Mac Pro (Late 2013) Thunderbolt 2 Busses Question

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Mac Pro (Late 2013) Thunderbolt 2 Busses Question

Hi folks, this is my first post on the Community board.

I know the Mac Pro (Late 2013) has 3 Thunderbolt 2 busses. I would like to connect an audio interface which uses Thunderbolt 2 to one of the busses' ports. Two questions: First, if the Thunderbolt 2 audio interface is connected to one of the ports on say bus 1, and then a Thunderbolt 1 drive is connected to the second port (not daisy chained to the audio interface) also on bus 1, will everything run at Thunderbolt 1 speed?

Second, if the Thunderbolt 2 audio interface is connected to bus 1 and the Thunderbolt 1 drive is connected to bus 2 or 3, will it cause the audio interface to run at Thunderbolt 1 speed? I assume it won't as the busses are separated, but I want to make sure.

Thanks for any help offered!

Thanks

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Oct 23, 2024 9:46 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 23, 2024 10:14 AM in response to Xenolab

each bus has an independent amount of bandwidth, and stuff on different busses have no impact on each other.

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Answer 2

Xenolab Author

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Oct 23, 2024 10:37 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

OK, thank you, thats good to know! But my other question was, and using the diagram you posted... If a Thunderbolt 2 device is plugged into Bus 1 Port 1 and a Thunderbolt 1 device is plugged into Bus 1 Port 3 (both devices on the same bus), will the Thunderbolt device plugged into Port 3 cause the Thunderbolt 2 device plugged into the other port to run at Thunderbolt 1 speed?

Thanks!

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2024 3:28 PM in response to Xenolab

there is a fixed nominal 20 G bits/sec budget available for each Thunderbolt BUS. Any device will use up a porition of that budget, leaving less for the other devices, but NOT literally slowing it to Thunderbolt-1 speeds. if one device is a very high-end display, it has priority, and can take up to the ENTIRE budget of that Bus, leaving close to nothing for the other devices.

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