Thunderbolt 3 vs any other way EGPU

[Cac93]

Is there any other way to get a egpu without risking destroying my laptop that’s faster then TB3

 

 

or atleast if I do have to open it, a way to make it look as presentable as a TB3 enclosure 

[VoyexTech]

What kind of computer are you trying to use it with?

[Cac93]

Dell g3 17 it has a TB3 port but wind wondering if there’s a better option since I heard TB3 bottlenecks. 

 

I have a 1050ti thinking of putting a 1080 or a 1070ti wondering if it’s worth it if I use a TB3 or if I’ll lose too much from it

[pstarlord]

Here's the thing wit external GPU options.  

 

-in terms of a native connection, TB3 is the only way to do it without opening your laptop.

-I've seen a few instances where people have actually connected an external GPU to a laptop by connecting the GPU directly to the mobo.  Don't quote me on the particulars, but I thiiiiiiink they used an NVMe slot to get the proper bandwidth.  I may be way off base, it's been a while since I investigated this.  Either way, whatever connection they used, they needed to modify the back cover of the lap top in order to close it back up with the connection sticking out.  

 

The long and the short of the EGPU discussion usually goes as such, the amount of money you need to spend compared to the performance usually isn't worth it.  I'm one of those people who typically prefers lap tops over desk tops just because of convenience.  I liked the idea of having a desk at home that I could just dock my lap top on, connect my peripherals and then I'm working on the same system I was working on all day.  IF you are this type of person, then spending the money to hook up an EGPU makes sense, as long as you temper your performance expectations.  Throwing a 1080TI in an EGPU case will not get you full 1080TI peformance, but it'll get you WAAAAYYY better gaming performance than your current laptop could ever get.

 

From a financial stand point, it seems that the most commonly suggest EGPU case is the one from Razer, i think they call it the Razer Core 2 now.  It's like $500+ just for the case, but it has pretty solid i/o options.  Then add the price of whatever GPU you want to plug into it, so add another...$500+.  You can easily get $1000 - $1500 invested into this process.  The less talked about option is the Gigabyte Gaming Box.  It's an EGPU box that comes populated with an EGPU.  They have a 1070 and 1080 option, and the last I checked the pricing was very reasonable.  Though the GPU's form factor inside the box is unconventional and there for useless outside of the box.  

 

Then there is the other problem of compatibility, and this is the main reason I ditched the idea of using a EGPU.  I couldn't find a single product in the line that had a high enough success rate to make me feel confident enough to pull the trigger. 

[ccryt]

7 hours ago, pstarlord said:

Here's the thing wit external GPU options.  

 

-in terms of a native connection, TB3 is the only way to do it without opening your laptop.

-I've seen a few instances where people have actually connected an external GPU to a laptop by connecting the GPU directly to the mobo.  Don't quote me on the particulars, but I thiiiiiiink they used an NVMe slot to get the proper bandwidth.  I may be way off base, it's been a while since I investigated this.  Either way, whatever connection they used, they needed to modify the back cover of the lap top in order to close it back up with the connection sticking out.  

 

The long and the short of the EGPU discussion usually goes as such, the amount of money you need to spend compared to the performance usually isn't worth it.  I'm one of those people who typically prefers lap tops over desk tops just because of convenience.  I liked the idea of having a desk at home that I could just dock my lap top on, connect my peripherals and then I'm working on the same system I was working on all day.  IF you are this type of person, then spending the money to hook up an EGPU makes sense, as long as you temper your performance expectations.  Throwing a 1080TI in an EGPU case will not get you full 1080TI peformance, but it'll get you WAAAAYYY better gaming performance than your current laptop could ever get.

 

From a financial stand point, it seems that the most commonly suggest EGPU case is the one from Razer, i think they call it the Razer Core 2 now.  It's like $500+ just for the case, but it has pretty solid i/o options.  Then add the price of whatever GPU you want to plug into it, so add another...$500+.  You can easily get $1000 - $1500 invested into this process.  The less talked about option is the Gigabyte Gaming Box.  It's an EGPU box that comes populated with an EGPU.  They have a 1070 and 1080 option, and the last I checked the pricing was very reasonable.  Though the GPU's form factor inside the box is unconventional and there for useless outside of the box.  

 

Then there is the other problem of compatibility, and this is the main reason I ditched the idea of using a EGPU.  I couldn't find a single product in the line that had a high enough success rate to make me feel confident enough to pull the trigger. 

I posted about this earlier, I have the exact same laptop. Currently my understand is this: Having a EGPU is gonna be much more powerful then what a 1050ti can do. A lot of people think the performance drop is a big takeaway, but the only people I see really needing a EGPU is when they having a laptop that can't game or is horrible at gaming period. Even with the performance drop, its gonna be worth it.

 

Theres plenty of EGPU enclosures that are relatively cheap that'll work out, just make sure that the graphics card you get can fit into the EGPU enclosure.

 

In terms of price, you gotta think about it like this: Getting a EGPU with lets say a 1070 or 1080 or 1080ti  plus the enclosure is gonna cost you around 1000 to 1300. A lot of people say at that point you might as well get a desktop, but that's not a option for a lot of people, and lets be honest if you looking at getting a EGPU its because you need something portable. Getting a LAPTOP with the same 1080 or 1070 is gonna run you like 1500 to up to 4k for the higher end ones like the titan with a 1080. The cheapest I found was 1500 with a 1070, used of course.