You might not think that an external connectivity solution would have thermal issues to worry about, but Thunderbolt is quite literally a hot technology.

An infrared image of where a Thunderbolt cable plugs into our motherboard reveals temperature readings above 110o F, even when downstream devices are idle. Active, we see the cable exceed 120 degrees.
Of course, those temperatures are a result of the active Thunderbolt cable, with two Gennum GN2033 chips on each end. As information moves through the cables, the hard-working data transmission chips heat up and cause those more extreme readings.

Not surprisingly, more space-constrained applications, like our 13.3" MacBook Pro, demonstrate even more alarming thermal properties. In the shot above, the Thunderbolt cable is the one up in the 120o+ range. Next to it, on the left, you can see a FireWire 800 cable. On the other side, there's a USB 2.0 cable. Although those two interfaces look like they're giving off heat as well, they're actually being warmed by the Thunderbolt cable. Fortunately, only the ends of the cable heat up; everything in between stays cool.
Those lofty temperatures aren't a problem if you're using a mini-DisplayPort adapter. The display signal is already demuxed by the controller before it hits the adapter.

So, in comparison to USB and FireWire, Thunderbolt cables get pretty darned hot. But the heat dissipated only causes the plug to become uncomfortable to handle for any significant length of time, and they won't burn you (the same conclusion we reached about gaming on an iPad 3 at maximum brightness).
- Thunderbolt Finds Its Way To PCs
- Thunderbolt's Bandwidth: Sizing Up To USB 3.0, FireWire, And eSATA
- Thunderbolt Controllers: Five Flavors, All Intel
- Thunderbolt 103: Getting Inside The Controllers
- Not Quite Perfect: Troubleshooting Thunderbolt
- Active Thunderbolt Cables Are Hot Cables
- Paving The Way For High-Performance External I/O
http://semiaccurate.com/2012/06/06/intel-talks-about-thunderbolt/
because "thunderbolt" sounds much sexier than "HDBaseT " ?
and with apple, its all about the sexiness, not functionality/practicality.
and sata interface replace it.
For me Thunderbolt is the same song
I predict a sata 4 (12gb) or usb 4 ,soon
i can wait a couple of minutes for files to be copied on USB 3.0 which is universal and open standard .
thanks intel but ill pass
And if USB 3.0 is too slow, then use two of them (flashdrives in RAID 0 anyone?).
I was considering getting the new Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH for my new i7 build but, not because of the Thunderbolt ports, but rather, due to the alleged lower mobo temps, which I'm concerned about with our 85F (31C) indoor temps. I await a serious review. These new boards are supposed to be available by the end of June:
Gigabyte's Hardcore Thunderbolt Demo with GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Motherboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deImUH8aUHQ
Gigabyte Ultra Durable 5 at Computex, shows much lower temperatures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLggGetNR14
z77 Motherboard Discussion
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308058-30-motherboard-discussion
of course not = Intel