After some googling I'm seeing that thunderbolt isn't compatible with older Mac Pros mother board and the PCIe is slower than thunderbolt so they don't make a card to go PCIe to Thunderbolt, at least on the mac side. I'm seeing talk that thunderbolt can be added to some older HP computers.
I see this card:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&O=&Q=&ap=y&c3api=1876%2C%7Bcreative%7D%2C%7Bkeyword%7D&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjfKBjvai1QIV0LrACh3E9gDBEAYYASABEgLsCfD_BwE&is=REG&sku=1064912
It shows under the specs:
Interface Thunderbolt 2
(Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 are compatible with each other) Data Transfer Speed 20 Gb/s Daisy Chain Yes Compatibility ExpressBox 1T
ExpressBox 3T
Roben 3TS
Roben 3TX
I don't understand what the compatibility specs mean. I see these ExpressBox etc... seem to be expansion chassis type boxes that connect to thunderbolt and then offer PCIe card slots etc... I don't see why I would go to the trouble of putting in a thunderbolt to PCIe card slot expansion box to then populate it with a card that goes back to thunderbolt. Perhaps it's a way of adding additional thunderbolt connections after the main computer's thunderbolt port has been taken up connecting to the expansion box?
I read some people say that some older HP computers could have thunderbolt added. I have an expansion chassis for my mid 2012 MacPro that I have yet to install. I plan to populate it with 2 TitanX GPUs to help with Resolve etc... So if some older HP computers can have thunderbolt added does that mean there is a PCIe card for them? If so would that card work in my expansion chassis? I'm reading that the older macs don't have the buss structure and or chip set necessary for thunderbolt but if I'm running an expansion chassis would that perhaps mask the incompatibility?
I would think if that could work I wouldn't get the full through put given the limitation of the PCIe buss but if the device would work and connect to a thunderbolt drive I could live with limited bandwidth.
I'm wondering if the above mentioned card would work in a standard PCIe slot in my expansion chassis or is there something special about those listed compatible expansion boxes that makes them work when a normal PCIe slot won't.
I do plan to add an esata and USB 3 card into the expansion chassis once I get the Titan X cards working. If it all works then I'll just have to find a way to deal with the chassis fan noise which may require changing out the muffin fans or getting a accoustic isolation rack. Just too much fun for one human to have.
Posted by: bigfish@pacbell.net
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