The GIGABYTE GA-X99-Designare EX motherboard is GIGABYTE X99 Refresh motherboard to be certified to support Thunderbolt™ 3. This gives enthusiasts that need the tried-and-true horsepower and reliability of the X99 chipset access to the world’s fastest connectivity protocol. Powered by Intel’s own Thunderbolt 3 controller, the new Thunderbolt 3 protocol is available over a USB Type-C™ connector on the back I/O of select GIGABYTE motherboards including the X99-Designare EX. Bringing an unprecedented single-wire bandwidth of up to 40 Gb/s -- twice more than the previous generation!
Support for Thunderbolt™ 3 on the GIGABYTE X99-Designare EX motherboard opens up a world of possibilities for enthusiasts or professionals using the X99 chipset. With the unmatched bandwidth that Thunderbolt™ 3 provides, enthusiasts can use new devices such as discrete GPU boxes, external quad M.2 drives, or U.2 expansion drives.
One of the main advantages of Thunderbolt™ 3 is its ability to carry a video signal, but as X99 platforms don’t have a GPU integrated in the CPU, the Thunderbolt controller needs to link with a discrete graphics card. In order to solve this conundrum, GIGABYTE designed the X99-Designare EX with a DisplayPort Input port on the back I/O allowing users to pair their devices with a USB Type-C connector (the required cables to connect the graphics card to Thunderbolt controller are bundled with the board).

• Chipset: Intel® X99 Express Chipset
• CPU: Supports Intel® Core™ i7 processors in the LGA2011-3 package
• Memory: 8 DIMMs, 4 Channel DDR4, supports up to 128 GB
• Thunderbolt™ 3, 1 Ports (40Gbps)