Pendragon

It doesn't really matter. AW fucking disabled xmp so latencies are fucked anyway. 

Get the T530. Trust. If that fits in your budget. 
 
Actually, what is your budget? 
 
@Droidbot for HP. @Electronics Wizardy for Dell. Me or @Dackzy for Thinkpads. 

@Tiber1337 Hmmm, pretty much what everyone said is wrong. 
 
Firstly, Alienware eGPU implementation is great. It's a direct 4x lane without any TB3 conversion loss. If you look at benchmarks comparing 16x vs 4x the difference is like 5%. So whatever. 
 
TB3 does incur higher losses depending on how you run it. 
 
Interestingly, ULV CPUs work better with eGPUs up to a certain point due to OPI. Note. Up to a certain extent. If you take a look at benchmarks on Firestrike from someone using a ULV CPU+xGPU and a 6 core 45W CPU+xGPU, the ULV setup's GPU score is generally higher. (source: ultrabookreview). However, if you're planning to add a 2080 then you'll need the 6 core 45w CPU to scale even if you incur higher losses, it's worth it once you hit a high enough GPU power threshold.
 
I run my XPS13 (2018 white) with an Aorus 1080 box and I get around 1070 to 1070ti desktop levels. Note my setup is very optimized, highly overclocked and lots of aftermarket modding went into it. A stock setup is around 1070max-q with a 1080 box.
 
Hence you can assume a tier downgrade from whathever GPU you're running using TB3 (2080ti will run like a 2080/1080ti) and no downgrade using Alienware's eGPU setup.
 
^ those are the facts.
 
Now for my opinion. Why the fuck are you using a 17in laptop for eGPU? The point of eGPU was to have a thin and light notebook do it no? But ultimately up to you. If you really really want to run the best eGPU setup, Alienware is the best implementation on the market. BUT all Alienware's are heavy as fuck. I lugged one around for 2 years and while I was fine, when I went to my XPS13 it was a completely different experience. 
 
Should probably get a thin and light ish laptop with a 6 core CPU + eGPU

System builders are for people who want to literally plug in their PC, turn it on, and everything is set up for them, minus the initial OS configuration for a user account and settings. Whether or not that money is worth their time and effort is up to them.
 
Think about all of the other things you could do to save money if you just did it yourself and why you opt to have someone else do it rather than do it yourself.
 
EDIT: I mean in this case, I hear the argument that some stores offer a service to build what you've purchased and ship the built PC instead so just go that route if you don't want to build. But the stores also likely aren't going to give you the same level of customer support as a system builder if something goes wrong.

i mean getting the PC setup from scratch (ordering, getting the mail, opening boxes, windows installation) takes 3 hours for highly experienced builders. Granted majority of this is software, you're essentially buying 3 hours of time for 1000 dollars. For some people its worth it. 

Your confusing gaming with heavy/stress load.
 
During gaming your CPU will rarely get pushed hard so it stays at 3.9ghz most of the time.
 
I have an ULV + eGPU setup and my CPU clock stays locked in at 3.9ghz alot of the time (tune your settings to hit GPU 95%+ utilization).

You are very wrong, they are 1050 4gb and it is a laptop only version. 
 
https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1050-Notebook.178614.0.html
 

8850H will not perform better in extended full workloads. The 45w limit doesn't allow these new 6 core chips to turbo to max forever. So the performance is really the same.
 
The 150 difference is really paying in the difference in chassis. I wonder if Lenovo has online chat support. You can always knock them down a few more dollars that way.

See the problem here is you're using a Dell XPS
 
Never use dell XPS

Really really really depends on the use. If you're just going to use that port as like a supped up HDMI output, know that it can only run it at half the rated spec. Not sure what TB3 can run it at, totally forgot but i think if it was 4k 120hz or 60hz, half the lanes would drive it at half spec. not entirely sure. 
 
If I didnt have to use a eGPU, i would definitely use the Huawei. The 3:2 slim bezels are pretty fucking amazing. 

No, but then you might as well just get a better laptop

@D2ultima LOL THEY PUT A 6 CORE CHIP IN  MACBOOK LOL.
 
Bets on whether it'll run at 2.5ghz or 2.0ghz. Also at 100c forever. 

its a sound 100% yes. Stop reading what you're reading and go to egpu.io for right answers.

Not sure about that. It's not a cooling issue, its a bios issue. The latest XPS13 (9370) has a redesigned cooling system that's pretty solid. Even with 27w usage. Only thing is that it has a bios issue where it doesn't turn on the fans until 98c. But after that, no throttling.

Yea no. The alloy prevents that. It's a mixed alloy. Unless the manufacturing went completely tits up, you would not be able to scrape off flammable material. 

Well. I have the XPS13 rose gold with a marble skin. And its pretty sexy in all white. Then throw in a MX Anywhere White version and its a pretty sick white setup.
 
Side note - I have the Aorus 1080 gaming box so I use that when I want to game on the XPS 13. 
 
I've only had it for 2 weeks, but I've already replaced 1 due to coil whine, so allot some time to go through Dell's inventory and find the magical unicorn with no issues. 
 
I'm gonna post a guide on how to optimize the 27w 8550u in the XPS 13. Currently struggling on how XTU and TS work on this thing. I need XTU to raise the turbo boost times but idk how long it can sustain for. Either way, it's a pretty sick machine.

Get it here.
https://www.gentechpc.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AERO-15X-V8-BK4K4P-Build
 
then get the free liquid metal option. only way to keep temps down. 

The i9 would throttle pretty much every second.

Don't bother with it. That model can't even handle a 8300H properly. Forget about i9.

yea and it spikes to 90c+
 
also if you're in a pro longed CPU load, absolutely fucked. 

Obsidian is better. Obsidian is probably the best in the world currently. They don't just delid. They lap the heatsinks, check for balance and do a host of other things.
 
Please check with Obsidian on which models they need duo power bricks for. I know for a fact that the 1080 SLI requires duo-power bricks but I forgot whether the single one requires it. 
 
However, if you absolutely hate duo-power bricks, you can politely ask the Obsidian staff if they can source the Eurocom 780w power adapter. http://www.eurocom.com/configure(2,404,0)ec
 
 

Any 1060 with the G3 includes TB3. CPU doesn't matter you could get the i5 + 1060 and it would still have TB3. 
 
source: forgot, but it was on a notebookreview thread and they confirmed it with Dell. 

Obsidian is better. Obsidian is probably the best in the world currently. They don't just delid. They lap the heatsinks, check for balance and do a host of other things.
 
Please check with Obsidian on which models they need duo power bricks for. I know for a fact that the 1080 SLI requires duo-power bricks but I forgot whether the single one requires it. 
 
However, if you absolutely hate duo-power bricks, you can politely ask the Obsidian staff if they can source the Eurocom 780w power adapter. http://www.eurocom.com/configure(2,404,0)ec
 
 

Hidevolution is the best in the us
But since ur in eu, Obsidian PC is the shit. Go there.

No thin and light works without extensive modding:
 
1) Liquid metal for CPU
2) Gelid GC Extreme for GPU
3) Repadding with Artic (budget) or Fujipoly (best-in-class)
4) Foam or thermal pad seal around the cpu to prevent liquid metal leakage as this is a laptop and even with perfect LM application you don't want to risk it. I've never had a problem using liquid metal. And even after opening it up I've never seen it leak anywhere (aka perfect application), but I'm not going to risk 2k to find out otherwise
5) Aggressive CPU undervolting
6) GPU custom voltage curving
 
^ all this is required to get those thin and light laptops working as intended.