6 best uses of Thunderbolt 3

A Thunderbolt 3 port can be used to connect a wide range of peripheral devices to a computer. As the name implies, Thunderbolt is very fast, but more importantly, the Thunderbolt port is very flexible and uses a common USB-C connector to connect with most devices.

Among all the types of peripherals supported by Thunderbolt, the article decided to check out the top 6 types of devices that you can connect to your computer's Thunderbolt port.

Connect one or more monitors

Thunderbolt 3 supports connecting multiple monitors to a computer by sending video data via Thunderbolt cable using DisplayPort 1.2 video standards. This allows you to connect any display using DisplayPort or one of the compatible connection types, such as the mini DisplayPort.

Thunderbolt 3 supports connecting two 4K monitors at 60 frames per second, a 4K screen at 120 frames per second, or 1 5K monitor at 60 fps.

Thunderbolt doesn't stop with connecting DisplayPort-enabled displays. With the right cable adapter, HDMI monitors and VGA monitors are also supported.

High performance network

Thunderbolt supports Ethernet network protocols. This not only means that you can use the Thunderbolt to Ethernet converter cable to connect to the 10Gb Ethernet network, but also can use the Thunderbolt cable to connect the two computers together at a maximum speed of 10Gbs, in A super fast peer network.

Using peer-to-peer networking options is a great way to quickly copy large amounts of data between two computers, such as when you upgrade to a new computer and need to transfer old data. No more overnight waiting for copying to complete.

Storage based on Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt 3 provides data transfer rates of up to 40Gbps, making it a very attractive technology for use in high-performance storage systems.

Thunderbolt-based storage systems are available in a variety of formats, including single bus devices that can be used to boot computers, and often provide better performance than boot drives. inside.

Of course, you do not have to look for the highest performing storage subsystem. Thunderbolt 3 can allow you to use a large number of relatively inexpensive drives to create a large protected data storage. When computing needs require high availability memory, Thunderbolt 3 can help meet those needs.

USB memory

Thunderbolt 3 supports multiple connection protocols. So far, we have seen how high-performance storage needs and videos can be handled. Thunderbolt 3 also includes support for USB 3.1 Gen 2, as well as previous USB versions.

USB 3.1 Gen 2 provides connection speeds of up to 10Gbps, as fast as the original Thunderbolt specifications, as well as being rugged enough for most external storage and connectivity needs, which will satisfy many people's expectations. people with multimedia needs.

Connections to USB-based devices only use standard USB-C cables, sometimes included with USB peripherals. This, along with the lower cost of USB 3.1 peripherals, makes the Thunderbolt 3 ports on computers very desirable.

The speed of 10Gbps of USB 3.1 Gen 2 makes storage systems using this technology attractive because they have the bandwidth to fully utilize SSDs using SATA III connection. This type of connection is also a good choice for two-bay RAID enclosures (chassis for attaching physical drives) to standard drives or SSDs.

External graphics

People tend to think of Thunderbolt 3 as just a simple cable that can operate at high speeds. But the technology behind the Thunderbolt port is based on the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe 3) bus system used to connect computer components.

One of the components that often use this type of connection is the graphics card or GPU inside the computer.

Being able to connect an external graphics card to a computer allows you to easily upgrade your graphics card. This is especially true of laptops and all-in-one computer systems, which is difficult (if not impossible) to upgrade.

Adding external graphics cards is just one way that this technology becomes useful. Another way is to use an external graphics accelerator, which works with professional applications to speed up some complex tasks, such as rendering used in creating 3D models, images, etc. .

Dock

The last example is the Thunderbolt Dock. The docks are available in different numbers and types of ports. In most cases, the Dock will have a number of USB 3.1 ports, DisplayPort, HDMI, Ethernet, in and out links, optical S / PDIF, headsets, as well as a Thunderbolt 3 port so you can hook up devices Thunderbolt added.

Different Dock manufacturers have their own mix of ports. Some may add older FireWire interfaces or card reader slots, so it's worth checking through each manufacturer's recommendations to get the ports you need the most.

The dock also provides flexibility, allowing you to have multiple connection points that can be used simultaneously, reducing the need to plug in and unplug some cable adapters to connect to the peripherals you need.