Internal GPU vs EGPU

[Dhockly]

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advise. I have to replace my current work laptop. I've been considering my options for a while now and I've decided to get another laptop rather then a desktop, because I do contract CAD design and rendering at home and on location. So for me it just makes more sense to buy another laptop. I'm thinking of getting a Dell XPS 15 (or equivalent high-spec windows laptop). 

 

What I'm not sure about is if I should buy a laptop with an on board RTX 3050ti or get a lower spec and find eGPU to go with it (not sure how good they can get and if I can actually get one right now)? The eGPU idea was suggested by a local IT company. Their argument was that the eGPU can be upgraded keeping the current set up going for longer an cheaper. Is the eGPU a good idea or just a waste of time?

 

Also I'm not really worried about the price, just don't want to waste money. I think by the time the onboard RTX is out im of date, the rest of the laptop probably will be too.

 

Cheers everyone

[TrigrH]

If your GPU workload requires low data transfer like mining then an EGPU is worth while.

If its high data through pcie, like gaming then its not worth it as you bottleneck the card.

 

Not sure if rendering works well when bandwidth constrained

[Levent]

I would try to get a laptop with a GPU powerful enough to do things on but also has a thunderbolt3 so that egpu can be added later on. Another point to consider is that if you are going to be taking your laptop with you quite often to other places, then having a EGPU might not be worthwhile. I am seriously out of the loop when it comes to who offers a laptop medium-high end nvidia gpu and also has a thunderbolt3 for a relatively good price but if I were in your shoes, I would not give up thunderbolt3 whatever the laptop I would chose at this point.

[Akira Shimazu]

well if you are mobile then EGPU is good. but keep in mind that the dock also cost much money. and also if the data high usage then it will be bottleneck, and i dont know how the impact of egpu wuth rendering CAD. if your laptop still runs good then egpu is okay tho. 

[mt123]

I believe another important aspect to consider is how this year's XPS lineup is equipped with 11th gen Intel processors, meaning you'll have thunderbolt 4 ports over last year's thunderbolt 3 from Intel 10th gen processors. See this article on Thunderbolt 3 vs 4 https://www.windowscentral.com/thunderbolt-4-usb4-usb

 

I've also seen that because of the upgrades that come with Thunderbolt 4 from 3, eGPU's should be prone to less bottlenecking - i.e., you'll experience better performance with a Thunderbolt 4 GPU. To put it another way, if you were running identical laptops, one has Thunderbolt 3, the other Thunderbolt 4, and you ran tests on both when connected to the same eGPU, let's say a 3070. In essence, you should experience better outright performance with the laptop equipped with Thunderbolt 4 since Thunderbolt 4 has higher requirements for data transfers 

 

Moral of the story, going with an eGPU sounds like a good option

 

I myself own a Dell XPS 17 9700, with 10th gen intel (i9-10885H), 32 GB memory, and the NVIDIA RTX 2060 Max-Q, and I purchased this for my 4 years of studying for my Mechanical Engineering degree. I was considering an XPS 15, too, especially because it's noticeably lighter than the 17 - i.e. easier to carry around, though I noticed that the thermal performance wasn't so good - at least from last year's model with 10th gen intel and NVIDIA GTX 1650Ti - especially because the XPS's are so thin. I highly recommend researching the thermal performance on XPS 15's before you consider buying one, particularly because I don't believe they're equipped with a vapor-chamber cooling system like in the XPS 17's, has significantly helped with cooling issues. I'm not to certain on other alternatives to the XPS 15, though the first laptop that comes to mind is the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, though the only issue with this is that it maxes out at 16 GB of memory.

 

Hope this helps!

[Dhockly]

On 8/29/2021 at 5:02 AM, mt123 said:

I believe another important aspect to consider is how this year's XPS lineup is equipped with 11th gen Intel processors, meaning you'll have thunderbolt 4 ports over last year's thunderbolt 3 from Intel 10th gen processors. See this article on Thunderbolt 3 vs 4 https://www.windowscentral.com/thunderbolt-4-usb4-usb

 

I've also seen that because of the upgrades that come with Thunderbolt 4 from 3, eGPU's should be prone to less bottlenecking - i.e., you'll experience better performance with a Thunderbolt 4 GPU. To put it another way, if you were running identical laptops, one has Thunderbolt 3, the other Thunderbolt 4, and you ran tests on both when connected to the same eGPU, let's say a 3070. In essence, you should experience better outright performance with the laptop equipped with Thunderbolt 4 since Thunderbolt 4 has higher requirements for data transfers 

 

Moral of the story, going with an eGPU sounds like a good option

 

I myself own a Dell XPS 17 9700, with 10th gen intel (i9-10885H), 32 GB memory, and the NVIDIA RTX 2060 Max-Q, and I purchased this for my 4 years of studying for my Mechanical Engineering degree. I was considering an XPS 15, too, especially because it's noticeably lighter than the 17 - i.e. easier to carry around, though I noticed that the thermal performance wasn't so good - at least from last year's model with 10th gen intel and NVIDIA GTX 1650Ti - especially because the XPS's are so thin. I highly recommend researching the thermal performance on XPS 15's before you consider buying one, particularly because I don't believe they're equipped with a vapor-chamber cooling system like in the XPS 17's, has significantly helped with cooling issues. I'm not to certain on other alternatives to the XPS 15, though the first laptop that comes to mind is the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, though the only issue with this is that it maxes out at 16 GB of memory.

 

Hope this helps!

I was wondering about the 17 but like you said its a bit awkward. However I never consider the additional cooling which would make having the inboard RTX make more sense.

 

Thanks that is a huge help.

[Dhockly]

On 8/28/2021 at 5:19 PM, TrigrH said:

If your GPU workload requires low data transfer like mining then an EGPU is worth while.

If its high data through pcie, like gaming then its not worth it as you bottleneck the card.

 

Not sure if rendering works well when bandwidth constrained

Thanks, I'll have to look into it. I'll also probably end up using it for gaming so that's a good point.

[Dhockly]

On 8/28/2021 at 5:36 PM, Wolfycapt said:

well if you are mobile then EGPU is good. but keep in mind that the dock also cost much money. and also if the data high usage then it will be bottleneck, and i dont know how the impact of egpu wuth rendering CAD. if your laptop still runs good then egpu is okay tho. 

Thanks for the pointer, I'll have to look carefully into a good dock if I go with the eGPU to make sure it will work in the setup I want.

[Dhockly]

On 8/28/2021 at 5:23 PM, Levent said:

I would try to get a laptop with a GPU powerful enough to do things on but also has a thunderbolt3 so that egpu can be added later on. Another point to consider is that if you are going to be taking your laptop with you quite often to other places, then having a EGPU might not be worthwhile. I am seriously out of the loop when it comes to who offers a laptop medium-high end nvidia gpu and also has a thunderbolt3 for a relatively good price but if I were in your shoes, I would not give up thunderbolt3 whatever the laptop I would chose at this point.

I'll have to consider what kind of work I currently do away from my office (home) but also if I had that option what I'd like to do away from the office. 

 

Thanks for your thoughta

[TrigrH]

7 hours ago, Dhockly said:

Thanks, I'll have to look into it. I'll also probably end up using it for gaming so that's a good point.

Gaming ruins the "cost value" of an EGPU solution, since you a limited to pcie 3.0 x4 powerful GPUs don't perform well, making future upgrades pointless. Just buy a gaming laptop.