Way CrossFire. For storage, there’s 3 SATA Express connectors that promise data transfer speeds of up to 16gbps.

Users will also find 115dB SNR HD audio, LED path lighting along the board for a little extra visual style, high quality metal-plated sockets and ports, and pretty much all of the standard features we’ve come to expect from a high-end motherboard.

As one would expect, this new motherboard supports 6th-generation Intel Core processors, which is the way most new boards are going, with Intel moving new computers towards its latest chipset. Along with this, the latest DDR4 RAM with 4 DIMMs is on the Z170X-UD5 TH.

As of this writing, Gigabyte didn’t announce pricing or release information for the Z170X-UD5 TH board, though based on specs, it’s clearly going to sit on the high end of the spectrum.

Editors' Recommendations

Dave LeClair
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Dave LeClair has been writing about tech and gaming since 2007. He's covered events, hosted podcasts, created videos, and…
How to delete your Gmail account (and what you need to know)
The top corner of Gmail on a laptop screen.

Is it time to part ways with your Gmail account? Whether you’re moving onto greener email pastures, or you want to start fresh with a new Gmail address, deleting your old Gmail account is something anyone can do. Of course, we’re not just going to bid you farewell without a guide all our own. If you need to delete your Gmail account, we hope these step-by-step instructions will make the process even easier.

Read more
How to alphabetize data in an Excel spreadsheet
A Microsoft Excel icon in the dock on a Macbook.

Manually organizing data in Microsoft Excel is a real pain. That's why we don't recommend doing it. One simple task, learning how to alphabetize in Excel, is not necessarily as intuitive as we would like. Here's how to get things sorted in a logical, alphabetical order.

Read more
How to build a table of contents in Microsoft Word
Microsoft word document.

Navigating through a Microsoft Word document can be a tedious task for some. Assignments and contracts can lead to many pages that can be hard to keep track of. One solution Microsoft offers for this is a table of contents. In addition to providing an outline and general overview of the content, the feature gives the document a more professional look.

Here’s a guide on how to create a table of contents in Microsoft Word.

Read more