I believe that the LG Gram uses 2 PCIe lanes for its TB3 connection. That might explain the bad results with the Razer Core X compared to the Razer Blade (that has 4 PCIe lanes).
Yeah but if I'm not wrong, as I've seen in the LTT video about the gram, the CPU bottlenecks the performance because it can't run at full boost for a long time. The culprit is the cooling solution as mentions @MaxwellPilzer.
SmashStomp Inc can't disagree! One problem though, the weight. My Lenovo Y510p (it's getting old I know) and some other stuff in the backpack and it all becomes a pain x)
SmashStomp Inc lol first of all the LG gram isn’t a gaming laptop...at all. Second, bro you don’t have to put other products down to just put yours up. Third, the razer stealth(the laptop made for the core) doesn’t throttle on the core. It’s peoples get on high horse off of something they bought. Neither is objectively better than the other thick or thin lol.
in the razor core its normally around a 2% slow down with some games getting massive 20% to 30% slow downs. it all depends on the task that the the game needs done. if it needs high bandwidth then it will struggle to get that kind of performance. As for the alienware amplifier its just a 2% slow down across the board due to it acting as a full PCIE x8 port that is directly integrated into the system to alleviate the possible slow downs. it also has less slow downs when streaming the game back to the screen on the laptop. obviously the issue with the amp is that it only runs on alienware devices so if you already have the laptop then your SOL.
I'm a Razer Core V2 owner...and I gotta say that if you want to live the Ultrabook life having a solid eGPU is the best So it's great Razer has a cheaper enclosure for those people that don't want all the RGB nonsense
Jesse Lee Zamora thank you! Somebody gets it. Building a gaming desktop instead is not the answer for everyone to be able to to play games. Some people already have Ultrabooks that would benefit from an enclosure like this and not everyone wants to lug around a larger laptop.
but when you can build a pc for the price of the egpu enclosure alone, on a mini itx size same case size without the gpu then isnt an egpu pointless, unless its cheap since its just some metal and a controller ie i5 3570k, z77 ds3h mobo 16 gigs ddr3 for £100 psu 650w for £40 £20 for a small ssd itx case for £40 (same size as the razer core v2 ) thats £200 which is 25% cheaper and the extra money could be on an ssd better cpu cooler more fans so the same price as an enclosure you get a pc i dont see the point of egpus
i still thing the alienware options are far more worth-wild considering you get 4 usb ports along with getting better performance in some games due to how the port is integrated.
The Razer Core V2 on the other hand works with most laptops with Thunderbolt 3 these days. I’m always traveling and I want to have a single laptop to have my stuff on. And when I come home it’s my desktop as well with the eGPU and monitor
A right use case for this is more as a docking station. You would have a large display with a USB hub / a thunderbolt hub between the portable and the display. You do what you need to on the go, then plug it in and have a desktop comparable system for gaming / working. I know a couple of code developers that use CUDA who have similar setups. The cost of a GPU enclosure is far lower than having both a laptop and a capable desktop, and the size of the box isn’t a big issue as it’s tucked away neatly in a corner permanently connected or the display, and all peripherals connected to the display / hub.
I don't see how people are complaining about price: Its an enclosure plus power supply. If you are building a PC the case plus power supply for a higher end is similar.
EGPUs make a lot of sense for some people. I used to build my own gaming PCs but after the last one fried a few years back I never got around fixing it. I already use my work laptop as my personal computer and had set up a work desk at home with an OWC TB3 dock and the spare parts from my dead gaming PC. So I bought an EGPU enclosure (Sonnet Breakaway Box) and I love it, works great and I'm starting to catch up with my Steam backlog.
I would love to see you guys do a benchmark that includes playing games on an external monitor through the eGPU, but also playing something like twitch/youtube/spotify etc on the laptops display. Just to see if the laptops display leaches from the ePGU or if it runs on the iGPU
I own a core x with a Radeon VII. Installed. 0 regrets and barely any bottleneck. It helped my 2018 Mac book pro run faster than almost any gaming laptop and quite a number of gaming desktops. Of course this was with setting my internal Radeon Pro 560x to a compute workload.
Nice of you to show the Hades Canyon at the end. I have been trolling the Nuc reviewers to know how it performs with the EGPU. I am definately pleased with my purchase now. I just bought the HC NUC, and am loving it so far.
eGPUs still have too many compromises. 1.) The higher end the GPU the more performance you're going to lose when compared to using that GPU in a PC due to bandwidth constraints. It's like buying a 1080 Ti only to get 1070 performance. 100 FPS at 1080p for 1080 Ti is terrible. 2.) Ultrabook's CPU will also create bottleneck for highend GPUs. The 8550u can't turbo for very long given 15W TDP. I ended up just building a SFF gaming PC while keeping my notebook. To comprises there.
I would have really liked to see the performance difference between the external gpu + laptop vs a full desktop. Obviously the external gpu will blow the integrated gpu out of the water, but it would be very helpful to see what kind of performance difference there could be due to the thunderbolt connection.
eGPU's will probably make sense in the future when prices come down below the price of building your own gaming desktop. I'll definitely be interested then
I have a Hades Canyon hooked up to my TV. And I haven't fired up my big rig with a 1070 GTX for ages. The problem I have with this enclosure is the sheer size. I would have a spare 1070. So as soon as an absolute bare bones enclosure with a possibly external power supply comes along, I would pull the trigger. Also, the upgrade from a Hades Canyon to a 1070 GTX probably isn't worth it.
I dig it. I have the Razer Blade stealth for mobile video editing but most of my editing takes place on my PC (which also happens to be great for gaming). Already owning the GPU I can justify moving to the Razer Core instead of building a new PC. My PC is still on DDR3 1600Mhz, SATA SSD, Intel 4790K. Paired with two 1070s the thing is still a beast. If for what ever reason my PC dies or I really need a new one my Razer Blade stealth has the latest Intel CPU and 16GB (which is plenty for most everything I do). Very rare I wish I had a 64GB beast (running 24GB now)
An important question would have been, is the 1080ti bottl necked by the usb c. Ie will a 1070 give you the same performance. Just saying. That would have been good information to have.
I wanted to see the benchmarks of the blade + core + external monitor compared to a desktop build of similar specifications. I saw a comparison like that a year ago or so and if I remember correctly the desktop got 30%-40% better frame rates. It would be interesting to see how much has changed. I can’t wait until laptops and external GPUs are fully on par with desktops! A set up like that would be the ultimate in utility, convenience, and simplicity. No longer would one need a desktop for serious work and a laptop for work-on-the-go, instead just one simple streamlined solution!
I see two use cases for the GPU: 1) immediate rendering ( CAD & games, primarily ) 2) non-immediate tasks ( data mining , virtual currency mining, movie rendering ). Use case 1 demands a very high-bandwidth bus between the CPU and GPU boxes, and whatever bus it is will likely be proprietary and/or soon obsolete, so probably not a great investment. Use case 2 might be a more useful situation, if you have an application that will benefit from the extra GPU horsepower - and can afford a bunch of these boxes. Otherwise, meh.
This is my first time using an eGPU enclosure, and I’m wondering a few things. Firstly, do I keep the video card inside the enclosure at all times, or should I routinely take it out between uses? Secondly, will having my laptop plugged into the razor core x automatically charge my laptop? Thirdly, and most generally, are there any things I shouldn’t do that would be harmful to my GPU and or the razor x? Thank you in advance!
I just bought a Core X and a 1650 Super and from my experience and research 1) you should absolutely keep it inside the enclosure at all times to avoid damage (its the same as a full Tower PC essentially) unless your possibly traveling or moving your eGPU a lot 2) thunderbolt 3 allows for reverse charging and power transfer and considering that the Core X has like a 500W or 600W power supply it should be fine to charge your laptop unless you have some massively power hungry RTX or AMD card in there and 3) the only thing I could think of is dont drop it or leave it somewhere where it can easily get very hot or very cold (like near a window or some kind of freezer) [think of this as a full PC without a motherboard, so anything you would or wouldn't do to that applies to an eGPU as well].
@@spencerrr9878 I'm considering the Core X and a 1660 Super so I'm just wondering how your experience has been with the performance of the core with your 1650 Super?
@@jonahthomas4835 I Love it! I got my eGPU and GPU off amazon so prices were a little cheaper than retail. But its really nice and small enough for me to put on a shelf and keep attached to my X1 Carbon with a 1 m TB3 cable. I can run most games at 1080p 60-80 fps (DayZ / Arma 2 gets around 45 - 60 fps on a medium and high graphics combo, cities skylines gets around 60 fps, minecraft gets 60 - 70 fps, BF V gets 75 - 80 fps on medium graphics, Battlefront 2 gets 70 - 80 fps on medium graphics, etc)
awesome review, thanks. Wonder if there is any bump in Premiere/video work performance going directly to Monitor vs back to laptop. Notebook differences could be if the Thunderbolt port is 2-lane vs 4-lane.
Just want to know with people that bought these eGPUs the experience travelling with them? Not that I'd gonna bring them in a coffee shop or anything, but I'd imagine I'd want to bring them with me like on a hotel or something. Just want to know the experience, putting them in a luggage, airport checks... Do you guys put them in check-in or hand carry? Do you leave the GPU inside the case while in a flight or do you secure the GPU inside?
external GPU is great, people need to get the power delivery and data throughput correct though. TB3 cables can be tricky (and expensive) and don't confuse USB-C with TB3 even though they are the same port. GPU needs 40gbps.
Considering the cutbacks that have been made, this is still relatively expensive. I love that it's smaller, but the loss of extra connectivity makes it lose a lot of its usefulness. That kind of unit really shines when you can keep a monitor, keyboard and mouse permanently plugged into it.
The issue with external GPU docs is that they only work on very expensive laptops, and even after you buy the dock you still need to buy a GPU (in most cases anyway.) These docks will take a very long time to make it to budget gamers, because the GPU, dock, and laptop are always super expensive. There are other solutions through the WiFi card but that is one that can void warranties and is pretty janky.
but when you can build a pc for the price of the egpu enclosure alone, on a mini itx size same case size without the gpu then isnt an egpu pointless, unless its cheap since its just some metal and a controller ie i5 3570k, z77 ds3h mobo 16 gigs ddr3 for £100 psu 650w for £40 £20 for a small ssd itx case for £40 (same size as the razer core v2 ) thats £200 which is 25% cheaper and the extra money could be on an ssd better cpu cooler more fans so the same price as an enclosure you get a pc i dont see the point of egpus
make an external case that accepts the "notebook" addin cards, where you can atleast get a GTX 1080, maybe Ti (not sure) those cards are what, 10x10 cm? use a SFX psu and a cooling solution for the gpu = done, 20x20x20 cm cube at the most
you could use a hub for the mouse and keyboard the latency in input for peripherals is unnoticeable. I think the IO in the blade is sufficient. but only sufficient, not comfortable. But the results that the blade achieves without the external monitor are amazing, I'm actually surprised. I thought you were about to say that those numbers should be adjusted down for when there is no monitor hooked up, not the other way around.
I've had both the original razer core and an Alienware graphics amplifier, but always end up going back to a desktop for primary gaming. When these have 8x bandwidth, i'm there, but I just don't want to sacrifice my framerate for the benefit of a single device.
Great review. I have one of these, with an RX580 in it, and will be using it with one of the new Mac Mini’s that were just released. I currently have everything I need, but might upgrade to an ultra wide monitor. Once my build is finished I will have better performance than an iMac Pro for half the price. I’ll also be able to use ultra wide monitors and be able to upgrade my GPU whenever I please. Just a great product for specific builds.
eGPU is wonderful thing, couple of years back when ExpressCard came, it could be used as eGPU port nicely. With more bandwidth that would have been awesome.. But now we have ThunderBolt and everything works well. Damn i would buy one if they won't be so unnecessary big and expensive, but hey, Akitio Node is not bad at all
A problem I don't see others address is the issue of having your personal files on your game rig. I would never do that if it could at all be prevented for several reasons: A game rig is inherently unstable. With Windows being as it is, for maximum performance, it needs to be reinstalled fairly often - I mirror an image in every 1-2 months. Also, windows is lousy with malware.
If you can afford the high end hardware like that, I personally would have the ultrabook AND a nice desktop with that graphics card, perhaps a ryzen 5 with a gtx 1070 or rx 580. Yes it may be several hundred more expensive, but I think that's more convenient as it is nicer to game on a big screen anyway.
Have a GTX 1060 in my laptop and kinda want to invest in an egpu for an RTX 2070. Would really love a video from you guys with an rtx card connected to laptop display.
Nice review, and its true the lack of USB hub is a downer, kind of kills of the one-cable solution idea. Also staaaaap with the "I can build it better and cheaper" mentality, the point if this setup is exactly what you've mentioned at the end, un-plug one cable, then your entire main PC can fit inside your satchel, and you'll be one your way to a meeting or a café.
It's already been tested and proven that, as long as you only use USB peripherals like mouse and keyboards, the impact on the GPU will be so minimal that it didn't matter. So yes, one-cable solution on an eGPU setup with external monitor, mouse and keyboard makes sense.
to me an eGPU is my future, eventually... But i need them to have usb ports and a LAN port so it becomes the ultimate docking station. Just want to chuck my laptop in and it becomes a desktop capable of work and play.
if you have a desktop, then the egpu isn’t a recommendation but if you use just one laptop with high cpu like macbook pro 2018 then egpu can be a recommendation
Question. I got the Razer Core X Chroma with the RTX 2070 Super for my Razer Blade 2016 (GTX 1060 - 16gb RAM). My problem is that my CPU and Memory run way to high for most games. Is it because the RTX card pushes the CPU more than the the GTX? My task manager shows no issues with GPU usage mid game completely boosted. I've been searching everywhere for advice and this video has been the best one by far even though its the gen before. Probably should just go with a desktop haha. Thanks
Not interested in gaming but I am interested in having this strategy for Video Editing in FCPX on my MacBook Pro once Nikon and Atomos comes out with their ProRes RAW firmware update (August) ? ? ? Already got a QNAP NAS for the HUGE Video data files... but I’m thinking an External GPU would speed up my import and graphic display...
I have a Dell Inspiron 5559; Intel Core i7 2.5Ghz, 16gb RAM, 1TB HDD, FHD non-touch display, and no Thunderbolt port. Do you think a 1050TI or 1060 would pair well with it? And if I enhance cooling of the laptop by adding external cooling fans, would it make things better? Thanks a lot for the review
I did look into this at one point quite a while ago. But I eventually decided it wasn't worth it. Also, would you get better performance if you plugged the ultra book in? It looked like in the video you were running off battery power.
I wonder whether or not plugging power cable to the laptop would eliminate some of the USB c bandwidth bottleneck like when you use an external monitor. That 1080 is bottlenecked to the point that it could be considered a 1060
Yeah.. It's just too big and bulky. I do see the potential of these GPU docks, specially once we get a better interface, but, when the dock is bigger than a fully fledged desktop PC, not to mention, nearly as expensive as one too, then i'm out. This is just bad design, if you ask me. :/ There is absolutely no valid reason why it needs to be that big.
I know, but that point is mute when it's as large as an average ITX system. Just build a desktop PC if that's the case. You'll get a better experience with that anyway.
Thanks for the video and encouraging folks to consider eGPUs. I think Razer Blade Stealth paired with this eGPU or another one (like the Aorus Gaming Box series) can be a smart choice. I principally enjoy using an eGPU because of thermals and fan noise. I also use a 2M cable, which is minimal loss in performance (there may be a few latency sensitive titles that suffer). I get that there is a huge drop off compared to the Aorus's 1070 verse my Alienware 15 with a 1070, and then some super CPU intensive games can crush the 15W CPUs inside an ultrabook (AC: Origins). However, when I hear how loud my Alienware 15 is under load, and compare it to my MacBook Pro running similar titles with little fan noise - I gravitate back towards the eGPU solution. Also - a 1080TI in this is overkill. Pick up a 1060, even a 3gb one, and you still have a great match for less than $600. Or, do like I did and get the Aorus Gaming Box 1070 for under $550 (in the US). I feel like eGPU's target (as some have commented) the more discriminating adult buyer. One who has wife/kids at home, wants to manage one machine to keep life simple, and needs a quiet gaming solution. I have an Alienware 15, but it's huge and loud (even though the 1070 is pure!) - I find myself gravitating to the thin and light choice most of the time. I also tuck the eGPU under my bed and use a 2M cable - and can also quickly move it to my desk and 27" monitor if I want. After a day sitting a desk for work, I don't really want to sit at my desk at home though. I have a Razer Blade Stealth on the way because I want the native eGPU hotswap - across several outlets, it seems Razer did indeed optimize the Stealth for eGPU moreso than others!
How is the heating with these external graphics cards? My Razer Blade Stealth gets very hot doing just about anything (not even gaming) and I'm worried that when I start gaming it will overheat. Does the external GPU carry a lot of the load that the laptop has to carry right now? Any helpful tips would be great so I know if I should buy it or not. Thanks.
Would have been interesting how it compared to a normal build like yes it is insane how much faster you are in adobe but that is to be expected when using integrated vs an 1080ti...
It's a shame they didn't put an ethernet port in there and a few USB 3.0 ports. It would suck to have to plug your keyboard, mouse, etc every time you sit down to play games.
Yeah. My old ITX build was half the size of that one, or even less (Raijintek Metis). And it could support pretty decent gpu's (25cm) and 160cm cpu coolers. It's still way too big.
The 1080 ti results seem pretty low here even with the Blade Stealth especially since the test is at 1080p. Is there a bottleneck withe the thunderbolt interface?
I have the core x chroma And it’s terrible. The eth dies all the time, and the usb hubs glitch out. If you want the best performance, disable any discreet GPUs on you laptop even if you are outputting to external monitor You should get an extra 20 FPS.
for how little is actually involved with these external gpu systems, the price of them still blows my mind for the amount of material plus usefulness of these things, but then again it is a very narrow market they are aiming for still... 300 bucks for ....that? lol probably 30 dollars worth of materials and parts hahaha but it serves a purpose i guess, im very confused on what to feel about these things and thier prices
Daniel McKenzie lol yeah i wonder how they break it down to make it "worthwhile" or what, because we know they have to make miney back for r and d and such but still seems like they got a greater value on items then need be lol
Twiztid N1nja thunderbolt is actually pretty expensive to implement. There's a reason why cheaper laptops don't have it, and some only have it on the highest end version. Same thing applies here. If it was that cheap to make, a noname brand would come along and steal all the market, but the reality is that they tried to do that and the core x is way cheaper.
really good review, great product... price tho...still not good enough and all usb/ethernet ports not included on this model makes it not ideal for many
for $300 you can make a decent itx budget gaming pc anyway (excluding gpu of course). If it was a one device solution i.e. I plug my laptop in and then it also has ethernet, mouse, keyboard and monitors then I would consider $300 but for that I need to pay $500 this prices are whack.
Did you know that there are different thunderbolt implementations? There is a 2 pcie lane version and a 4 pcie lane version, the gram probably has 2 lanes which bottlenecks the whole thing more than cpu or what ever else.
85 Fps in BF1 is too low considering the card setup and resolution at which you are running on. And Eber, why are you sending the signal from the core back to the Laptop. Did you try this with an external montior? That way you can offset some bandwidth loss.
Hi. Can you do a review about Razer Core X, or other eGPU with Quadro P4000 with external monitor in pro applications SW, SW Visualize (CUDA rendering), Octane Render and may be other CAD apps using CUDA, or pro GPU via ThunderBolt 3 with 2 lane, 4 lane and in PC comparison? Are there any sense? It will be very helpfull not only for me. I'd like to use a thin an light ultrabook for CAD. (in my case Acer Switch 7 SW713-51GNP-83ZF - Black Edition) Take it with myself and at home use it like a "workstation". Thanks!
@hardware canucks did you try and disable the vega on the nuc and in vulcan ,,, but you did say you did some steps that is very weird error ID software is like KING when it comes to putting out good software so this is very weird for that to happen
I would have liked to see if a Radeon X 64 on the CoreX paired with the Hades Canyon NUC with the Vega M would allow the Radeon drivers to magically go X-Fire or something or something :-)
I dunno why this video somehow feels incomplete. Maybe the fact its tested on the same Razor brand lap top besides that lg or whatever that thing was. Cant really put my finger on it, but def something is missing.
I'm new to PC and I decided to try out this whole egpu thing. Is a msi GeForce 1080 GTX compatible? Edit: after some research, is anything "GeForce" technically Nvidia? So it's on the compatibility list? Or does it have to be the literal "Nvidia GeForce GTX _____" or is anything with GeForce compatible?
Seems like this is aimed at people who need the portability of a laptop but want to game at home without having a separate rig. Would be nice for Razer owners if they had docking stations to so they can have their 3 monitors, keyboards, mice, headphones, etc. ready to go.
So, to replace the traditional desktop PC, literally the external GPU product have its best usage when plug into some mini PC? Will the ultrabooks get overheated when gaming with external GPUs plugged in?
Most Ultrabooks don't struggle. The LG gram, however, only features one fan and the cooling solution was obviously not meant for extended loads, which explains the performance of the gram with the eGPU. I use a Lenovo Yoga 920 with an eGPU and I've never had issues with overheating.
Got a Node 202 with a 1070 and a i7 8700k and the razor core is probably the same size in Liters. I don't understand why they egpus are so big. Makes no sense for me. But great Video like always :)
I believe that the LG Gram uses 2 PCIe lanes for its TB3 connection. That might explain the bad results with the Razer Core X compared to the Razer Blade (that has 4 PCIe lanes).
Also, if you compare the LG Gram's cooling solution compared to other TB3 laptops, it is simply inadequate for extended loads.
Yeah but if I'm not wrong, as I've seen in the LTT video about the gram, the CPU bottlenecks the performance because it can't run at full boost for a long time. The culprit is the cooling solution as mentions @MaxwellPilzer.
SmashStomp Inc can't disagree! One problem though, the weight. My Lenovo Y510p (it's getting old I know) and some other stuff in the backpack and it all becomes a pain x)
they may swell not even support TB then honestly.
SmashStomp Inc lol first of all the LG gram isn’t a gaming laptop...at all. Second, bro you don’t have to put other products down to just put yours up. Third, the razer stealth(the laptop made for the core) doesn’t throttle on the core. It’s peoples get on high horse off of something they bought. Neither is objectively better than the other thick or thin lol.
Just download a gpu
Javier Cerda link please
KillaKami its a joke idiot 😂😂👏 how dumb are you
OfficialZxtro no shit Sherlock lol
OfficialZxtro he’s going alon w it u re
Jesus, there's always that one dude. Don't be that dude, official whateveryournameis
It would make more sense if you are comparing it with similar spec desktop pc.
Just mount RGB strips inside the enclosure, and you're good to go!
Kailee yes
Kailee lol
I kinda wanted a comparison between this and a 1080ti desktop with the performance loss percentage...
Exactly. 80 fps in Battlefield 1 at 1080p is pretty low.
cicalinarrot yeah, my Vega 64 is less powerful and can get 200FPS solid in doom at 1080p ultra. Seems a bit fishy.
Its at least like 10-20% slower, more if you pipe the display output back to the internal laptop monitor. The external monitor helps.
@Ben Rayner - also your 200fps Doom numbers *likely Vulkan optimized for AMD) on AMD Vega don't really apply here.
in the razor core its normally around a 2% slow down with some games getting massive 20% to 30% slow downs. it all depends on the task that the the game needs done. if it needs high bandwidth then it will struggle to get that kind of performance. As for the alienware amplifier its just a 2% slow down across the board due to it acting as a full PCIE x8 port that is directly integrated into the system to alleviate the possible slow downs. it also has less slow downs when streaming the game back to the screen on the laptop. obviously the issue with the amp is that it only runs on alienware devices so if you already have the laptop then your SOL.
its more worth it to get a razer core x and a usb hub.... not worth spending around 500 just for some extra USB ports and some lights
I'm a Razer Core V2 owner...and I gotta say that if you want to live the Ultrabook life having a solid eGPU is the best
So it's great Razer has a cheaper enclosure for those people that don't want all the RGB nonsense
Jesse Lee Zamora thank you! Somebody gets it. Building a gaming desktop instead is not the answer for everyone to be able to to play games. Some people already have Ultrabooks that would benefit from an enclosure like this and not everyone wants to lug around a larger laptop.
but when you can build a pc for the price of the egpu enclosure alone, on a mini itx size same case size
without the gpu then isnt an egpu pointless, unless its cheap since its just some metal and a controller
ie
i5 3570k, z77 ds3h mobo 16 gigs ddr3 for £100
psu 650w for £40
£20 for a small ssd
itx case for £40 (same size as the razer core v2 )
thats £200 which is 25% cheaper
and the extra money could be on an ssd better cpu cooler more fans
so the same price as an enclosure you get a pc
i dont see the point of egpus
i still thing the alienware options are far more worth-wild considering you get 4 usb ports along with getting better performance in some games due to how the port is integrated.
Dill Zilla and restrict yourself to only Alienware laptop in the future
The Razer Core V2 on the other hand works with most laptops with Thunderbolt 3 these days. I’m always traveling and I want to have a single laptop to have my stuff on. And when I come home it’s my desktop as well with the eGPU and monitor
A right use case for this is more as a docking station. You would have a large display with a USB hub / a thunderbolt hub between the portable and the display. You do what you need to on the go, then plug it in and have a desktop comparable system for gaming / working.
I know a couple of code developers that use CUDA who have similar setups. The cost of a GPU enclosure is far lower than having both a laptop and a capable desktop, and the size of the box isn’t a big issue as it’s tucked away neatly in a corner permanently connected or the display, and all peripherals connected to the display / hub.
I've never been able to understand the potential use for such a device. Especially looking at how large it is. Just build a dedicated machine for it.
I don't see how people are complaining about price: Its an enclosure plus power supply. If you are building a PC the case plus power supply for a higher end is similar.
EGPUs make a lot of sense for some people.
I used to build my own gaming PCs but after the last one fried a few years back I never got around fixing it. I already use my work laptop as my personal computer and had set up a work desk at home with an OWC TB3 dock and the spare parts from my dead gaming PC.
So I bought an EGPU enclosure (Sonnet Breakaway Box) and I love it, works great and I'm starting to catch up with my Steam backlog.
I would love to see you guys do a benchmark that includes playing games on an external monitor through the eGPU, but also playing something like twitch/youtube/spotify etc on the laptops display. Just to see if the laptops display leaches from the ePGU or if it runs on the iGPU
I own a core x with a Radeon VII. Installed. 0 regrets and barely any bottleneck. It helped my 2018 Mac book pro run faster than almost any gaming laptop and quite a number of gaming desktops. Of course this was with setting my internal Radeon Pro 560x to a compute workload.
Nice of you to show the Hades Canyon at the end. I have been trolling the Nuc reviewers to know how it performs with the EGPU. I am definately pleased with my purchase now.
I just bought the HC NUC, and am loving it so far.
eGPUs still have too many compromises. 1.) The higher end the GPU the more performance you're going to lose when compared to using that GPU in a PC due to bandwidth constraints. It's like buying a 1080 Ti only to get 1070 performance. 100 FPS at 1080p for 1080 Ti is terrible. 2.) Ultrabook's CPU will also create bottleneck for highend GPUs. The 8550u can't turbo for very long given 15W TDP. I ended up just building a SFF gaming PC while keeping my notebook. To comprises there.
Having a monitor with usb ports, which can be split and daisy chained, is really nice with egpus
I would have really liked to see the performance difference between the external gpu + laptop vs a full desktop. Obviously the external gpu will blow the integrated gpu out of the water, but it would be very helpful to see what kind of performance difference there could be due to the thunderbolt connection.
Trevor Ammons pretty sure gaming desktop would blow it out of the water.
you could expect 20- 30 percent performance difference between a desktop and portable rig like this
That was pretty much my guess, thank you both!
eGPU's will probably make sense in the future when prices come down below the price of building your own gaming desktop. I'll definitely be interested then
I have a Hades Canyon hooked up to my TV. And I haven't fired up my big rig with a 1070 GTX for ages. The problem I have with this enclosure is the sheer size. I would have a spare 1070. So as soon as an absolute bare bones enclosure with a possibly external power supply comes along, I would pull the trigger. Also, the upgrade from a Hades Canyon to a 1070 GTX probably isn't worth it.
I dig it. I have the Razer Blade stealth for mobile video editing but most of my editing takes place on my PC (which also happens to be great for gaming). Already owning the GPU I can justify moving to the Razer Core instead of building a new PC. My PC is still on DDR3 1600Mhz, SATA SSD, Intel 4790K. Paired with two 1070s the thing is still a beast. If for what ever reason my PC dies or I really need a new one my Razer Blade stealth has the latest Intel CPU and 16GB (which is plenty for most everything I do). Very rare I wish I had a 64GB beast (running 24GB now)
An important question would have been, is the 1080ti bottl necked by the usb c. Ie will a 1070 give you the same performance. Just saying. That would have been good information to have.
I wanted to see the benchmarks of the blade + core + external monitor compared to a desktop build of similar specifications. I saw a comparison like that a year ago or so and if I remember correctly the desktop got 30%-40% better frame rates. It would be interesting to see how much has changed.
I can’t wait until laptops and external GPUs are fully on par with desktops! A set up like that would be the ultimate in utility, convenience, and simplicity. No longer would one need a desktop for serious work and a laptop for work-on-the-go, instead just one simple streamlined solution!
I'm just curious about one thing: is the performance of the GPU the same as in a desktop while the Core X is using an external monitor?
No
My first build ever after 30yrs of console gaming:
1: 2018 HP Spectre x360
2. EVGA 1080 ti FTW3
3. Razer Core X
4. 50" 4K LG
Wouldn’t call it a build but cool
The Thunderbolt cable going over the display cable was driving my OCD crazy lol
I see two use cases for the GPU: 1) immediate rendering ( CAD & games, primarily ) 2) non-immediate tasks ( data mining , virtual currency mining, movie rendering ). Use case 1 demands a very high-bandwidth bus between the CPU and GPU boxes, and whatever bus it is will likely be proprietary and/or soon obsolete, so probably not a great investment. Use case 2 might be a more useful situation, if you have an application that will benefit from the extra GPU horsepower - and can afford a bunch of these boxes. Otherwise, meh.
This is my first time using an eGPU enclosure, and I’m wondering a few things. Firstly, do I keep the video card inside the enclosure at all times, or should I routinely take it out between uses? Secondly, will having my laptop plugged into the razor core x automatically charge my laptop?
Thirdly, and most generally, are there any things I shouldn’t do that would be harmful to my GPU and or the razor x?
Thank you in advance!
I just bought a Core X and a 1650 Super and from my experience and research 1) you should absolutely keep it inside the enclosure at all times to avoid damage (its the same as a full Tower PC essentially) unless your possibly traveling or moving your eGPU a lot 2) thunderbolt 3 allows for reverse charging and power transfer and considering that the Core X has like a 500W or 600W power supply it should be fine to charge your laptop unless you have some massively power hungry RTX or AMD card in there and 3) the only thing I could think of is dont drop it or leave it somewhere where it can easily get very hot or very cold (like near a window or some kind of freezer) [think of this as a full PC without a motherboard, so anything you would or wouldn't do to that applies to an eGPU as well].
@@spencerrr9878 I'm considering the Core X and a 1660 Super so I'm just wondering how your experience has been with the performance of the core with your 1650 Super?
@@jonahthomas4835 I Love it! I got my eGPU and GPU off amazon so prices were a little cheaper than retail. But its really nice and small enough for me to put on a shelf and keep attached to my X1 Carbon with a 1 m TB3 cable. I can run most games at 1080p 60-80 fps (DayZ / Arma 2 gets around 45 - 60 fps on a medium and high graphics combo, cities skylines gets around 60 fps, minecraft gets 60 - 70 fps, BF V gets 75 - 80 fps on medium graphics, Battlefront 2 gets 70 - 80 fps on medium graphics, etc)
Spencerrr Thank you for that, it was really helpful!
awesome review, thanks. Wonder if there is any bump in Premiere/video work performance going directly to Monitor vs back to laptop. Notebook differences could be if the Thunderbolt port is 2-lane vs 4-lane.
Just want to know with people that bought these eGPUs the experience travelling with them? Not that I'd gonna bring them in a coffee shop or anything, but I'd imagine I'd want to bring them with me like on a hotel or something. Just want to know the experience, putting them in a luggage, airport checks... Do you guys put them in check-in or hand carry? Do you leave the GPU inside the case while in a flight or do you secure the GPU inside?
external GPU is great, people need to get the power delivery and data throughput correct though. TB3 cables can be tricky (and expensive) and don't confuse USB-C with TB3 even though they are the same port. GPU needs 40gbps.
Wonder how this would benefit an XPS 13?
Considering the cutbacks that have been made, this is still relatively expensive. I love that it's smaller, but the loss of extra connectivity makes it lose a lot of its usefulness. That kind of unit really shines when you can keep a monitor, keyboard and mouse permanently plugged into it.
The issue with external GPU docs is that they only work on very expensive laptops, and even after you buy the dock you still need to buy a GPU (in most cases anyway.) These docks will take a very long time to make it to budget gamers, because the GPU, dock, and laptop are always super expensive. There are other solutions through the WiFi card but that is one that can void warranties and is pretty janky.
A Razer Core X should work on any laptop with a thunderbolt 3 port I believe
but when you can build a pc for the price of the egpu enclosure alone, on a mini itx size same case size
without the gpu then isnt an egpu pointless, unless its cheap since its just some metal and a controller
ie
i5 3570k, z77 ds3h mobo 16 gigs ddr3 for £100
psu 650w for £40
£20 for a small ssd
itx case for £40 (same size as the razer core v2 )
thats £200 which is 25% cheaper
and the extra money could be on an ssd better cpu cooler more fans
so the same price as an enclosure you get a pc
i dont see the point of egpus
Wow, my PC case is 1/3 the size of that GPU enclosure, and mine fits a 1080 in it too.
Yes this shit is way too big
I know that they kinda have to be that size, but I wish they're smaller =\
Guess I kinda set that one up for that comment lol
They could be smaller. The SFF case I'm getting (Louqe Ghost S1) is much smaller than the core X and houses all the PC components.
gigbyte's external gpu is ALOT smaller could check it
even the node202 is smaller and it can store a cpu and a full size gpu.
make an external case that accepts the "notebook" addin cards, where you can atleast get a GTX 1080, maybe Ti (not sure) those cards are what, 10x10 cm? use a SFX psu and a cooling solution for the gpu = done, 20x20x20 cm cube at the most
you could use a hub for the mouse and keyboard the latency in input for peripherals is unnoticeable. I think the IO in the blade is sufficient. but only sufficient, not comfortable. But the results that the blade achieves without the external monitor are amazing, I'm actually surprised. I thought you were about to say that those numbers should be adjusted down for when there is no monitor hooked up, not the other way around.
how much did the CPU affect overall performance? I bet you could get more usage out of that GPU on higher resolutions.
Would be interesting to see the test of 1080 in core and a gaming laptop with1080 (or other similar gpu's)
HankDennemann more like 60-70%
I've had both the original razer core and an Alienware graphics amplifier, but always end up going back to a desktop for primary gaming. When these have 8x bandwidth, i'm there, but I just don't want to sacrifice my framerate for the benefit of a single device.
Constructive criticism: 16 min is too long for these types of videos mate. I know there's a lot to talk about but maybe keep it ~ 10 min.
Shutup, 16 minutes is great. I hate reviews that are sooo short. I can't call that a review.
Paradox GamersNexus needs that as revenue bruh, and that isn’t going to happen if the video is less than 10 minutes
I'd rather have a video with more info and more detailed content rather than him just breeze through everything like some youtubers do.
Paradox Correct
Its in depth. Take some extra adderall of you can sit still for more then 10 min
Great review. I have one of these, with an RX580 in it, and will be using it with one of the new Mac Mini’s that were just released. I currently have everything I need, but might upgrade to an ultra wide monitor. Once my build is finished I will have better performance than an iMac Pro for half the price. I’ll also be able to use ultra wide monitors and be able to upgrade my GPU whenever I please. Just a great product for specific builds.
Yep, that;s about the size of my current PC case (cougar QBX)
I don't understand why you guys don't show the insides of these boxes.
eGPU is wonderful thing, couple of years back when ExpressCard came, it could be used as eGPU port nicely. With more bandwidth that would have been awesome.. But now we have ThunderBolt and everything works well. Damn i would buy one if they won't be so unnecessary big and expensive, but hey, Akitio Node is not bad at all
How about doing a comparison between the Razer and Gigabyte external GPU enclosures?
A problem I don't see others address is the issue of having your personal files on your game rig. I would never do that if it could at all be prevented for several reasons:
A game rig is inherently unstable. With Windows being as it is, for maximum performance, it needs to be reinstalled fairly often - I mirror an image in every 1-2 months.
Also, windows is lousy with malware.
If you can afford the high end hardware like that, I personally would have the ultrabook AND a nice desktop with that graphics card, perhaps a ryzen 5 with a gtx 1070 or rx 580. Yes it may be several hundred more expensive, but I think that's more convenient as it is nicer to game on a big screen anyway.
Have a GTX 1060 in my laptop and kinda want to invest in an egpu for an RTX 2070. Would really love a video from you guys with an rtx card connected to laptop display.
Nice review, and its true the lack of USB hub is a downer, kind of kills of the one-cable solution idea. Also staaaaap with the "I can build it better and cheaper" mentality, the point if this setup is exactly what you've mentioned at the end, un-plug one cable, then your entire main PC can fit inside your satchel, and you'll be one your way to a meeting or a café.
Why would you want a USB hub on the enclosure if you only have that one cable? It would eat at your total bandwidth
It's already been tested and proven that, as long as you only use USB peripherals like mouse and keyboards, the impact on the GPU will be so minimal that it didn't matter. So yes, one-cable solution on an eGPU setup with external monitor, mouse and keyboard makes sense.
8x pcie of which generation? If it is pcie gen 1, nowadays GPU can saturate it. 16x pcie gen1 is just enough.
Yeah I used a hub for the mouse and keyboard and tucked it in the back of the desk so it is still a minimalist setup.
to me an eGPU is my future, eventually... But i need them to have usb ports and a LAN port so it becomes the ultimate docking station. Just want to chuck my laptop in and it becomes a desktop capable of work and play.
if you have a desktop, then the egpu isn’t a recommendation but if you use just one laptop with high cpu like macbook pro 2018 then egpu can be a recommendation
I have a question. Will the eGPU help the razor in terms of battery usage?
Question. I got the Razer Core X Chroma with the RTX 2070 Super for my Razer Blade 2016 (GTX 1060 - 16gb RAM). My problem is that my CPU and Memory run way to high for most games. Is it because the RTX card pushes the CPU more than the the GTX? My task manager shows no issues with GPU usage mid game completely boosted. I've been searching everywhere for advice and this video has been the best one by far even though its the gen before. Probably should just go with a desktop haha. Thanks
Not interested in gaming but I am interested in having this strategy for Video Editing in FCPX on my MacBook Pro once Nikon and Atomos comes out with their ProRes RAW firmware update (August) ? ? ? Already got a QNAP NAS for the HUGE Video data files... but I’m thinking an External GPU would speed up my import and graphic display...
Couldn't the problem just be that the Thunderbolt port on the Gram uses LESS PCI-E lanes than the Razer ??
I have a Dell Inspiron 5559; Intel Core i7 2.5Ghz, 16gb RAM, 1TB HDD, FHD non-touch display, and no Thunderbolt port.
Do you think a 1050TI or 1060 would pair well with it?
And if I enhance cooling of the laptop by adding external cooling fans, would it make things better?
Thanks a lot for the review
I did look into this at one point quite a while ago. But I eventually decided it wasn't worth it. Also, would you get better performance if you plugged the ultra book in? It looked like in the video you were running off battery power.
I wonder whether or not plugging power cable to the laptop would eliminate some of the USB c bandwidth bottleneck like when you use an external monitor. That 1080 is bottlenecked to the point that it could be considered a 1060
I'd be interested to know if there's actually any advantage of a 1080ti over a 1080 using just a thunderbolt cable. I bet it's negligible.
When you were using the nuc did you try disabling the display adapters from within device manger?
Yeah.. It's just too big and bulky. I do see the potential of these GPU docks, specially once we get a better interface, but, when the dock is bigger than a fully fledged desktop PC, not to mention, nearly as expensive as one too, then i'm out. This is just bad design, if you ask me. :/
There is absolutely no valid reason why it needs to be that big.
Christian Exactly. Maybe in future if way cheaper and better design but this thing is just not worth it.
it's meant to be on a table all the time...
Christian its smaller than most pcs and What type of gaming pc Can You build for that much money.
Read Castor i agree, next gen Will probably be smaller
I know, but that point is mute when it's as large as an average ITX system. Just build a desktop PC if that's the case. You'll get a better experience with that anyway.
Nice review and including an alternate Thunderbolt 3 device.
One thing though, the NUC can be overclocked whereas the Blade is locked.
Thanks for the video and encouraging folks to consider eGPUs. I think Razer Blade Stealth paired with this eGPU or another one (like the Aorus Gaming Box series) can be a smart choice. I principally enjoy using an eGPU because of thermals and fan noise. I also use a 2M cable, which is minimal loss in performance (there may be a few latency sensitive titles that suffer). I get that there is a huge drop off compared to the Aorus's 1070 verse my Alienware 15 with a 1070, and then some super CPU intensive games can crush the 15W CPUs inside an ultrabook (AC: Origins). However, when I hear how loud my Alienware 15 is under load, and compare it to my MacBook Pro running similar titles with little fan noise - I gravitate back towards the eGPU solution.
Also - a 1080TI in this is overkill. Pick up a 1060, even a 3gb one, and you still have a great match for less than $600. Or, do like I did and get the Aorus Gaming Box 1070 for under $550 (in the US). I feel like eGPU's target (as some have commented) the more discriminating adult buyer. One who has wife/kids at home, wants to manage one machine to keep life simple, and needs a quiet gaming solution. I have an Alienware 15, but it's huge and loud (even though the 1070 is pure!) - I find myself gravitating to the thin and light choice most of the time. I also tuck the eGPU under my bed and use a 2M cable - and can also quickly move it to my desk and 27" monitor if I want. After a day sitting a desk for work, I don't really want to sit at my desk at home though.
I have a Razer Blade Stealth on the way because I want the native eGPU hotswap - across several outlets, it seems Razer did indeed optimize the Stealth for eGPU moreso than others!
How is the heating with these external graphics cards? My Razer Blade Stealth gets very hot doing just about anything (not even gaming) and I'm worried that when I start gaming it will overheat. Does the external GPU carry a lot of the load that the laptop has to carry right now? Any helpful tips would be great so I know if I should buy it or not. Thanks.
This is more and more tempting as the throttling for GPU's in external enclosures diminishes.
Would have been interesting how it compared to a normal build like yes it is insane how much faster you are in adobe but that is to be expected when using integrated vs an 1080ti...
Thunderbolt 3 cable length matters of course
It's a shame they didn't put an ethernet port in there and a few USB 3.0 ports. It would suck to have to plug your keyboard, mouse, etc every time you sit down to play games.
Yeah. My old ITX build was half the size of that one, or even less (Raijintek Metis). And it could support pretty decent gpu's (25cm) and 160cm cpu coolers.
It's still way too big.
The 1080 ti results seem pretty low here even with the Blade Stealth especially since the test is at 1080p. Is there a bottleneck withe the thunderbolt interface?
if you could re visit this topic with current drivers since theres been pretty big updates since this upload, thatd be awesome!
What about the perceivable input latency? It was what pulled me off using this solution after 6 months of trying.
I have the core x chroma
And it’s terrible. The eth dies all the time, and the usb hubs glitch out. If you want the best performance, disable any discreet GPUs on you laptop even if you are outputting to external monitor You should get an extra 20 FPS.
for how little is actually involved with these external gpu systems, the price of them still blows my mind for the amount of material plus usefulness of these things, but then again it is a very narrow market they are aiming for still... 300 bucks for ....that? lol probably 30 dollars worth of materials and parts hahaha but it serves a purpose i guess, im very confused on what to feel about these things and thier prices
Twiztid N1nja I would give it maximum 100$ of worth.
Dario Franciskovic yeah seemed a wee overpriced to me too lol
Power supply:$50?
Motherboard: $20?
Fan: $10?
Case: (all dat machined aluminium) ?35
R&D: ?185?
Daniel McKenzie lol yeah i wonder how they break it down to make it "worthwhile" or what, because we know they have to make miney back for r and d and such but still seems like they got a greater value on items then need be lol
Twiztid N1nja thunderbolt is actually pretty expensive to implement. There's a reason why cheaper laptops don't have it, and some only have it on the highest end version. Same thing applies here.
If it was that cheap to make, a noname brand would come along and steal all the market, but the reality is that they tried to do that and the core x is way cheaper.
I dont understand why no one else has created enclosures. They shouldn't be anywhere near these prices. Its a box, psu and board.
I heard using a dual monitor set up would boost it higher
Are there any external GPU enclosures that don't come with a PSU? I've got a 650w PSU that's not in use.
Awesome work with this video Ibra, lots of information that most other videos have not brought up or just skimmed over.
Does that mean LG gram he tested has 2 lanes or it’s not a thunderbolt at all?
Will this work for different laptops than Mac and Razer?
really good review, great product... price tho...still not good enough and all usb/ethernet ports not included on this model makes it not ideal for many
for $300 you can make a decent itx budget gaming pc anyway (excluding gpu of course). If it was a one device solution i.e. I plug my laptop in and then it also has ethernet, mouse, keyboard and monitors then I would consider $300 but for that I need to pay $500 this prices are whack.
Why has this not seen any improvements :( I want an Ultrabook with an egpu
i squeezed a asus rog strix 1080 ti into the v2, i winced slightly but there's no scratches
Did you know that there are different thunderbolt implementations? There is a 2 pcie lane version and a 4 pcie lane version, the gram probably has 2 lanes which bottlenecks the whole thing more than cpu or what ever else.
85 Fps in BF1 is too low considering the card setup and resolution at which you are running on. And Eber, why are you sending the signal from the core back to the Laptop. Did you try this with an external montior? That way you can offset some bandwidth loss.
you are not allowed to write anymore until you watch the damn video, now hush...
Hi.
Can you do a review about Razer Core X, or other eGPU with Quadro P4000 with external monitor in pro applications SW, SW Visualize (CUDA rendering), Octane Render and may be other CAD apps using CUDA, or pro GPU via ThunderBolt 3 with 2 lane, 4 lane and in PC comparison? Are there any sense?
It will be very helpfull not only for me. I'd like to use a thin an light ultrabook for CAD. (in my case Acer Switch 7 SW713-51GNP-83ZF - Black Edition) Take it with myself and at home use it like a "workstation".
Thanks!
@hardware canucks did you try and disable the vega on the nuc and in vulcan ,,, but you did say you did some steps that is very weird error ID software is like KING when it comes to putting out good software so this is very weird for that to happen
I have same setting of this, do you have any issue with cooling or razer blade stealth?
I would have liked to see if a Radeon X 64 on the CoreX paired with the Hades Canyon NUC with the Vega M would allow the Radeon drivers to magically go X-Fire or something or something :-)
Y not any mini pcie connectivity for these enclosures? Better performance if im not mistaken..
I'll stick to other eGPU solutions, especially if those products are more compact and lighter.
I dunno why this video somehow feels incomplete. Maybe the fact its tested on the same Razor brand lap top besides that lg or whatever that thing was. Cant really put my finger on it, but def something is missing.
Why bottleneck the 1080ti with Thunderbolt? It makes much more sense to test with gtx 1060/1070, it makes much more sense.
I'm new to PC and I decided to try out this whole egpu thing. Is a msi GeForce 1080 GTX compatible?
Edit: after some research, is anything "GeForce" technically Nvidia? So it's on the compatibility list? Or does it have to be the literal "Nvidia GeForce GTX _____" or is anything with GeForce compatible?
Seems like this is aimed at people who need the portability of a laptop but want to game at home without having a separate rig. Would be nice for Razer owners if they had docking stations to so they can have their 3 monitors, keyboards, mice, headphones, etc. ready to go.
Can you use the razer core x next to your desktop pc to like increase it's power?
So, to replace the traditional desktop PC, literally the external GPU product have its best usage when plug into some mini PC?
Will the ultrabooks get overheated when gaming with external GPUs plugged in?
Most Ultrabooks don't struggle. The LG gram, however, only features one fan and the cooling solution was obviously not meant for extended loads, which explains the performance of the gram with the eGPU. I use a Lenovo Yoga 920 with an eGPU and I've never had issues with overheating.
Got a Node 202 with a 1070 and a i7 8700k and the razor core is probably the same size in Liters. I don't understand why they egpus are so big. Makes no sense for me. But great Video like always :)
Is it possible to be able to hit over 60hz when using an external monitor that has 144hz?
Does it come with a graphics card or do you have to buy one as well?
Look at the price and take a guess... 🙄 🤷♂️