• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

ASUS Launches First Intel Thunderbolt Certified Motherboard

Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
4,784 (1.06/day)
Location
Still on the East Side
Further demonstrating its market leading innovation, ASUS has announced the launch of its P8Z77-V PREMIUM motherboard - the flagship of the P8Z77 Series and the first Intel certified motherboard in the market to offer the latest Thunderbolt connection interface. The PREMIUM designation has been reserved for only the best motherboards with the latest technologies, and the P8Z77-V PREMIUM maintains this standard. In addition to the onboard Thunderbolt connection on the P8Z77-V PREMIUM, ASUS also offers the same technology on the P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT to give consumers a wider range of choices.

"Intel and Asus have worked closely on the implementation of Thunderbolt technology onto Asus motherboards," said Jason Ziller, Intel's Director of Thunderbolt Marketing. "The P8Z77-V PREMIUM is the first Thunderbolt certified motherboard in the industry, a testament to its solid design and compatibility."





Thunderbolt and the latest technologies on board
The ASUS P8Z77-V PREMIUM is the first Thunderbolt motherboard to be certified by Intel, showing its strength in the industry. Thunderbolt is a new, high-speed I/O technology designed for performance, simplicity and flexibility, with lightning fast transfer speeds that are twice that of USB 3.0 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0. It offers simultaneous bi-directional, 10 Gbps transfer speeds over a single cable, with the flexibility to daisy-chain up to six Thunderbolt devices with a single connection for a clutter-free computing experience. Users can connect multiple Thunderbolt-enabled external storage drives to a Thunderbolt-enabled display and transfer files while watching HD movies, all without experiencing any lag.



Strength through cooperation
With its long history of working with high tech vendors, ASUS is able to show its strength and commitment to innovation with a close relationship to three of the leading brands currently producing products with Thunderbolt technology, Elgato, LaCie, and PROMISE.

"Elgato is delighted to work with ASUS to bring the world's first portable Thunderbolt drive to Windows," says Markus Fest, Elgato's CEO. "The powerful combination of ASUS' new PREMIUM board technology and the Elgato Thunderbolt SSD dramatically outperforms state-of-the-art portable USB 3.0 or eSATA drives."

"LaCie is pleased to work with ASUS to showcase the power of Thunderbolt technology in a Windows environment," said Erwan Girard, Business Unit Manager for Professional Solutions, LaCie. "Our solutions will deliver the unprecedented speeds and advantages of this technology to PC demanding users, especially those working in digital media applications who continually strive for more performance."

PROMISE is a leading supplier of sophisticated RAID storage solutions catering to customers from the enterprise to SMB, as well as SOHO and digital home applications. They currently offer the world's first Thunderbolt enabled RAID storage solutions and have previously worked with ASUS to develop a diversified portfolio to meet customer's requirements.

Premium features for a premium motherboard
The title of PREMIUM carries certain expectations, and as such, the P8Z77-V PREMIUM motherboard boasts several new features, such as true 4-way NVIDIA SLI and 4-way AMD CrossFireX on the latest PCIe Gen 3.0 slots for maximum graphics performance. Also introduced is advanced SSD Caching II, allowing users to cache additional frequently used programs and files using multiple SSDs to instantly upgrade system performance. A 32 GB mSATA based SSD is also onboard, enabling Intel Smart Response and Rapid Start Technology for super-fast boot up and resume times. Network traffic is expertly handled by a pair of Gigabit Intel LAN ports, ensuring lag free transfers and streaming entertainment.

Dedicated to providing the latest innovations, the P8Z77-V PREMIUM and P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT provides users with the best and most complete solutions available, such as DIP3 with SMART DIGI+ Power Control, Wi-Fi GO! and Fan Xpert 2.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
2,753 (0.47/day)
Location
Minnesota
The Premium is a rather attractive alternative to the WS. I'm quite surprised to see 4-way support from ASUS outside of the ROG and WS lines.
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,762 (1.91/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
cool
but the market will judge it
remember battle between usb and firewire? usb win coz many stuff come in usb than firewire so usb win by 'de facto'
now we have thunderbolt and usb 3.0
so let the market decide
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
2,820 (0.53/day)
Location
Midwest USA
System Name My Gaming System
Processor Intel i7 4770k @ 4.4 Ghz
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Impact (ITX)
Cooling Custom Full System Water cooling Loop
Memory G.Skill 1866 Mhz Sniper 8 Gb
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 780 ti SC
Storage Samsung SSD EVO 120GB - Samsung SSD EVO 500GB
Display(s) ASUS W246H - 24" - widescreen TFT active matrix LCD
Case Bitfenix Prodigy
Power Supply Corsair AX760 Modular PSU
Software Windows 8.1 Home Primeum
I can see why Asus released this board. To compete against the Gigabyte Sniper 3. But honestly.... Unless the price is $279 like the Sniper..... I see this board and no where near a competitor. It won't be 279$ if they do release it at that price no one will be buying the P8Z77 Deluxe.
Happy with my Sniper 3..... better board for less!
Plus the extra premium they will charge for thunderbolt. I don't need it :)
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
2,753 (0.47/day)
Location
Minnesota
I can see why Asus released this board. To compete against the Gigabyte Sniper 3. But honestly.... Unless the price is $279 like the Sniper..... I see this board and no where near a competitor. It won't be 279$ if they do release it at that price no one will be buying the P8Z77 Deluxe.
Happy with my Sniper 3..... better board for less!

I can see this easily going over $300 with Thunderbolt and the included SSD. Look at the price of the P8Z77 WS. It's already over $300 (which is an incredibly stupid move on their part.).
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
15,997 (2.26/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/5za05v
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
2,820 (0.53/day)
Location
Midwest USA
System Name My Gaming System
Processor Intel i7 4770k @ 4.4 Ghz
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Impact (ITX)
Cooling Custom Full System Water cooling Loop
Memory G.Skill 1866 Mhz Sniper 8 Gb
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 780 ti SC
Storage Samsung SSD EVO 120GB - Samsung SSD EVO 500GB
Display(s) ASUS W246H - 24" - widescreen TFT active matrix LCD
Case Bitfenix Prodigy
Power Supply Corsair AX760 Modular PSU
Software Windows 8.1 Home Primeum
I can see this easily going over $300 with Thunderbolt and the included SSD. Look at the price of the P8Z77 WS. It's already over $300 (which is an incredibly stupid move on their part.).

Exactly.... I know I own the Gigabyte Board .... and It's a great board so there might be a little Bias on my part. But if Asus Prices it above $300 your right.....it will be a hard buy considering there are equal boards for less. Plus if this one is over $300 what price will the Formula be? Asus is great... but not great enough to spend an extra $50 for the same technology
 

dickwyn

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2012
Messages
5 (0.00/day)
the premium is just really too expensive. it is expected to be around $450 which is pretty expensive. i think most gamers will got with ROG because not much have to do with thunderbolt for now
 
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
1,870 (0.32/day)
Processor RyZen R9 3950X
Motherboard ASRock X570 Taichi
Cooling Coolermaster Master Liquid ML240L RGB
Memory 64GB DDR4 3200 (4x16GB)
Video Card(s) RTX 3050
Storage Samsung 2TB SSD
Display(s) Asus VE276Q, VE278Q and VK278Q triple 27” 1920x1080
Case Zulman MS800
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic 650W
VR HMD Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest V1, Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 64bit
We knew far in advance that Intel Thunderbolt would only be included on the higher-end / premium price boards well in advance of even general Z77 motherboard availability. I think this is applicable to all manufactures with the exception of ASUS since they have Thunderbolt ready boards via their Thunderbolt "TB_Header" implementation on product motherboards stating in the ~$150 retail range (via the ASUS P8Z77-V LK and up).

So price isn't necessarily as much of an issue when it comes to Thunderbolt on ASUS motherboards. The ~$40 optional ASUS addin Thunderbolt card is likely awaiting certification like the Asus P8Z77-V Premium motherboard just passed.

With other manufacturers, either you pay the premium for their Thunderbolt motherboard or don't get thunderbolt support. With ASUS Thunderbolt is an optional addin on many of their cheaper boards. I call that a design win.
 

Fourstaff

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
10,020 (1.91/day)
Location
Home
System Name Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor 3570K // 10400F
Motherboard ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling Stock // Stock
Memory 2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s) LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
1,870 (0.32/day)
Processor RyZen R9 3950X
Motherboard ASRock X570 Taichi
Cooling Coolermaster Master Liquid ML240L RGB
Memory 64GB DDR4 3200 (4x16GB)
Video Card(s) RTX 3050
Storage Samsung 2TB SSD
Display(s) Asus VE276Q, VE278Q and VK278Q triple 27” 1920x1080
Case Zulman MS800
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic 650W
VR HMD Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest V1, Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 64bit
I can see why Asus released this board. To compete against the Gigabyte Sniper 3. But honestly.... Unless the price is $279 like the Sniper..... I see this board and no where near a competitor. It won't be 279$ if they do release it at that price no one will be buying the P8Z77 Deluxe.
Happy with my Sniper 3..... better board for less!
Plus the extra premium they will charge for thunderbolt. I don't need it :)

I'm not sure I understand. Does your Gigabyte board have Intel Thunderbolt support? If not what is the objective of the comparison to ASUS motherboards that do have Thunderbolt support?
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
213 (0.05/day)
System Name "Da Krawnik Six Hunnit"
Processor Intel i5 2500K @ 4.6GHz
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 EVO (B3)
Cooling H100i w/2x Bitfenix Spectre Pros + Bitfenix Spectre Pro Blue LED 1x 200mm + 1x 120mm
Memory Patriot Intel Extreme Masters Limited Edition 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 970 @ 1491MHz (Actual Boost) / 7.6GHz
Storage Samsung 840 EVO 250GB + 2x WD Green 2TB + 1x WD Green 1TB
Display(s) BenQ XL2430T 144Hz
Case Corsair 600T w/full custom 1/2" acrylic side panel
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
Power Supply Coolermaster Silent Pro 850w
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD (laser)
Keyboard Corsair K65 RGB
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Couldn't care less about benchmark scores.
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
1,870 (0.32/day)
Processor RyZen R9 3950X
Motherboard ASRock X570 Taichi
Cooling Coolermaster Master Liquid ML240L RGB
Memory 64GB DDR4 3200 (4x16GB)
Video Card(s) RTX 3050
Storage Samsung 2TB SSD
Display(s) Asus VE276Q, VE278Q and VK278Q triple 27” 1920x1080
Case Zulman MS800
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic 650W
VR HMD Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest V1, Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 64bit
Yeah,.....

Newegg now has the Asus P8Z77-V Premium motherboard for $449.99. In contrast the MSI Z77A-GD80 cost $269.99. Big difference. and IMO the MSI is more in line with Z77 boards whereas the Asus Premium is beyond the X79 prices.
 
Joined
Jul 1, 2005
Messages
5,197 (0.76/day)
Location
Kansas City, KS
System Name Dell XPS 15 9560
Processor I7-7700HQ
Memory 32GB DDR4
Video Card(s) GTX 1050/1080 Ti
Storage 1TB SSD
Display(s) 2x Dell P2715Q/4k Internal
Case Razer Core
Audio Device(s) Creative E5/Objective 2 Amp/Senn HD650
Mouse Logitech Proteus Core
Keyboard Logitech G910
cool
but the market will judge it
remember battle between usb and firewire? usb win coz many stuff come in usb than firewire so usb win by 'de facto'
now we have thunderbolt and usb 3.0
so let the market decide

Thunderbolt is not an ALTERNATIVE. It is effectively a tunnel.

There is no USB Vs. Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt CARRIES USB.


It is a tunnel interface for displayport+pci-E. You can put whatever else interface you want through it; SATA, USB, Firewire, etc, because you have an open ended pci-e connection on the other side of the thunderbolt interface.
 
Top