USB Type-C 2.1 cables that are capable of delivering up to 240 watts of power will soon to be available to purchase from select retailers. One such shop is Club 3D, which has shared a promotional sheet on Facebook confirming the addition of three self-branded cables to its online catalog. They include the CAC-1576, a USB4Gen 3×2 Type-C cable that supports data rates of up to 40 Gbps and a power delivery of 240 watts, enough to charge and power more demanding laptops with hungrier GPUs like NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with the right charger/brick. The USB-IF announced the new update to USB-C last year, doubling the previous level of power delivery.
Club 3D USB-C Cables Comparison
| CAC 1573 | CAC-1575 | CAC-1576 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 240 W | 240 W | 240 W |
| Data | USB 2.0 480 Mbps | USB 4 Gen 2×2 20 Gbps | USB 4 Gen 3×2 40 Gbps |
| Video via DP-Alt mode | NA | Up to 4K/60Hz | Up to 8K/60Hz |
| Length | 2 m | 2 m | 1 m |
In May 2021, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) released the USB-C v2.1 update which outlined Extended Power Range (EPR) standard. Specifically, this standard allows for USB-C to support power delivery up to 240W, which is up to 48V at 5A.
Before the USB-C v2.1 update, the standard was limited to 100W (20V at 5A) power delivery. This is why it was rare to find any creator or gaming laptop which would even trickle charge with USB-C power for a time.
The emergence of these revamped cables is exciting, but what we need now are some chargers and devices that can make use of the new capabilities. Club3D’s own charger series maxes out at 132W.
Source: Club 3D (via Tom’s Hardware)