DFrobot has recently listed the ADT-Link UT3G USB4 to PCIe x16 eGPU adapter featuring a PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 slot with 40 Gbps of bandwidth on their website. The module not only supports USB4, but it’s also compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 standards, meaning it can work with SBCs and mini PCs like the LattePanda Mu, V600 Alder Lake Mini PC, GEEKOM A7, and many others.
The converter is based on ASMedia ASM2464PD USB4 /Thunderbolt to PCIe accessory controller and features a 24-pin ATX connector for power and a USB-C (TB3/TB4/USB4) interface, as well as two switches and a jumper to set some additional things.
ADT-Link UT3G USB to PCIe Adapter Specifications
- Chip – ASMedia ASM2464PD USB4 /Thunderbolt to PCIe Accessory controller
- Type-C interface specifications
- Compatible with USB4, Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4
- Bandwidth – 40Gbps
- PCIe interface
- Card slot: PCIe x16
- Speed bandwidth: PCIe 4.0 x4
- Supported GPU
- NVIDIA series
- AMD series
- Power Supply – 75W via 24-pin ATX connector
- Working temperature – -20°C to 80°C
- Dimensions – 220x65mm
USB4 is based on the Thunderbolt 3 specification and theoretically should be compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices, and so does Thunderbolt 4. However, the actual specification of a USB4 port will depend upon implementation, which means slapping a USB4 sticker on any USB port does not make it fully compatible with USB4 standards.
As you can see from the above image the USB4 standards allow for a lot of shortcuts like 40Gbit/s Transfer speeds, Tunneled USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbit/s), Tunneled USB3 Gen T (10–80 Gbit/s), Tunneled PCI Express, meaning this all can be not included in the implementation and it still will be called a USB4.
More information about the UT3G USB to PCIe Adapter can be found on the DFrobot’s wiki page or the ADT-Link official page. ADT-Link also showcases how this device can be used with standard laptops and there’s also provides benchmarks and other details with an AMD Radeon RC 5700 XT GPU.
The UT3G USB to PCIe Adapter can be purchased from DFrobot for $129.00. The product is also available on Aliexpress for $108.76 and Amazon for $169.98. AliExpress and Amazon options include shipping.
Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
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Too bad no Oculink port.
Too bad? Almost nothing support it. This works with all Thunderbolt equipped devices, as well as anything with USB4.
No tiny fans on the chipset! Have we learned nothing in the last 20 years? Tiny chipset fans are always terrible, will always fail, and then the chipset dies from lack of cooling.
Why didn’t they choose to just put a larger passive heat sink on this?
It’s not needed, although a heatsink is. I presume this company did it because they expect people to add graphics cards and then heatsink might not be quite enough. I don’t disagree with you though. Other pictures on their site is showing it with just a heatsink though.
The biggest problem with chipset fans is they’re always proprietary crap and very hard to replace, this one follows a standard size and would be easy to replace no harm done
Is it really that surprising it can drive a 4090? Can’t graphics cards handle all the way back to PCIe 1.1 and only 1 lane?
Also it may work but you won’t get anywhere near maximum performance out of it. You would likely be better off saving money and going for a less powerful card.
It only supports a 75W load, and a 4090 has a TDP rating of 450W. The most it can drive a 4090 is idle power at best. Very misleading title, but it is still an interesting product development. The future of accessible external GPU solutions is looking brighter and brighter.
I assume you can just power the graphics card with a proper power supply, such as one shown in the photos. I have an eGPU from a few years back that runs on Thunderbolt 3, the board shown here looks identical to what was inside the eGPU and I had a 600W SFF P/S powering a 1080 and the eGPU board just fine. I would have tried my 3070, but the eGPU chassis is too small :*) The problem was the bandwidth over TB will never be as reliable as a direct PCI-E.
75W through PCIE port… like computer motherboards.
GPUs draw power from 6/8/12 pin connector.
Last time I checked that was exactly how they work on PC motherboards too. They get 75 W through the slot itself and then have separate power connectors to connect directly to the power supply. No different from this adapter. The 75 W power specification I am pretty sure is part of the PCIe specification.
This adapter doesn’t prevent you from connecting the main power connectors so you will still be able use the full power of the card by connecting the main power connectors, exactly the same as if you put it in a server or PC, you will just be bottlenecked by the PCIe connection.