Why are USB4 eGPU docks so much more expensive than Oculink ones?

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1

…especially when they’re technically worse. Seriously struggling to understand why.

I’m trying to build a usb4 dock for my bf using a spare psu and a gtx 1660 I had laying around for his aging zen 3 mobile 14" laptop and all the prices im seeing are easily double or more than the oculink dock I bought a couple months ago.

A couple months ago I got a used 650w psu and a primitive oculink to pcie x16 adapter board together for less than $100 and now the lowest prices im seeing for a usb4 version without a power supply are like $130-$170

Is it about signal translation? I would think that it would be balanced out by the low demand of Oculink in the consumer space.

2

Yep, thats mostly it. With OccuLink you just use a different connector for PCIe directly, no need to support USB and Hot Plugging.

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3

Wow. Yeah I knew Oculink was just an interface for native PCIe, but I didn’t think that USB4’s signal translation and feature implementation would contribute so much to the cost to make them vastly more expensive. I can’t help but think its also a supply and demand thing as most people don’t want to both with an m.2 oculink adapter and basically every laptop has a usb4/TB3+ port at this point.

4

Oculink docks are simpler, being specifically designed for PCIe connections, which explains their lower cost. USB4 docks offer more flexibility, but this is reflected in their price.

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Yeah, I don’t think it’s just that. USB’s added complexity over Oculink certainly contributes. But pretty much all the USB 4 stuff I’ve looked is premium priced. Enough so it’s weird how expensive 40 Gb is compared to 20 Gb.

Might just be profit taking, maybe there’s significant cost risers to 40 Gb design, testing, and certification.

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