Precision 5810 or 3620 Thunderbolt card installed in PCIe Slot 1

If the Thunderbolt 2.0 PCIe expansion controller card is installed in the incorrect slot on the motherboard for the Precision T5810 or T3620, the card will not be recognized or function properly. This article provides additional information on this issue and guidance on proper installation for the Thunderbolt 2.0 card.

Thunderbolt 2.0 card installed in PCIe slot 1

A Precision Tower 5810 user reported that when he received his system, the Thunderbolt 2.0 card was not recognized by the Thunderbolt application and that the card did not function to its full capability.

It was determined that the card was installed in the PCIe 3.0 slot (SLOT 1). The Thunderbolt 2.0 card setup guide indicates that for proper operation the card needs to be installed into the PCIe 2.0 slot (SLOT 5) (Figure 1):

Figure 1: Installing the ThunderBolt 2.0 add-in card in Slot 5

Solution

The Thunderbolt Add-In-Cards Setup Guide indicates this card should be in PCIe slot 5 for both the Precision Tower 5810 and 7810. For the Precision Tower 3620, the Thunderbolt 2.0 card should be installed in slot 3 for it to function properly.

If you encounter this issue, ensure the Thunderbolt 2.0 card is installed in the correct PCIe slot.

Once the Thunderbolt controller card was installed into the correct PCIe slot, the card was correctly identified by the Thunderbolt application and functioned normally.