ASUS has launched its P8Z77-V PREMIUM motherboard - the company's flagship model of its P8Z77 Series and the first Intel certified motherboard in the market to offer the Thunderbolt connection interface.

Thunderbolt is a high-speed I/O technology designed for performance and flexibility, with transfer speeds that are twice that of USB 3.0. It offers simultaneous bi-directional, 10 Gbps transfer speeds over a single cable, with the flexibility to daisy-chain up to six Thunderbolt devices with a single connection. Users can connect multiple Thunderbolt-enabled external storage drives to a Thunderbolt-enabled display and transfer files while watching HD movies.



Asus worked with with Elgato, LaCie, and PROMISE to bring Thunderbolt technology to its new motherboard.

Besides Thunderbolt, the P8Z77-V PREMIUM motherboard boasts new features, such as true 4-way NVIDIA SLI and 4-way AMD CrossFireX on the latest PCIe Gen 3.0 slots. Also introduced is SSD Caching II, allowing users to cache additional frequently used programs and files using multiple SSDs to upgrade system performance. A 32 GB mSATA based SSD is also onboard, enabling Intel Smart Response and Rapid Start Technology for fast boot up and resume times. Network traffic is handled by a pair of Gigabit Intel LAN ports.

The P8Z77-V PREMIUM as well as another Thunderbolt-enabled motherboard, the P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT, also feature Asus' DIP3 with SMART DIGI+ Power Control, Wi-Fi GO! and Fan Xpert 2 features.