External GPU + Laptop or tower?

[fussy-p]

Hi all

 

Hoping to get some help about whether I should get an external GPU and pair it with my laptop or whether I should just get a separate tower.

 

Basically I have a work laptop that I can use for personal use also that has TB3 (4 lanes), 8th Gen Intel i7, 16GB RAM so I like the idea of pairing that up with a Razer Core enclosure + RTX 2080.

 

OR for whatever reason, is that a big mistake? Should I just get a tower?

 

I guess for me having the 1 laptop with all my stuff on it is very convenient as I don't need graphics power when I'm away from my desk at home. Also the laptop is free.

 

Note that I intend to run my home office on a 27" G-sync 1440p monitor. Also the purpose is that I want to play games when I'm at home but then be able to switch to my work install and work from home / the road also.

 

Further, I realise that I'll lose some performance by going through TB3 but I'm not too concerned about that. I'm more concerned as to whether there are any inherent issues with running an RTX 2080 in an enclosure and combining wit hthe specs I outlined above. For instance, where would the bottleneck be?

 

Thank you all!

[LukeSavenije]

The bottleneck would be in the cpu, because of power limitations in a laptop (even on that high end). You could get a desktop, but it's kinda personal preference that counts here

[fussy-p]

1 minute ago, LukeSavenije said:

The bottleneck would be in the cpu, because of power limitations in a laptop (even on that high end). You could get a desktop, but it's kinda personal preference that counts here

Thanks for the prompt reply.

 

The CPU is the bottleneck hey ... OK what if I were to keep it extremely cool and it was running at full power all the time? Would that make a difference? Or are you saying that even without power limitations the CPU would still be the bottleneck?

 

Thanks

[LukeSavenije]

3 minutes ago, fussy-p said:

Thanks for the prompt reply.

 

The CPU is the bottleneck hey ... OK what if I were to keep it extremely cool and it was running at full power all the time? Would that make a difference? Or are you saying that even without power limitations the CPU would still be the bottleneck?

 

Thanks

To start, there is nothing such like a perfect machine. Bottlenecks always exist. But a laptop is designed with portability in mind, from thin and lights up to the thiccc gaming laptops. And you can only get a certain amount of cooling inside it. You could help it by a fan docking station, or more sketch with blowiematrons, but you'll maybe go on par with a desktop that's quieter and generally cheaper. That's why I still prefer big atx desktops over laptops

[VinsinityKT]

To save money, I would get an external gpu. You already seem to have a beastly laptop with 64gb of ram and a quality 8th i7. 

[LukeSavenije]

3 minutes ago, VinsinityKT said:

To save money, I would get an external gpu. You already seem to have a beastly laptop with 64gb of ram and a quality 8th i7. 

Tbh I think money won't be a problem when you can buy that

[fussy-p]

2 minutes ago, VinsinityKT said:

To save money, I would get an external gpu. You already seem to have a beastly laptop with 64gb of ram and a quality 8th i7. 

Oh dear sorry I meant 16GB of RAM not 64GB! 

 

The laptop is a Dell Latitude 7390:

 

8th Gen i7-8650U quad

16GB 2133Mhz RAM

M.2 512GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 SSD

 

Sorry for the confusion guys.

 

Does the fact that it's only 16GB and not 64GB RAM change anything?

[Fasauceome]

Just now, fussy-p said:

i7-8650U

Quad core Kaby Lake R with up to 4.2 turbo? I think that should be fine with a 2080 if you're really concerned with a bottleneck. (aforementioned cooling dock for gaming would be worth it IMO)

1 minute ago, fussy-p said:

Does the fact that it's only 16GB and not 64GB RAM change anything?

nope

[fussy-p]

8 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

Quad core Kaby Lake R with up to 4.2 turbo? I think that should be fine with a 2080 if you're really concerned with a bottleneck. (aforementioned cooling dock for gaming would be worth it IMO)

nope

Again thanks for the prompt replies guys.

 

OK so it sounds like the external GPU route is feasible (given that the laptop is free - if the laptop wasn't free I'd totally get a tower btw).

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on a laptop cooling dock? Any that stand out above the rest? Something efficient and super quiet?

 

Also does anyone have any experience with GPU enclosures? Is the Razer Core X the one I should be getting? It seems like the best one atm (The Razer Core V2 is great but I'm worried about input lag with the keyboard / mouse).

 

Thanks!

 

[benjl]

4 hours ago, fussy-p said:

Hi all

 

Hoping to get some help about whether I should get an external GPU and pair it with my laptop or whether I should just get a separate tower.

 

Basically I have a work laptop that I can use for personal use also that has TB3 (4 lanes), 8th Gen Intel i7, 16GB RAM so I like the idea of pairing that up with a Razer Core enclosure + RTX 2080.

 

OR for whatever reason, is that a big mistake? Should I just get a tower?

 

I guess for me having the 1 laptop with all my stuff on it is very convenient as I don't need graphics power when I'm away from my desk at home. Also the laptop is free.

 

Note that I intend to run my home office on a 27" G-sync 1440p monitor. Also the purpose is that I want to play games when I'm at home but then be able to switch to my work install and work from home / the road also.

 

Further, I realise that I'll lose some performance by going through TB3 but I'm not too concerned about that. I'm more concerned as to whether there are any inherent issues with running an RTX 2080 in an enclosure and combining wit hthe specs I outlined above. For instance, where would the bottleneck be?

 

Thank you all!

The fact that it is a laptop processor makes a huge difference. I would go for a desktop because it has more expandability and is probably more powerful. I think even a laptop i7 will bottleneck a 2080. For a desktop processor, you should get one with a K, nothing, X, or XE. there may be a few more. You seem to be an intel person so I would recommend a liquid-cooled i7 9700k paired with a 2080. That will run 1440p at least on high settings above 60fps. Don't count on ray tracing being good as even on a 2080ti, it can barely get 60 fps 1080p.