# OMG I'm so Confused....USB 3.1 gen 2, Thunderbolt 3, USB 4.0



## José Herring (Oct 8, 2020)

I'm so confused. Can somebody help me sort this out. 

If I get a Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface will I be able to use it on an AMD motherboard equipped with a USB 3.1 gen 2 or a USB 3.2 Gen 2 or the USB 4 protocol provided that these USB connectors use USB-C?


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## Kent (Oct 8, 2020)

José Herring said:


> I'm so confused. Can somebody help me sort this out.
> 
> If I get a Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface will I be able to use it on an AMD motherboard equipped with a USB 3.1 gen 2 or a USB 3.2 Gen 2 or the USB 4 protocol provided that these USB connectors use USB-C?


Thunderbolt is an Intel protocol. TB3 shares its physical connector with USB-C, but they're not the same thing.

Very few mobos allow AMD chips AND TB3. It's not impossible, but you'll have to make a careful purchase.


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## colony nofi (Oct 8, 2020)

The answer to your question is a definite NO and a maybe/sometimes.
No usb-3.x ports support tb3. They need to be tb3 ports to support tb3. (Like @kmaster pointed out, they just share a connection type - usb-c. )
Some USB 4 connections will support tb3. Definitely not all. It is a optional part of the usb4 spec.

It is confusing, but also provides some useful benefits. Some tb3 devices will drop to usb3/4 if there is no tb3 available on the port they are connected to. For harddrives etc, this is a really important little titbit of info / allows interoperability.


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## José Herring (Oct 8, 2020)

Okay thanks guys a little less confused now. Sufficiently not confused now to realize that I don't want any part of AMD and Thunderbolt.


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## José Herring (Oct 8, 2020)

So it will be Intel and Thunderbolt audio interface or AMD and PCIe interface. 

Checking out Lynx AES16e now.


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## jononotbono (Oct 8, 2020)

Your motherboard must have a TB3 header.

USB-C and TB3 share the exact same connector but they are a totally different protocol.

TB3 is 40gb and USB-C is 20gb. 

Regarding AMD and TB3, there are 2 motherboards currently supported by Intel. There is 1 for Threadripper. Do not buy a Motherboard thinking UBSC will allow you to use TB3. It won't. I've been through all this shite figuring out a PC build for myself and I want TB3 so I can use my UA Apollo as I love it. It means going Intel to be honest. There are a lot more choices.

Hopefully this all changes.

Regarding TB3 and USB-C

You can plug a USB-C device into TB3 and it will work. Butr emember that you will only have max 20gb speed. If you plug a TB3 device into USB-C, it won't work.

It's all a bit confusing. I went off the idea of buying AMD just because of the TB3 thing but I am hoping more TB3 options on AMD and Threadripper will appear.


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## José Herring (Oct 8, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> Your motherboard must have a TB3 header.
> 
> USB-C and TB3 share the exact same connector but they are a totally different protocol.
> 
> ...


What Intel did you end up with and how is it working?

Right now I'm leaning towards two things. Ryzen 5000 + Lynx AES 16 PCIe card. Or Intel 10850k (saved the money on a decent but lower cost Intel chip and get ready for the next gen intel in 2021) and UAD Apollo.


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## jononotbono (Oct 8, 2020)

José Herring said:


> What Intel did you end up with and how is it working?
> 
> Right now I'm leaning towards to things. Ryzen 5000 + Lynx AES 16 PCIe card. Or Intel 10850k (saved the money on a decent but lower cost Intel chip and get ready for the next gen intel in 2021) and UAD Apollo.



I haven't built one yet. I kind of settled on an i9 10980XE 18 core but I’m waiting to see what the next gen of CPUs are.

And to be honest, building a new computer in this climate right now is not sensible for me.


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## José Herring (Oct 8, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> I haven't built one yet. I kind of settled on an i9980XE 18 core but I’m waiting to see what the next gen of CPUs are.
> 
> And to be honest, building a new computer in this climate right now is not sensible for me.


I'm starting to feel the same way. Somebody tried to warn me but of course I didn't listen, but now that I'm trying to build it. Not such a good idea. 

My machine is just gotten so old, but I may just get a new audio card for it and upgrade some drives and hold on to it for another 6 months to a year and hopefully things will settle down a bit. 

One last option will be to get an Imac for the time being. Just need to find out if the Imac will accept my 3600mhz ddr 4 ram and My Nvme cards that I've already purchased for my new build.


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## Gary Williamson (Oct 9, 2020)

GIGABYTE B550 VISION D AM4 AMD B550 ATX Motherboard - Newegg.com


Buy GIGABYTE B550 VISION D AM4 AMD B550 ATX Motherboard with Dual M.2, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3, WIFI 6, Dual Intel GbE LAN, PCIe 4.0 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!




www.newegg.com





this AMD mobo advertises built in TB3


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## José Herring (Oct 9, 2020)

Gary Williamson said:


> GIGABYTE B550 VISION D AM4 AMD B550 ATX Motherboard - Newegg.com
> 
> 
> Buy GIGABYTE B550 VISION D AM4 AMD B550 ATX Motherboard with Dual M.2, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3, WIFI 6, Dual Intel GbE LAN, PCIe 4.0 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
> ...


Got excited for a moment but it doesn't have TB3 ports on it which is a bit misleading. Looks like it's usb 3.2 gen 2 type c, and you can stick TB3 in there and maybe it might work.


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## easyrider (Oct 9, 2020)

José Herring said:


> Got excited for a moment but it doesn't have TB3 ports on it which is a bit misleading. Looks like it's usb 3.2 gen 2 type c, and you can stick TB3 in there and maybe it might work.











B550 VISION D (rev. 1.0) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global


Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...




www.gigabyte.com






clearly states TB3

The Rev 1.1 Gigabyte boards x570 all have a TB3 header too...


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## José Herring (Oct 9, 2020)

easyrider said:


> B550 VISION D (rev. 1.0) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global
> 
> 
> Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...
> ...


It does, but if you look at the back panel it doesn't have TB3 ports. So color me suspicious. I'll check the manual and see what they actually mean.


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## José Herring (Oct 9, 2020)

Hmmmm.....This is interesting. 


Chipset+Intel® Thunderbolt™ 3 Controller:

2 x USB Type-C™ ports on the back panel, with USB 3.2 Gen 2 support
So it could be a TB3 connection that you could also but in USB 3.2 gen 2, rather than a USB 3.2 gen two that might accept some TB3 at a reduced bandwidth.


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## stixman (Oct 9, 2020)

My new build uses Asrock x570 creator with quantum tb3, I haven’t road tested yet as I am coming to the end of installing nearly 4tb of libraries!
I need ultra low latency so I am excited to see what this mean machine can do


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## colony nofi (Oct 9, 2020)

Oh there are def t/bolt implementations for AMD (and quite a few more in the pipeline on a number of boards)
I'm holding out for Zen 3 threadripper and then making decisions. I think i said elsewhere h here, but its worth repeating - supply chains indicate that next gen HEDT chips for intel have been canned....


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## José Herring (Oct 9, 2020)

stixman said:


> My new build uses Asrock x570 creator with quantum tb3, I haven’t road tested yet as I am coming to the end of installing nearly 4tb of libraries!
> I need ultra low latency so I am excited to see what this mean machine can do


$500 just the board. Yikes!!!! 

But, might be worth.

This one will still house the upcoming Ryzen 5900x I assume.

Hopefully in the next month some newer less expensive boards will be out for Ryzen. If not, then so be it.




colony nofi said:


> Oh there are def t/bolt implementations for AMD (and quite a few more in the pipeline on a number of boards)
> I'm holding out for Zen 3 threadripper and then making decisions. I think i said elsewhere h here, but its worth repeating - supply chains indicate that next gen HEDT chips for intel have been canned....


Yeah, I've given up on Intel. Right now they're just not in the game. They promised a new chip Q1 2021 but using the same 10nm architecture. I'm not holding my breath on these. They will be over priced, power consuming, heat dissipating dinosaurs on day of release. The next 7nm isn't scheduled until 2022. Damn, the clock must of broke on their "tik tok" release strategy.


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## Technostica (Oct 9, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> USB-C and TB3 share the exact same connector but they are a totally different protocol.
> 
> TB3 is 40gb and USB-C is 20gb.


USB Type C is the name of the connector and by itself that tells you nothing about bandwidth. 
Type C comes with everything from USB 2 through to USB 4 as well as TB3. 
USB 3 can be 5, 10 or 20 Gbs. 
USB 4 can be up to 40 Gbs. 
It's a confusing mess.


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## Technostica (Oct 9, 2020)

José Herring said:


> Yeah, I've given up on Intel. Right now they're just not in the game. They promised a new chip Q1 2021 but using the same 10nm architecture.


Those new chips will still be on a variant of their 14nm fabrication process but will be using a new architecture apparently. 
Whilst they may offer a performance uplift, being stuck at 14nm will be a major limitation.


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## mscp (Oct 9, 2020)

Hopefully this will help:



https://thunderbolttechnology.net/sites/default/files/IDF16_TBT3_SF16_CONBZ03_102f.pdf



Thunderbolt 3 *may* allow USB 3.1 protocol, but not the other way around. Also, TB3 allows daisy chain, something that will also be possible with USB 4.



José Herring said:


> If I get a Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface will I be able to use it on an AMD motherboard equipped with a USB 3.1



No.


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## rojarvi (Oct 10, 2020)

This is definitely a bad time to invest in TB3 inteface if you want to be able to switch between Intel and AMD platforms. It will take some more time to see how USB4 changes this - if AMD mobos get TB3 support with it. Spec says TB3 is optional with USB4. Until that I’d not put my money on TB3 interface.


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## colony nofi (Oct 11, 2020)

A quick note regarding the chip technologies mentioned here in this thread. 

7nm does not equal 4 x density of transistors compared to 14nm. Not even close. It’s both a specific single measurement within the lithography process and a marketing term which bares little resemblance to reality. 

There’s a great video which I’ll try link to tomorrow when back on my workstation which really explains chip manufacturing and the different variations between manufacturing processes.


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## TiagoG (Mar 2, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> I haven't built one yet. I kind of settled on an i9 10980XE 18 core but I’m waiting to see what the next gen of CPUs are.
> 
> And to be honest, building a new computer in this climate right now is not sensible for me.


@jononotbono where did you land in the end? I was going with an AMD but also have the same issue you did (UAD TB3 interface), so I'm now considering the i9 10980XE...


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