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Elecom intros pair of USB 80 Gbps cables, one with 60W PD and another with 240W PD
Japanese electronics company Elecom has announced it will be introducing a pair of USB 80 Gbps cables in mid-December. The USB 80 Gbps interface is also sometimes referred to as USB4 Version 2. Each cable flaunts 80 Gbps operation but one is capable of just 60 Watts of power delivery, with the other offering a full-spec 240 Watts of power delivery. According to Elecom, this marks Japan's first officially certified USB 80Gbps 60W cable, and of course, the common DisplayPort Alt Mode feature works for both cables. The USB 80 Gbps version of DP Alt Mode can reach up to 8K at 60 Hz.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
USB 80 Gbps vs USB4, OCuLink, Thunderbolt 5, and Thunderbolt 4
Row 0 - Cell 0
USB4 / USB 40 Gbps
USB4 v2 / USB 80 Gbps
OCuLink
Thunderbolt 5
Thunderbolt 4
Supported Transfer Speed
40 Gigabits
80 Gigabits
Up to 64 Gigabits with 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes
120 Gigabits (For displays; 80 Gbps otherwise)
40 Gigabits
Supported Connector(s)
USB Type-C
USB Type-C
OCuLink
USB Type-C
USB Type-C
Supported Power Modes
Up to 240W
Up to 240W
N/A
240 W
100 W
Supported Alt Modes
DisplayPort Alt Mode
DisplayPort Alt Mode
DisplayPort Alt Mode
DisplayPort Alt Mode
DisplayPort Alt Mode
In case you aren't up to date with the current connection standards, widely available Thunderbolt 5 cables supporting all of the above standards except OCuLink have been on the Western market since June. Right now, the best options for eGPU users definitely start at OCuLink and then the 80 Gigabit-plus bandwidth versions of Thunderbolt 5 or what is basically USB4 v2, though officially dubbed USB 80 Gbps to distinguish purely by bandwidth. Interestingly in the case of USB 80 Gbps and older USB 40 Gbps (previously USB4) cables, you should still be able to do 80 Gbps over a standard USB4 cable as long as both the client and host device are updated to utilize USB 80 Gbps. Be sure the cable in question still meets your Power Delivery specification, though.
In any case, it's nice to see Japan get its first officially licensed USB 80 Gbps cable, particularly the 240-watt version as well. While we're sure Japanese users truly in need of those cables likely already imported them, it's still good for the Japanese market to get its own options that will likely be more readily available in electronics stores and the such. For most of our US readers, though, you'll probably be fine gunning for a Thunderbolt 5 cable to enjoy all the features of USB 80 Gbps with 40 Gbps extra bandwidth when connected to a display in 120 Gbps Boost Mode.
Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.
So how long before HDMI and DP go the way of VGA for daily usage and everything just runs over USB and if you need legacy, dongle it? with 80Gbps and 240w, daisy chain multiple monitors off a single hub, unless your Dell and you cripple your USB-C so that it can't drive 3 monitors from its docks.
I have been watching your coverage of Thunderbolt 5, and this is the first significant article in some time. Do you know when motherboards that support Thunderbolt 5 will be hitting the market? Thanks!
