How important is USB 4.0 at this time?

S

Sprung

Weaksauce
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Dec 5, 2011
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I am not really finding many use cases. I remember on my last motherboard which was Z77 I made sure to get one of the few ones with thunderbolt and it never was used once in 10 years.
 
I use it almost everyday when I hook my laptop up to my docking station at the office.
 
It's generally more useful for laptops as USB 4.0 / Thunderbolt is nice to have for docking stations.
 
It's pointless for 99% of things. For most people, even the old USB 3.0 standard aka USB 3.1 Gen1 aka USB 3.2 Gen1 is fast enough for basically everything. Despite it's age, that still gives you 5Gbps, which is 5 times faster than Gigabit Ethernet and almost as fast as the fastest SATA standard (6Gbps). If you needed something faster, you'd already know it. It's nice that you have the option for very fast speeds without having to use more niche standards like Thunderbolt, but it's bad in that compatibility is somewhat of a shitshow because of how USB keeps pumping out new versions, difficulty in determining what speeds various cables are capable of, and the fact that USB tends to be fairly conservative in negotiating down to a lower standard for compatibility. USB-C is supposed to be emblematic of newer USB standards but in many cases speeds end up negotiating all the way down to 20+ year old USB 2.0 speeds. I'm also not personally thrilled about USB-A being depreciated on newer standards. USB-A is so ubiquitous and very reliable, I don't think simply abandoning it is the right move. USB-C is great compared to Micro-USB but it's still much more fragile than USB-A.
 
I think USB 4 is very important in that it gets us away from proprietary Thunderbolt and back to a "combo" that can do all things, like video and PCIe, etc. May make the concept of a Thunderbolt jack a thing of the past, you'll want USB 4 instead.
 
What are the main differences between USB C and USB 4? I'm more than happy with USB C and USB 3.2 right now but curious what I'd be missing out on with USB 4?
 
xDiVolatilX said:
What are the main differences between USB C and USB 4? I'm more than happy with USB C and USB 3.2 right now but curious what I'd be missing out on with USB 4?
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USB C is the form factor. I'm pretty sure USB 4 is still USB C.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
What are the main differences between USB C and USB 4? I'm more than happy with USB C and USB 3.2 right now but curious what I'd be missing out on with USB 4?
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You get (optional) Thunderbolt 3. You get (optional) "alternate" power deliver mode (one cable with display powering the computer). As mentioned already, you get PCIe over it in addition to DisplayPort. It's a faster version of what you have with a plethora of extra potential. USB-C is more about the connector here. And yes USB 4 means it will be Type-C style connector and all USB4 are powered.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
What are the main differences between USB C and USB 4? I'm more than happy with USB C and USB 3.2 right now but curious what I'd be missing out on with USB 4?
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USB-C doesn't guarantee anything. In many cases the cheap USB-C cables you see at dollar stores, etc, aren't even capable of anything beyond USB 2.0.
 
cjcox said:
You get (optional) Thunderbolt 3. You get (optional) "alternate" power deliver mode (one cable with display powering the computer). As mentioned already, you get PCIe over it in addition to DisplayPort. It's a faster version of what you have with a plethora of extra potential. USB-C is more about the connector here. And yes USB 4 means it will be Type-C style connector and all USB4 are powered.
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Oh nice if I ever do need one in the future maybe I'll just get in pcie add-in card.
Also I thought the latest USB C standard carried DisplayPort and power delivery through it also? One before USB 4 maybe? Not sure I've lost track of all the USBs LOL
 
xDiVolatilX said:
Oh okay I see so what is the latest USB C form factor spec but the one before usb4? What spec order does the USB C ones go in?
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USB-C is the connector system spec that defines the connector and cabling requirements. it's up to a Rev 2.2, according to wiki, but I'd be gobsmacked if you would be able to find any rev labeling on <fill in any device here>. USB-C doesn't mandate that the cabling be capable of anything beyond USB 2.0 speeds, however I believe it does mandate that the cable identify itself as to its capabilities. To the best of my knowledge, none of the revisions actually changed the physical connectors; they may have added or extended definitions and specs of the existing pins / wires.

The questions that I think you are asking relate to the USB interface standards, the ones labeled with hilarious names like USB 3.2 Gen1x2. Those are often conflated with the USB-C connector spec, but the two are two relatively independent things. For instance, a USB-C connector has up to 4 "SuperSpeed" differential pairs and a USB 2.0 differential pair. There's no specific definition of what goes through those wires, other than the electrical signaling specs. So, given a USB-C connector in a USB4 setup, none of the connector pins say "thunderbolt"; instead, protocols like Thunderbolt are tunneled through the existing transport wires. It's up to the chips and drivers on either end to agree on what's being sent through.
 
USB 4 sounds nice, but I don't have any devices currently that are more than USB 3.2, and most of them are just plain old USB 3. My Logitech webcam is only USB 2 and it's plenty fast enough to do video.
It's kind of the same deal with WiFi 6 or 6e. Nicer because it's faster, but I don't have any phones or tablets or other devices that go faster than WiFi 5.
 
USB4 is extremely fast and has lots of features.

I would consider USB4 to be a really really good normative standard, and ensure that everything I buy from now on is USB4. However, unless there is some extraordinary new upgrade, I think USB4 will be extremely long-lasting, and I would feel no need to upgrade to USB4.1 if it felt like a marketing grab. USB4 just represents the 2020+ technological era, and it makes sense to adopt this one in particular, due to the very common slowness or muddiness to USB 3.X. When I want a USB device, I always find it troublesome to wonder if I should specifically have to be looking for USB 3.0 vs USB 3.2 Gen 2 2x2 among other things, due to how products are often for sale, but not current gen.

USB 4 will simply set a speed, power, and feature threshold that seems very satisfying.

However, I have to admit that I don't have anything that's USB4 yet. I'm waiting for a new PCIe card to come out; one that's truly current-era, rather than one of those Thunderbolt 4 PCIe cards. I want pure USB4 in PCIe form, and once I see that for sale, I'll get it.
 
1337Goat said:
USB4 is extremely fast and has lots of features.

I would consider USB4 to be a really really good normative standard, and ensure that everything I buy from now on is USB4. However, unless there is some extraordinary new upgrade, I think USB4 will be extremely long-lasting, and I would feel no need to upgrade to USB4.1 if it felt like a marketing grab. USB4 just represents the 2020+ technological era, and it makes sense to adopt this one in particular, due to the very common slowness or muddiness to USB 3.X. When I want a USB device, I always find it troublesome to wonder if I should specifically have to be looking for USB 3.0 vs USB 3.2 Gen 2 2x2 among other things, due to how products are often for sale, but not current gen.

USB 4 will simply set a speed, power, and feature threshold that seems very satisfying.

However, I have to admit that I don't have anything that's USB4 yet. I'm waiting for a new PCIe card to come out; one that's truly current-era, rather than one of those Thunderbolt 4 PCIe cards. I want pure USB4 in PCIe form, and once I see that for sale, I'll get it.
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Yea I checked and there isn't any for sale that I can find. I may or may not be able to squeeze one in with the triple slot Gpu lol
 
USB went full retard long ago. The gen1/genwhatever renaming is the cherry on top. Because of how many types there are and how many shady companies make crappy cables it opens up a venue for the other shady companies that put exorbitant prices on "ok" cables. Confusion is good!
 
I started wondering about this when I saw the X670E round up. At this point in the video there is a good break down of key features: Specifications Round-up I was set on the Gigabyte Aorus Master to match the GPU I purchased, but he kind of talks the board down vs its competitors. I am starting to wonder if I might get one of the boards with USB 4.0 just to have it even if I don't use it.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
Oh okay I see so what is the latest USB C form factor spec but the one before usb4? What spec order does the USB C ones go in?
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Easiest to break USB down like this :
[Connector] A goes at one end, B the other. C goes anywhere.
[Protocol] Right hand numbers for the major version (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.), and speed variants within that
[Power Protocol] PD - only one name
 
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