At Least Two Intel Thunderbolt Controllers Will Be Paired with Ivy Bridge

Apparently, Intel has begun shipping the second-generation Thunderbolt controllers codenamed Cactus Ridge.

That doesn't mean that Cactus Ridge is finally available to everyone who needs it though, and some PC motherboards have even had to hold off on their release because of it.

Still, the controller chips are now ready to meet the world, so to speak.

Two different chips will be used in mainboards intended to support Ivy Bridge CPUs: DSL3310 (two PCI Express lanes, 2.1W) and the DSL3510 (four PCI Express lanes, 2.8W, can be daisy-chained, supports multiple Displayport inputs and might even handle discrete graphics cards).

Other than these two, Intel is shipping the Port Ridge chip, DSL2210, the one that costs the least (for now), with no DisplayPort signal (no daisy-chaining), but still featuring two PCI Express lanes. The power need is 0.7W.

Posted in: Hardware, Preview