ASRock launched Thunderbolt 4 AIC expansion card

ASRock today launched a new generation of Thunderbolt 4 AIC expansion cards, which can provide a complete Thunderbolt 4 connection for the host. Like the previous Thunderbolt expansion cards, the motherboard needs to have a corresponding Thunderbolt expansion pin (called TBT Header by ASRock). In addition, like the ThunderboltEX 4 expansion card launched by ASUS before, it also requires an external motherboard with a USB 2.0 interface.

The Thunderbolt 4 AIC expansion card is equipped with two Thunderbolt 4 interfaces (USB-C type), each interface has a bidirectional bandwidth of 40 Gbps, and can provide DisplayPort 1.4 pass-through output. There are also two standard DisplayPort 1.4 input interfaces.

Image: ASRock

Users can connect the video output signal of the graphics card to the Thunderbolt 4 AIC expansion card through a DP cable, and then perform video output. Up to five devices can be supported through the Thunderbolt daisy-chaining. According to ASRock’s introduction, this expansion card can support up to a single channel of 5K (5120 x 2880) @60Hz video output.

In addition, the Thunderbolt 4 AIC expansion card can also support the PD 2.0 protocol and can support 9V@3A (27W) and 5V@3A (15W) fast charging. According to ASRock’s data, this product currently only supports the use of Intel 500 series chipset motherboards, provided that the motherboard also needs a corresponding Thunderbolt extension pin.

ASRock has not announced the specific price for the time being, and it is estimated that it will be cheaper than similar products of Asus.