Mostly functional without header connected with some caveats.Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge v1.0 (no longer in stock).100W PD capable when 1x PCIe-6 power cable connected.Similar to other boards, it may be possible to get this to work on mainboards without the 14-pin header by shorting (pin1) FORCE_PWR/GPIO3 to +3.3V on the mainboard proprietary 14-pin TB3 header suitable for compatible Asus mainboards.Other mainboard connectors that can transmit the PCIe protocol can be adapted to PCIe slots as well ( OcuLink SAS connector example). If you don’t have a spare PCIe slot or the PCI slots don’t work, but you have a spare M.2 NVME slot (not SATA) you can try using a M.2 nVME -> PCIe x4 adapter cable.In other cases, you may need to use the last slot on the mainboard to ensure that the AIB is communicating through the mainboard chipset. You may also need to change UEFI/BIOS settings to enable PCI lane bifurcation mode (x8/x8). Sometimes you’ll need to use the first slot on the board that is typically used for a GPU and connected directly to the CPU. Depending on the mainboard PCI slot topology, you may need to place the add-in card in a different slot.To connect your GPU output to the board’s input, you may need a 1 foot DisplayPort -> DisplayPort cable if one doesn’t come in the box.The board only supports a single DisplayPort signal – so only works with 1 monitor.Dell WYY76 ($65 list for Enterprise bulk ordering – Half height bracket).Dell M0W58 ($65 list for Enterprise bulk ordering – Full-size bracket).
![thunderbolt add in card no header thunderbolt add in card no header](https://fixthephoto.com/images/content/best-thunderbolt-pcie-card-asrock-thunderbolt-3-aic.png)
#THUNDERBOLT ADD IN CARD NO HEADER UPGRADE#
So collected below are a set of solutions to upgrade your Desktop PC to have either a USB-C with DisplayPort alternate-mode OR a Thunderbolt 3 output. A variety of inexpensive PCI express -> USB-C add-in-boards available, but most are not compatible with monitors connected to Docks because they lack DisplayPort Alt mode support.
![thunderbolt add in card no header thunderbolt add in card no header](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RwR6cfRG5J0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Many modern laptops feature USB-C or Thunderbolt-3 which makes Docking connectivity simple with a single connector providing power, data, and monitors.
#THUNDERBOLT ADD IN CARD NO HEADER SOFTWARE#
Recently I’ve received several requests from customers who want to share a Docking station with monitor/mouse/keyboard between a Desktop PC and a modern Laptop without using a software solution like Mouse without borders