Guide to using Apple Thunderbolt Display on new PC Builds

I have migrated from Mac to PC after 20 years. I am a 3D motion designer and, not being able to use Nvidia GPUs and ridiculously over-priced new Mac Pro's forced me to this decision.
First of all, I want to thank this community, especially @Alex Glawion and @Jerry James ,
million times! I don't know what and how would I do if this community's support doesn't exist. Especially when you are an ultra-noob for PCs after a life-time in Mac.

And in my new voyage, I desperately want to keep using my two Apple Thunderbolt Displays. I luckily find this community first, then read tons of other geek forums, reviews and watched YouTube videos to buy the right PC parts that will able to work with displays.

- If you want to use your Apple Thunderbolt Display with a modern PC motherboard & GPU, no converters or adapters will work to use it in standard display outputs. Apple Thunderbolt Display is not just a regular monitor, it is a Thunderbolt device and needs a Thunderbolt supported output. So, you need a Thunderbolt expansion card and a motherboard with a Thunderbolt header on it.
- Apple Thunderbolt Display doesn't work with the Titan-Ridge card. You need the Alpine-Ridge card. My choice was Gigabyte Alpine-Ridge (rev 2.0).
- If you want to use an X570 motherboard that supports AMD Ryzen 9 CPU with high-end Nvidia GPU (maybe 2 GPUs for farming), all of the brands except ASRock drops support Thunderbolt. ASRock X570 motherboards have a Thunderbolt header to connect this expansion card (not all of them, still check the specs for a Thunderbolt header). My choice was ASRock X570 Taichi.
- The Mini Display ports on the Alpine Ridge are inputs to connect your Alpine-Ridge to your GPU or motherboard. So you also need an "Apple Thunderbolt-3-to-2 adapter". Then you will be able to connect your Thunderbolt Display to the card's Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) output.
- As for drivers, unfortunately, the current driver file Gigabyte provides on their website is a bit old. Under today's date, the most current Alpine-Ridge driver Intel provides is 17.4.80.94. You can download it with a Google search and install it. There is no obligation to download only from Gigabyte's website.
Yes! Apple Thunderbolt Display device works with modern motherboards, high-end CPUs, and high-end GPUs, only if you carefully select the right pieces of equipment.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing, mate I've stickied it to the forum so other members who want to find information about using Thunderbolt displays can find your guide easily.

kerim said:

I have migrated from Mac to PC after 20 years. I am a 3D motion designer and, not being able to use Nvidia GPUs and ridiculously over-priced new Mac Pro'

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Very helpful, thanks for the insight!

Thanks for your input. I am using Supermicro X10Dal-I which supports Thunderbolt 2 by add on chip AOC-TBT-DSL5320. I did everything as you mentioned. In my case i have to connect the display port from my GPU 2080 Ti to the thunderbolt card. But the software doesn't show my thunderbolt display.

Thanks for your input. I am using Supermicro X10Dal-I which supports Thunderbolt 2 by add on chip AOC-TBT-DSL5320. I did everything as you mentioned. In my case i have to connect the display port from my GPU 2080 Ti to the thunderbolt card. But the software doesn't show my thunderbolt display.

Ayirus said:

Thanks for your input. I am using Supermicro X10Dal-I which supports Thunderbolt 2 by add on chip AOC-TBT-DSL5320. I did everything as you mentioned. In my case i have to connect the display port from my GPU 2080 Ti to the thunderbolt card. But the software doesn't show my thunderbolt display.

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Do you also use the relevant converter for your Thunderbolt Display? "Apple Thunderbolt-3-to-2 adapter"
Do you mean Windows 10 itself as "software doesn't show my thunderbolt display" or you expect to see it in a specific software?

kerim said:

Do you also use the relevant converter for your Thunderbolt Display? "Apple Thunderbolt-3-to-2 adapter"
Do you mean Windows 10 itself as "software doesn't show my thunderbolt display" or you expect to see it in a specific software?

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This is a Falcon Bridge chip. It's a direct thunderbolt 2 port. No need for conversion. I have installed the software intel thunderbolt software. I have tried the same version mentioned by you as well but it didn't show the device

kerim said:

Do you also use the relevant converter for your Thunderbolt Display? "Apple Thunderbolt-3-to-2 adapter"
Do you mean Windows 10 itself as "software doesn't show my thunderbolt display" or you expect to see it in a specific software?

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I made it work with the software TBT_Win7_32_64_Win8.1_64_2.0.4.250 I was using a different software possibly the one for thunderbolt3. Thank you very much for the quick response. Your post really helped me.

Thank you for the insight, but also this means that if I have a motherboard with Thunderbolt support like the B550 VIsion D-P, it will not work with the Apple Thunderbolt Display? And I still need an expansion card from Gigabyte? As, IIRC, the B550 motherboard uses Titan Ridge

Thomas N said:

Thank you for the insight, but also this means that if I have a motherboard with Thunderbolt support like the B550 VIsion D-P, it will not work with the Apple Thunderbolt Display? And I still need an expansion card from Gigabyte? As, IIRC, the B550 motherboard uses Titan Ridge

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Having Thunderbolt support and having Thunderbolt port (input interface) is not the same thing. Do you motherboard has only a Thunderbolt header? If yes, so you need an expansion card to connect to that header, and that expansion card gives you ports (hardware interface) to connect your Thunderbolt devices.

For BB550 Vision, it seems to me that you don't need that expansion card.
Also this was not the case for B550 mobos, that problem is with the X570 mobos which dropped support.

kerim said:

Having Thunderbolt support and having Thunderbolt port (input interface) is not the same thing. Do you motherboard has only a Thunderbolt header? If yes, so you need an expansion card to connect to that header, and that expansion card gives you ports (hardware interface) to connect your Thunderbolt devices.

For BB550 Vision, it seems to me that you don't need that expansion card.
Also this was not the case for B550 mobos, that problem is with the X570 mobos which dropped support.

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So I have the B550 vision DP. I am using Ryzen 5950x and I have a G shuttle that uses TB3. I am not getting it to work. I have done all of the troubleshooting from DP in, chipset driver update, bios update, tb control center from intel. Sometimes it works but if I try to use it (like transfer files) it eventually crashes and the PC restarts. If I plug the drive into the usbc front panel of my PC, it works normally with no issues. My Asus thunderbolt display also doesn't with with the thunderbolt outputs. What could be the issue. Would I experience the same issue if I get the pro art B550 offerings from Asus?

kerim said:

Having Thunderbolt support and having Thunderbolt port (input interface) is not the same thing. Do you motherboard has only a Thunderbolt header? If yes, so you need an expansion card to connect to that header, and that expansion card gives you ports (hardware interface) to connect your Thunderbolt devices.

For BB550 Vision, it seems to me that you don't need that expansion card.
Also this was not the case for B550 mobos, that problem is with the X570 mobos which dropped support.

Click to expand...

So I have the B550 vision DP. I am using Ryzen 5950x and I have a G shuttle that uses TB3. I am not getting it to work. I have done all of the troubleshooting from DP in, chipset driver update, bios update, tb control center from intel. Sometimes it works but if I try to use it (like transfer files) it eventually crashes and the PC restarts. If I plug the drive into the usbc front panel of my PC, it works normally with no issues. My Asus thunderbolt display also doesn't with with the thunderbolt outputs. What could be the issue. Would I experience the same issue if I get the pro art B550 offerings from Asus?

ZeroSoul said:

So I have the B550 vision DP. I am using Ryzen 5950x and I have a G shuttle that uses TB3. I am not getting it to work. I have done all of the troubleshooting from DP in, chipset driver update, bios update, tb control center from intel. Sometimes it works but if I try to use it (like transfer files) it eventually crashes and the PC restarts. If I plug the drive into the usbc front panel of my PC, it works normally with no issues. My Asus thunderbolt display also doesn't with with the thunderbolt outputs. What could be the issue. Would I experience the same issue if I get the pro art B550 offerings from Asus?

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This is beyond what I experienced in my case. Out of my knowledge. Sorry.
You should ask this to Gigabyte Tech Support, and also in their forums. I believe you will get a clear explanation.

ZeroSoul said:

So I have the B550 vision DP. I am using Ryzen 5950x and I have a G shuttle that uses TB3. I am not getting it to work. I have done all of the troubleshooting from DP in, chipset driver update, bios update, tb control center from intel. Sometimes it works but if I try to use it (like transfer files) it eventually crashes and the PC restarts. If I plug the drive into the usbc front panel of my PC, it works normally with no issues. My Asus thunderbolt display also doesn't with with the thunderbolt outputs. What could be the issue. Would I experience the same issue if I get the pro art B550 offerings from Asus?

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I have the "strix z590-i gaming wifi" mobo with a thunderbolt port on it and my thunderbolt displays will also not work, nor will the intel TB software detect any thunderbolt devices connected (only for the display, haven't tested any other devices). pretty crazy how little information there is on this type of issue.

running windows 10, thunderbolt enabled in BIOS and intel thunderbolt software and drivers both installed.

trufflegouda said:

I have the "strix z590-i gaming wifi" mobo with a thunderbolt port on it and my thunderbolt displays will also not work, nor will the intel TB software detect any thunderbolt devices connected (only for the display, haven't tested any other devices). pretty crazy how little information there is on this type of issue.

running windows 10, thunderbolt enabled in BIOS and intel thunderbolt software and drivers both installed.

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my display is an asus 17" thunderbolt display to clarify

What about Gigabyte GC-MAPLE RIDGE (rev. 1.0) thunderbolt 4 card ? Will Thunderbolt display work with this new Gigabyte card?