Aoostar AG03 launches as new eGPU dock with OCuLink and 80 Gbps USB4 ports

Aoostar has introduced an upgraded version of its external GPU dock, the Aoostar AG03. Compared to the AG02, the main upgrade is the addition of two USB 4 v2 or Thunderbolt 5 ports. Compared to the regular USB4 port found on the predecessor, the v2 ports can offer up to an 80 Gbps bandwidth.

Besides the bandwidth upgrade, one of the two Thunderbolt 5 ports has support for up to 140 W PD, which would be quite handy for gaming handheld setups (Silkland TB5 4-feet cable curr. $29.99 on Amazon). As for the other port, it can offer up to 27 W of power, and like the predecessor, there's an OCuLink port. The PCIe interface for installing the desktop GPU didn't see an upgrade, though. It's still an x16 slot with support for PCIe 4.0 x4.

Another notable aspect of the new eGPU dock is the maximum GPU power that it can offer through the built-in PSU. For reference, the Aoostar AG03 has a built-in 800 W power supply, but it can only offer up to 500 W of power to the connected desktop GPU.

To compare, the predecessor was rated for up to 600 W of max GPU power, and this change is likely due to the addition of USB4 v2 ports. Other than that, not much has changed on the new external GPU dock. It retains the same design, and there's still no M.2 slot support like some of the other eGPU docks, but the good part is that one of the two Thunderbolt 5 ports can be used for connecting external drives to the setup.

As for the price, the Aoostar AG03 has launched in China with a price tag of CNY 1,499, around $213. The company has yet to share when the eGPU dock will be available in the global market.