This is also a lot different compared to Apple’s Thunderbolt I/O found on the latest Macbooks and iMacs. It was a technology originally codenamed “Lightpeak” when it was being developed inside Intel laboratories. Apple merely brought it to market and trademarked the “Thunderbolt” name (further adding to the price premium). It is undoubtedly the next revolution in wired connectivity, delivering superior transfer rates and highly efficient power consumption on a unified mini-display port form factor. While some higher-end laptops and motherboards have begun offering Thunderbolt, only Gigabyte Technologies is taking the giant leap to delivering the technology to a wider audience.

The Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH is designed to provide Thunderbolt functionality to a mainstream motherboard. The GA-Z77X-UP4 features Gigabyte's new Ultra Durable 5 technology, utilizing high-current capable components for a much stable and successful overclocking performance. The pair of Thunderbolt ports in the rear supports up to 10 Gbps transfer rates, up to 12 Thunderbolt devices daisy chained together as well as a display monitor each port. Users who want to use Intel's SSD caching feature can install an M-SATA SSD onboard and run Gigabyte's EZ smart response application for a hands-free automatic setup. The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH also has three PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots supporting up to 3-way SLI/CrossFireX at 8x/4x/4x configuration.