Comments

videoITguy wrote on 12/14/2014, 5:03 PM
I think there are several concerns here - are you asking about a pure MAC hardware system.? And if not, how is your Intel chipset setup made to support Thunderbolt? on the PC?

The most succinct answer I know there is no issue with the bandwidth. But this might depend on your lash-up and especially if you are in the limited edition Intel approved Thunderbolt. I have an Asus board with support but have not hooked up beyond the first connection as it is all I really need.
Rob Franks wrote on 12/14/2014, 6:38 PM
It's PC.
My Asus mobo has onboard thunderbolt.

I'm about out of sata ports (8 onboard) so I can go with a sata card or go with the thunderbolt. Not sure which would be better.
videoITguy wrote on 12/14/2014, 7:50 PM
You would only benefit well from Thunderbolt Level 1 if you plug in a Thunderbolt raid array (typically a $600 US box), and then of course require a raid array to distribute data out at Raid0 speed. Doubt you need that but?

On the other hand you can benefit well from USB3 external to Sata connected drives ( build your own - not the cheap manufactured USB3 portables). Direct Sata 6G will give you the best single drive performance providing you spec tightly on Hitachi or WD.
Rob Franks wrote on 12/14/2014, 9:56 PM
Not in love with the idea of external drives. I have 7 onboard sata drives now and would prefer to continue with internal based drives. The easiest way is probably just a pcie sata card. That would give me another 4 or so sata heads. Just wondering if it's worth taking advantage of the thunderbolt support I have.
videoITguy wrote on 12/15/2014, 8:13 AM
USB 3 off the Motherboard is just as reliable as Thunderbolt hanging - in fact there is really no distinction from running off the Sata6G internal in that regard. Thunderbolt would be chosen for the reason I specified above.
john_dennis wrote on 12/15/2014, 8:46 AM
"[I]Not in love with the idea of external drives.[/I]"

I'm not fond of having disks all over the work surface, either, but I do have some for portability. I was surprised that the Hitachi Touro Pro USB3 drive was faster than the internal disks in this test. As a portable, it doesn't get used as much as the other disks but I carry it with me all the time.

I considered Thunderbolt when I selected my motherboard but passed.