Home » USB4 40Gbps supports Thunderbolt Dock, graphics card external box Ryzen 6800U first test

USB4 40Gbps supports Thunderbolt Dock, graphics card external box Ryzen 6800U first test

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USB4 40Gbps supports Thunderbolt Dock, graphics card external box Ryzen 6800U first test

Although the USB4 specification has been published for a while, there has been no product updates on the platform and device side, and this time AMD Ryzen 6000 is likely to be the first notebook platform to integrate USB4 functions. The Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 laptop with Ryzen 7 6800U can indeed unlock the USB4 connection capability after the Preview BIOS update provided by AMD.

To put it simply, the USB4 specification is based on Thunderbolt 4. After all, Intel has also licensed Thunderbolt technology to USB-IF. The specifications will be divided into USB4 basic, Thunderbolt 4 and Ryzen 6000 USB4 specifications. For a detailed comparison, please refer to the table below.

The basic USB4 model only has a transfer speed of 20Gbps and does not necessarily support the PCIe transfer specification, while the Ryzen 6000 USB4 specification is basically the same as the Thunderbolt 4 specification, providing complete DisplayPort image transfer capability and PCIe 3.0 x4 transfer function.

The USB support is the same as USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 10Gbps. Of course, USB4 is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices and supports the use of eGPU external graphics boxes. In addition, AMD also added the function of PCIe device boot.


↑ USB4 base, Thunderbolt 4 and Ryzen 6000 USB4 spec comparison.

This time, Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 was used to measure the USB4 connection capability. For the external graphics box, OWC AKiTiO Node Pro was used to connect an external Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card. After connecting, wait for Windows to update the AMD XConnect driver before it can be used normally.

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When using an external Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card, Fire Strike can achieve a Legendary score of 22,726 points, and Time Spy can achieve a Legendary score of 13,675 points.

Ryzen 6000 USB4 allows notebook gamers to use an external graphics card box to upgrade the independent display, giving the notebook more computing and graphics capabilities. However, it is still in the Preview stage, and the stability and uncertainty of its initial use are high, and it will have to wait for AMD. The official release update shall prevail.


↑ Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 connected to AKiTiO Node Pro external Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card.


↑ Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 external Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card Fire Strike score.


↑ Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 external Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card Time Spy results.

Another external application of USB4 is Thunderbolt 3 Dock expansion. The test uses AKiTiO Thunder3 Dock Pro. The USB Type C port on the right side of the laptop can be used normally. The Dock expansion 10GbE LAN, SD card reader, USB, etc. can all be used. Normal use, and outputting the screen through the Dock’s DisplayPort are not a problem, of course, the laptop can also be charged through the Dock.


↑ Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 connected to Thunderbolt 3 Dock expansion.

Of course, USB4 connected to Thunderbolt 3 SSD can also obtain the fastest external transfer speed through PCIe channel. This test uses Thunderbolt 3 SSD: HP800, OWC Envoy Express and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 external box test.

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↑ Zenbook S 13 OLED UM5302 connected to Thunderbolt 3 SSD for high-speed expansion.

Thunderbolt 3 SSD HP800 can achieve a sequential read transfer speed of 2889 MB/s on USB4, which is quite close to the limit of Thunderbolt data transfer, but this SSD is too old and has a capacity of only 500GB, so the write speed is slow.


↑ Thunderbolt 3 SSD HP800。

OWC Envoy Express is a DIY Thunderbolt 3 SSD external box, but this box only supports the maximum speed of PCIe 3.0 x2, so the sequential read and write at 1620 MB/s, 1470 MB/s, also with the general Thunderbolt laptop test quite.


↑ OWC Envoy Express。

USB4 still only supports USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 10Gbps for USB transmission at the highest, so using a 20Gbps external box can only achieve sequential read and write performance of 1019.85 MB/s and 994.6 MB/s.


↑ USB 3.2 Gen 1 speed.

AMD Ryzen 6000 integrates the complete functions of USB4 and is more compatible with Thunderbolt devices. It does allow notebook users to have more convenient external expansion such as Thunderbolt Dock, DAS, SSD, and eGPU, but what about the huge surrounding ecology of Thunderbolt? Verifying compatibility is the biggest challenge.

source: amd-ryzen-6800u-rdna-2-zenbook-s-13-oled

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