Thunderbolt 2 - PCI-E for new Mac Pro?

[WillFisher]

Hi there guys,

So where I work the Mac Pro 3,1 has given up and died after whats believed to be a motherboard failure. I'm currently looking at the New Mac Pro but realised it has no PCI-E connection. Is there a product that can do Thunderbolt 2 to PCI-E? I have a rather pricey audio interface and don't want to have to change.

Has anyone got any links to any? I've been googling but can't seem to find anything in the UK, or am I just googling completely wrong?

Thanks to all.

 

[nigelbb]

I have no personal experience with such boxes but a quick Google on "thunderbolt expansion box pie" finds plenty of hits e.g. http://www.sonnettech.com/PRODUCT/thunderbolt/index.html & http://magma.com/products/thunderbolt-expansion/

 

[jamesjingyi]

I have seen people use external GPUs in things like this http://www.akitio.com/expansion/thunder2-pcie-box so I'm guessing it would work with any other PCIE stuff as well?

 

[ActionableMango]

PCIe cards connected over Thunderbolt do not necessarily work as if they were plugged into a native PCIe slot. If I understand the problem correctly, the drivers for the card need to be Thunderbolt aware. So whether it will work or not is a case-by-case issue. Check with the manufacturer. Some PCIe Thunderbolt box makers I've seen actually list cards that it is expected to work with.

If it's not compatible, I suppose you'll have to get a new audio interface with Thunderbolt, or upgrade to a used 5,1 Mac Pro.

 

[AidenShaw]

If I understand the problem correctly, the drivers for the card need to be Thunderbolt aware.

One big part of being "Thunderbolt aware" is allowing hot-plugging of PCIe cards - something that's not common outside of high end x64 servers.

With T-Bolt - PCIe devices can come (when you return home and reconnect the cables) and go (when you unplug to go to work, or when those notoriously unreliable non-latching T-Bolt cables disconnect because you moved or bumped something).

It's really annoying if you have to reboot when you come to see the new devices, and even more annoying if you get a kernel panic when a device disconnects.