Intel Tiger Lake Thunderbolt/USB4 Support Is Coming With Linux 5.8

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Tiger Lake Thunderbolt/USB4 Support Is Coming With Linux 5.8

Adding to the growing list of changes building up for Linux 5.8 this summer is now having Tiger Lake Thunderbolt/USB4 support...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Tiger-Lake-Thunderbolt-5.8

[kylew77]

Not to mention the fact that Ubuntu and its flavors recommend using an LTS version and the hardware enablement update won't come out until after Ubuntu 20.10 releases in October. That means we could be well into 2021 until a LTS version of Ubuntu works with the USB ports. I wonder if they will work in reduced USB 3 mode without proper kernel support or if they simply won't work period. The latter would definitely suck.

[Zico]

Intel pretends to be a pioneer in terms of communication ports. I hope AMD will fight in this space

Edit.
I wonder what Renoir's successor will present. APU CPUs are incredibly powerful but:
In Renoir wasn't Navi Cores, USB 4.0, AV1 acceleration at hardware level, there are problems with applying liquid metal as default.

[starshipeleven]

I wonder what Renoir's successor will present. APU CPUs are incredibly powerful but:
In Renoir wasn't Navi Cores, USB 4.0, AV1 acceleration at hardware level,

Afaik this is normal, all APUs have the graphic cores of a year-old gen GPU.

The important thing they focused was smarter power management, to catch up with Intel on laptops, last laptop APUs are good on that too, so now they will probably have more resources to focus elsewhere.

there are problems with applying liquid metal as default.

I'm not sure this is a valid problem at all, for the very least I don't think it should be addressed before USB4 (it's not "USB 4.0") and AV1 hardware acceleration.

[Zico]

Afaik this is normal, all APUs have the graphic cores of a year-old gen GPU.

So next year we should expect a competitor for nvidia mx 350 or gtx 1650 super or big navi?
I'm asking bc Navi GPUs were already in 2019.

I'm not sure this is a valid problem at all, for the very least I don't think it should be addressed before USB4 (it's not "USB 4.0") and AV1 hardware acceleration.

Asus argued the problems of applying liquid metal.
The USB organization has an incomprehensible nomenclature.
What is difference between usb4 and usb4.0 (in your opinion)?
AV1 hardware acceleration is for me "MUST HAVE" bc this is first reason to accuse manufacturers of not using better Displays in notebooks (like IPS 4k 144Hz)..

[starshipeleven]

So next year we should expect a competitor for nvidia mx 350 or gtx 1650 super or big navi?
I'm asking bc Navi GPUs were already in 2019.

I don't know. I only say that the APUs have GPU cores that are one year old when they launch, as they aren't targeting max GPU performance anyway.

Asus argued the problems of applying liquid metal.

Still not sure it is a valid problem at all. What does Asus add to the fact that there is 0 need for liquid metal to begin with?
More powerful heatsinks make orders of magnitude more difference than liquid metal, and if the heatsink is inadequate, liquid metal is like lipstick on a pig.

What is difference between usb4 and usb4.0 (in your opinion)?

First, it's "USB4" vs "USB 4.0" (with space), and the main difference is search engine results.
If I want to search for something that supports USB 3.0 I search "USB 3.0" or "USB 3" but this will pull up results that really are not USB 3.0 just because they have a "3.0" or a "3" in the title, and it's a pain in the backside.

With "USB4", this issue is significantly lessened, as it's very uncommon to have stuff with "USB4" in the title.

AV1 hardware acceleration is for me "MUST HAVE"

Yeah it's useful to have, especially on laptops.

bc this is first reason to accuse manufacturers of not using better Displays in notebooks (like IPS 4k 144Hz)..

IPS screens are all round better regardless of what are you doing with them, there is really no need for more reasons to have them by default on all laptops.

The reasonable upper limit for a 17'' is 2k, on smaller displays even 2k is pointless, you simply won't see the difference because the screen isn't big enough, unless you move your head to less than 10cm from the screen.

High refresh rate is really pointless for most laptops as they don't have the hardware to push that many 3D frames to begin with, and there is literally 0 2D media that needs more than 60 fps.

On laptops where you have battery endurance to deal with, anything less than useful is reserved only for ultra-high-end gold plated models, or gaming laptops where battery endurance is irrelevant.

[Zico]

I agree with most of your answers (especially why not use spaces in USB4). However, we have different opinions about displays.

(...) The reasonable upper limit for a 17'' is 2k, on smaller displays even 2k is pointless, you simply won't see the difference because the screen isn't big enough, unless you move your head to less than 10cm from the screen.

I'm not a fan of OSX (paid Linux), but many people are very happy with Retina. Apparently, DPI scaling also gives a good effect:
FHD after scaling 4k screen > FHD screen. high-end isn't only gaming but also graphics and people who appreciate sharp image on his own screen. However, This is more important for me to put more windows/apps on screen.

High refresh rate is really pointless for most laptops as they don't have the hardware to push that many 3D frames to begin with, and there is literally 0 2D media that needs more than 60 fps. (...)

Yes, playing with more than 60 fps on notebooks, requires powerful hardware. I worked for a while with 144hz refresh display and comfort was amazing. OS and webpage scrolling was more responsive (Display has low response time too - 10ms). I'd love to have such display on my notebook Unfortunately, as you said, that will be expensive