The world of data transmission and connectivity, it’s important to keep track of the latest technologies that allow you to get the best out of each component. Today we look at two prominent technologies: Thunderbolt 4 and OCuLink . These are powerful data transfer technologies that can significantly improve computer performance. Both standards offer high transfer rates and support for external devices. However, there are key differences between them.
Thunderbolt 4 is the latest
Iteration of the Thunderbolt interface that is being developed by Intel. It supports transfer rates of up to 40 Gb/s and allows the simultaneous connection of up to six daisy-chain devices. TB4 supports PCIe 3.0 x4. It is also backward compatible with older Thunderbolt and USB standards.
Data transfer speed: Up to 40 Gb/s.
Compatibility: Compatible with USB4, ensuring versatility.
Power: Support up to 100W power for charging devices.
Multiple monitors: Support two 4K monitors or one 8K monitor.
Daisy chaining: Possibility of connecting up to six devices.
OCuLink
For those unfamiliar with OCuLink, it is an optical interface developed more than ten years ago for servers. However, it has recently gained attention from consumers who use it, for example, to connect external GPUs to laptops . Compared to the italy phone number data Thunderbolt 4 interface, OCuLink offers greater bandwidth – up to 64 Gb/s compared to 40 Gb/s, and it supports PCIe 4.0 x4 . Users will thus get much higher performance (lower losses) from their currently expensive external GPUs.
Data transfer rate:
Interface: Direct PCIe connection, ensuring low latency.
Performance: Higher throughput than Thunderbolt 4, ideal for demanding applications.
Modularity: Flexible configuration of cabling and connectors.
Specific use: Designed for professional enhanced measurement events and data center applications where high data transfer rates are key.
If you plan to connect your laptop, or for example the popular MINI PC , to an external graphics card. Keep in mind that in addition to the connection itself, you also need a cz lists docking station into which you can place the external graphics card. We can recommend, for example, the Minisforum DEG1 OCulink eGPU Dock .t really need anything else.