egpu What is the absolute best ultrabook, eGPU combo in 2019?

[HRCD]

I've been wanting to go the single computer route every since I've heard about eGPUs several years ago. It would make keeping everything together & organized so much easier for me, rather than my current setup, which includes a pretty spec'd out gaming desktop for gaming & video editing, and a Surface laptop for anything with school, or on the go. I'd like to sell them both and get a laptop & eGPU combo, and use my current 1080ti. So I'm looking for pretty much the best combination I can get right now in 2019. Here's the stuff I'm looking for... 

 

Laptop

- actually portable (does not have to be as small as a macbook or surface laptop, but something that actually can be brought in public & does not make people laugh at you ) 

- usb c w/ thunderbolt 3 (kind of obvious, I know) 

- 4x PCIe lanes 

- good enough cpu performance to keep up with a 1080ti while gaming at 1440p (and thermal performance) 

 

eGPU Enclosure

- can support a 1080ti 

- lets you add an ssd for more storage

 

So that's pretty much it... As far as price point goes as long as it's nothing insane like $4k+ then I should be okay. I've done lots of research on the laptops and have seen some decent offerings by Razer, and Lenovo. I'd like to get more feedback though from people who have actually tried something similar to this setup before. So I'd love to hear some recommendations, and feedback. I'd appreciate any help offered here! Hopefully other people can come here for help in the future, because I feel this is such an under-discussed topic. 

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

 

 

[LlamaFamah]

12 minutes ago, HRCD said:

I've been wanting to go the single computer route every since I've heard about eGPUs several years ago. It would make keeping everything together & organized so much easier for me, rather than my current setup, which includes a pretty spec'd out gaming desktop for gaming & video editing, and a Surface laptop for anything with school, or on the go. I'd like to sell them both and get a laptop & eGPU combo, and use my current 1080ti. So I'm looking for pretty much the best combination I can get right now in 2019. Here's the stuff I'm looking for... 

 

Laptop

- actually portable (does not have to be as small as a macbook or surface laptop, but something that actually can be brought in public & does not make people laugh at you ) 

- usb c w/ thunderbolt 3 (kind of obvious, I know) 

- 4x PCIe lanes 

- good enough cpu performance to keep up with a 1080ti while gaming at 1440p (and thermal performance) 

 

eGPU Enclosure

- can support a 1080ti 

- lets you add an ssd for more storage

 

So that's pretty much it... As far as price point goes as long as it's nothing insane like $4k+ then I should be okay. I've done lots of research on the laptops and have seen some decent offerings by Razer, and Lenovo. I'd like to get more feedback though from people who have actually tried something similar to this setup before. So I'd love to hear some recommendations, and feedback. I'd appreciate any help offered here! Hopefully other people can come here for help in the future, because I feel this is such an under-discussed topic. 

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

 

 

I would suggest any laptops from the XPS line, as they have good cooling, and can be fitted with high-end processors.

As for an eGPU enclosure, pretty much any will work, it just depends on your color preferences, and maybe IO.

[HRCD]

Just now, LlamaFamah said:

I would suggest any laptops from the XPS line, as they have good cooling, and can be fitted with high-end processors.

As for an eGPU enclosure, pretty much any will work, it just depends on your color preferences, and maybe IO.

Appreciate the advice. I've thought about those, but for some reason have kind of ignored them. I'll do some research on those to see if they fit everything. If so, I'll give an update. Thanks! 

[LlamaFamah]

1 hour ago, HRCD said:

Appreciate the advice. I've thought about those, but for some reason have kind of ignored them. I'll do some research on those to see if they fit everything. If so, I'll give an update. Thanks! 

Np,

Have a nice day!

[genexis_x]

Where are you from? Max budget on laptop? Any preference on weight and battery life?

 

FYI TB3 will bottleneck the performance of 1080TI (maybe 1070 like performance)

[HRCD]

6 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Where are you from? Max budget on laptop? Any preference on weight and battery life?

  

FYI TB3 will bottleneck the performance of 1080TI (maybe 1070 like performance)

I'm in the U.S. Laptop budget around $2,000. I'd like to keep the laptop portable, nothing over 5lb. Battery life does not have to be amazing, but something that can last at least 5 or 6 hours doing normal productivity type of work. 

 

Thanks! 

[genexis_x]

On 2/25/2019 at 12:26 AM, HRCD said:

around $2,000

nothing over 5lb

at least 5 or 6 hours

Why not thin and light gaming laptops?