GPD confirms G2 eGPU dock specs with MCIO 8i and USB4 v2
GPD has shared more details on its upcoming G2 external GPU dock, adding clarification to the MCIO 8i bandwidth claims shown with the Panther Lake-based GPD BOX.
We already covered the GPD BOX and G2 as one of the first consumer-focused MCIO 8i eGPU setups. The mini PC was advertised with MCIO 8i over PCIe 5.0 x8, giving it a claimed 512 Gbps bidirectional bandwidth. That figure applies to the host-side implementation shown for the GPD BOX.
GPD G2 (eGPU Dock) = PCIe 4.0, GPD BOX (Mini PC) = PCIe 5.0
The latest specification table lists MCIO 8i as PCIe 4.0 x8, which gives it 256 Gbps bidirectional bandwidth. This is still twice the lane count of the common OCuLink PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, but it is not the full PCIe 5.0 x8 connection shown on earlier GPD BOX material.
Source: GPD
GPD clarified that the G2 dock physically supports PCIe 5.0 . However, the company said the combination of MCIO and USB4 v2 or Thunderbolt 5 creates interference that prevents the dock from reaching PCIe 5.0 x8 speeds. This means the practical MCIO link on the G2 is limited to PCIe 4.0 x8.
Source: GPD
The dock itself uses a PCIe Gen5 x16 slot for the graphics card. It also includes an 800W Gold-rated ATX 3.1 power supply, a 12V-2×6 GPU power connector, USB4 v2, 100W USB Power Delivery, two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet and an M.2 2280 slot over PCIe 3.0 x2. A retail listing from DroiX also mentions support for GeForce RTX 50 and Radeon RX 9000 series desktop graphics cards.
GPD has not confirmed pricing or retail availability for the G2 dock. The product is expected to launch alongside the GPD BOX, which is based on Intel’s Panther Lake platform and will be offered with an optional MCIO 8i connector for external graphics.
Source: GPD
