Hi Build Advice Folks!
TL/DR: Are there USB 4.0 motherboards yet? What about PCIe expansion cards?
I built a machine during the pandemic, an AMD-based system with a ASUS ROG Strix B450-F mobo. It cost me only $500, since I had parts from a prior build and used a low-end 2070 series GPU. Not too shabby!
Since then, I bought a laptop - an ASUS Zephyrus M16 which is Intel-based. I love it. With the pair, I'm unstoppable! Except I've given up on desktop gaming since the laptop comes with a 3060 and I'm getting nearly the same speeds as my 2070 desktop.
Now it gets even better. On the laptop, I have discovered the joys of using an eGPU to get better frame rate in my gaming and design work. Got a Razer enclosure and put in a 3070. That desktop card, even through the narrow USB interface, has great gains over a throttled laptop 3060 GPU. I could put the 3070 into my desktop, but the eGPU is a ton of fun and portability!
My eGPU, like all of them, relies upon Intel-only Thunderbolt. Works great with the laptop - powers it, runs games, even lets me add a USB hub, if I want to squeeze other accessories through that single USB cable (basically a docking station too in this way). Now I'd love to use my eGPU not only on my laptop but also my 4 year old PC... which is AMD based. See the problem yet?
I know, I know, AMD does not support Thunderbolt. Let's skip the level 1 IT support here! We know USB 4.0 is "out now" since 2019 and will claim to allow eGPU through higher bandwidth potential that should match TB3. I want to try it! So that means AMD is getting eGPUs too right? Except I haven't yet seen anyone talking about this yet. I can't find results with the search "ASUS motherboard USB 4.0", the only results show with a TB4 Intel setup, such as the ASUS ROG Strix Z690-I.
Specifically my question is this: Can I get some kind of PCIe card to allow my 4 year old desktop (ASUS ROG Strix B450-F mobo) to use USB 4.0 / TB3 eGPUs? Or am I looking at rebuilding my machine with a newer and supported motherboard for the performance gains? Or heck, are there even AMD cards, or am I forced to get an Intel system instead?
And on a bigger picture, it seems the USB 4.0 progression is slow AF. The spec was approved in 2019! So 5 years later we are still using only Intel eGPUs?!? Am I wrong?
