Question USB 3.1 Gen1/2 Vs 3.2 Gen1/2

[Gamefreaknet]

In short it can be noted that:
USB 3.1 Gen1 and 3.2 Gen1 support 5Gbps and there is no major difference besides their naming?
and
USB 3.1 Gen2 and 3.2 Gen2 support 10Gbps and no major difference also...

Unlike Thunderbolt 3 and 4 which both support up to 40Gbps but Thunderbolt 3 is limited in its PCIE connection speed/bandwidth is there a difference between:
USB 3.1 Gen1 and 3.2 Gen1
and
USB 3.1 Gen2 and 3.2 Gen2
or are they both identical to the other as long as theyre of the same USB Generation?

 

[helpstar]

https://kingspec.usa02.wondercdn.com/uploads/image/20231012/1697097749801216.jpg

identical, yes

 

[Paperdoc]

All of this is a result of a history of rapid changes to the LABELS on USB3 systems, and that is because of real changes in their technical properties. The net result is that too many items now are being sold with OLD advertising copy that use the older labels that are NOT supposed to be in use anymore.

Right now ALL USB3 systems are considered to be parts of the USB 3.2 system. (There is also a newer USB4 system, but they are a different version.)

Regarding CABLES, note that the older Type A connectors for USB2 are NOT the same as Type A for USB 3.2. The USB 3.2 cables and sockets contain more wires and their Type A connectors have five extra contact points in them. These days there is a colour code. USB2 connectors have plastic inserts in them to support the contacts that are BLACK. In USB 3.2 Type A connectors the inserts are BLUE.

USB 3.2 Gen1 can move data at a max rate of 5 Gb/s, and works just fine whether the connector and cables use the USB 3.2 Type A plugs or the newer Type C plugs. A mobo header actually contains TWO such ports, so it can feed two output sockets.

USB 3.2 Gen 2 can move data up to 10 Gb/s, and it is strongly recommended that only Type C connectors be used. It WILL work with Type A connectors, but may not achieve the 10 Gb/s data rate. It uses the SAME mobo header as Gen1 and contains two ports also; only the max speed is different.

USB 3.2 Gen2x2 can move data up to 20 Gb/s. On the mobo it uses a different header called Type E, and that contains only ONE port. This system is highly unlikely to work at rated speed unless you do use the new Type C connector system.

All of these include backwards compatibility features. In essence when you connect a device it negotiates with the port controller chip and they agree on what max data rate they will use for that device on that port, even down to adapting to the older USB2 system at 0.48 Gb/s.

The entire design concept here is that the data rate of a USB 3.2 system is the max data transfer rate of the communication subsystem, and that should exceed the actual data transfer ability of the device so that it never limits the device. The device itself (e.g, a Laptop Hard Drive with spinning disk etc., or a fast SSD) will impose its own limit that is slower than the max the comm subsystem can support.

The USB 3.2 system specs altered the power available on a standard port. In USB2 it was 5 VDC at up to 0.5 A per port. In USB 3.2 that is raised to 0.9 A per port. In addition, there are several versions of USB 3.2 ports that offer higher max amps for purposes of charging connected devices. While not universally standardized, these tend to be focused on a few well-defined versions of extra power. Among external USB 3.2 HUBS with their own power supply modules, it is common for them to include Charging Ports capable of high charging rates BUT NOT capable of data transfer. Such ports are for charging only. BUT it can get a little confusing because there ARE some data transfer real USB 3.2 ports that also can supply more than the basic 0.9 A per port.