ASUS launches a new external graphics dock, the ROG XG Station 3, featuring Thunderbolt 5 for your PC gaming rig. The importance of the new Thunderbolt 5 interface can be found in the doubled data bandwidth of this latest-gen interface. That means your PC will now be able to talk to your fancy GPUs at a much faster rate. For those who want to level up your PC gaming rig, but don't want to build an entirely new PC tower, this will allow you to have access to much faster throughput with your external GPU.
Asus launches new external graphics dock with Thunderbolt 5
ROG XG Station 3 comes with an open-frame design, which ASUS claims offers a clear path for cooling for the installed graphics cards. You can find a dedicated GC-HPWR connector, specifically designed for ASUS's BTF series graphics cards, which would make power connections very easy to install for compatible cards. It supports a plethora of modern GPUs, including Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 series and RTX Pro 6000 series, AMD Radeon RX 9000 series, and Intel Arc graphics.
Specifications
- Interface: Thunderbolt 5
- Bandwidth: 80 Gbps bidirectional
- Charging Power: Up to 140W
- Ports: Dual Thunderbolt 5, Dual USB-C (10 Gbps)
- Compatibility: Nvidia RTX 50/Pro 6000, AMD RX 9000, Intel Arc
ROG XG Station 3 comes with two Thunderbolt 5 ports for up to 80 Gbps bidirectional bandwidth. Besides that, you will also find two 10 Gbps USB-C ports for additional peripherals such as your keyboard or mouse. This means you can also chain other Thunderbolt devices, while still having high-speed data throughput for your GPU.
Unlike the previous versions, the ROG XG Station 3 lacks a power supply. This means you'll have to add your own SFX/SFX-L PSU in order to use it. Despite being able to charge up to 140W of power for your laptops via the Thunderbolt 5 connection, all the power delivery for the graphics card relies solely on your own PSU. According to Notebookcheck, there might still be a slight delay in real-world performance due to the limitations of PCIe tunneling for Thunderbolt 5 docks, compared to OCuLink docks.
ASUS has yet to share the price and exact availability date for the ROG XG Station 3. So you'll have to wait for the official announcement to know when you can buy the ROG XG Station 3 and start preparing for your power supply upgrade. With no pricing info right now, we don't really know the total cost of entry for this high-throughput eGPU.
Source: Asus, NotebookCheck
tbh i need a price before i care about the 80 gbps speeds. is it going to be another overpriced dock or actually worth the upgrade?
it likely won’t match OCuLink performance due to PCIe tunneling overhead. you get bandwidth but lose some raw throughput compared to direct connection solutions.
the open frame design sounds practical for airflow. do you think the lack of a built-in psu makes it too bulky for a travel setup?
finally a dock that doesn’t look like a black brick 🤔 the gc-hpwr connector is nice for those who already own the btf series cards