The installation requirements are just like your own Thunderbolt expansion card. You must pay attention to the official motherboard compatibility information to ensure normal operation.
In response to the launch of USB4 design solutions, ASUS has also launched the USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card, allowing users of their own specific motherboards to purchase it to obtain USB4 functionality.
USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card is one of ASUS motherboard peripheral products. Ever since Intel launched Thunderbolt more than ten years ago, ASUS has been designing corresponding expansion interface cards. For those gamers whose computers are not old, if they also want to try USB4, then the USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card, which costs about 2,990 yuan, is suitable for ASUS motherboard users.
Based on the accumulated development and design experience in the past, the overall design configuration of the USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card is obviously inherited from the ThunderboltEX series products. Its body size is 119.5 x 88.9mm, and ASUS has added a metal cover to it as before. In addition to the visual appearance of the product, it also serves to assist in heat dissipation, so the appearance is very similar to ThunderboltEX at first glance.
In terms of external structure configuration, the I/O backplane provides 2 ports each of USB Type-C and DisplayPort IN, and a DisplayPort cable is provided in the box to facilitate the input of mixed display signals. As for other connection requirements within the host, you must connect USB4 Header and USB 2.0 to the motherboard. Corresponding cables are also provided, as well as a PCIe 6-pin auxiliary power supply.
It uses the ASMedia model ASM4242 host chip internally, supports USB4 Gen 3×2 (40Gbps) and has Thunderbolt 4 / 3 interchangeability, and is also USB 3.2 backward compatible with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps). , and standards such as DisplayPort V1.4a & HBR3, VESA DisplayPort Alt Mode, etc. are also accepted.
The PCIe interface of ASM4242 supports PCIe 4.0 x4 upstream, which means that installing a USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card requires a corresponding interface. ASUS recommends using the slots at the bottom of the motherboard. Of course, especially for B-series chipset motherboards, you must pay attention to whether the slot is PCIe 4.0 x4, otherwise it will affect USB4 performance to varying degrees.
The remaining connection requirements between the USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card and the motherboard include one 14-1pin cable called USB4 Header and one USB 2.0 cable each. The pin position and cable material number of the former are exactly the same as those of ThunderboltEX, while the motherboard is the same. The corresponding socket changes with time and is called one of TB_Header, TB (USB4) Header, and USB4_Header.
Yes, even if the socket on the motherboard does not have the word USB4, it will be fine, because the key lies in the motherboard UEFI BIOS. The expansion card must be enabled after ASUS updates and adds the corresponding options. USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card is currently compatible with a limited number of motherboards. Only AMD TRX50/X670/B650 and Intel Z790/B760/H770 series have been tested and verified.
USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card motherboard compatibility list:ASUS official website link
As for the necessity of the PCIe 6-pin auxiliary power socket, it is because the 2-port USB Type-C on the back panel also has fast charging function (20V / 3A, 60W). If this is required, a PCIe power cord must be connected. In the same way, the 2-port DisplayPort IN is used for the signal input of the processor’s internal display and independent graphics card. It can be ignored if there is no need to connect a monitor.
In addition, regarding operating system compatibility, ASUS recommends using Windows 11 / 10. Only Windows 11 natively supports USB4. In the “Device Manager”, you can see that ASM4242 is displayed as a USB4 controller. As for “Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > USB”, you can also view some USB4 related options, and the overall support is more complete than Windows 10.
In the USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card performance test experience part, in addition to pairing it with OWC Express 1M2, an external box that also uses the ASMedia solution, Thunderbolt 4 / 3 products were also added for cross-testing. The test results are summarized in other chapters.
Further reading
