Finally USB4 for the masses – ASMedia ASM4242

USB4 is theoretically the best of both the USB and Thunderbolt worlds. Almost every modern Intel laptop, and more and more AMD laptops, has this hardware, but the placement on the desktop was limited. the reason? CPU manufacturers don’t integrate it into desktop CPUs right now and so far only one chip has been available to offer this functionality: Intel Thunderbolt controllers. ASMedia promised over a year ago that it would come up with an alternative, but only now have I seen it in action for the first time. Later this year, this should become the chip that brings USB4 to the masses.

Intel released the Thunderbolt specification in 2017, nearly six years ago to this day. Two years later, the standards organization USB-IF formally merged the existing USB and Thunderbolt specifications into the next generation of USB, which was named USB4. Almost immediately after that, controller manufacturer ASMedia, a subsidiary of ASUS but a supplier to all motherboard manufacturers, began designing a USB4 chip. A company representative told me that more than three years of development time was needed because of ASMedia from zero It should work. It turns out that the Thunderbolt specification written by Intel has a steep learning curve.

USB4 connection card and ASM4242 controller

At MSI’s Computex booth, I came across a USB4 demo setup. A little strange, because USB4 with an Intel controller is nothing new. When I removed the heatsink from the console, what I had already suspected was revealed: This was the new one ASMedia ASM4242 controller, which have been discussed for over a year. Not only will it be cheaper than current Intel chips, but it will also be technically superior. Current Intel controllers still use PCIe 3.0 x4, which limits maximum speed, especially if you want to use both ports at the same time. The controller supports ASMedia PCIe 4.0.

The demonstration used a prototype PD100W USB4 expansion card, a PCIe 4.0 x4 card with two 40Gb/s USB4 ports and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports. With the latter two, you can replicate the image signal from the video card to the USB4 ports. The first port also supports USB-PD fast charging of at least 100W (20V/5A), and is powered via the PEG6 plug located inside the plug-in card. The second port provides 27W (9V / 3A) max.

In the demo system, the plug-in card was attached to some kind of external SSD housing, in which the WD SN850X SSD was placed. Although the circuit board of this prototype was not within reach of my curious hands and there was a heatsink on the controller, I can say with certainty that this USB4 controller also came from ASMedia. I think it’s one ASM2464PD gold.

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CrystalDiskMark’s test showed sequential speeds of over 3,700MB/s for both read and write. I was also able to copy a large 40GB file from the external SSD to the system’s internal SSD at speeds of 3-4GB/s. This is much faster than what I’ve seen with innovative “USB4” dual controller SSDs to date. When comparing two SSDs, we didn’t exceed 3GB/s earlier this year and in hands-on tests we didn’t even exceed 1.5GB/s.

Availability and effect

The described ASMedia console was an engineering sample. Trial production will begin in the second half of this year, after which the manufacturer expects that we will actually see products with the ASM4242 on board at the end of the year, possibly at CES 2024. Although ASMedia is a subsidiary of ASUS, it supplies all companies traditionally manufactured. As of now, the company is in talks with all motherboard manufacturers, a representative confirms to Tweakers. The fact that MSI was able to deliver the first demo confirms that there is no strong preference for its sister brand.

I expect that with the availability of this USB4 controller, many motherboards, especially cheaper than is currently the case, will be equipped with USB4 ports. This is much needed, because until now this feature has only been reserved for expensive high-end models or special models originator-Plates. Especially with motherboards with an AMD chip, using an Intel controller is logically delicate. The arrival of this chip is also good news for some laptops, because both AMD and Intel have recently repurposed desktop chips for most high-end mobile processors, and as a result, Thunderbolt or USB4 support is lacking.

While you’ll still have to dig around and spend a lot of money to outfit your new PC with USB4, hopefully this chip will ensure that USB4 is as popular on desktops as it is on laptops by the end of the year. That’s great, because this combination of USB compatibility and Thunderbolt speed is undoubtedly the plug of the future.