XPS 13 Plus with eGPU

[TechyAlex]

Hello,

 

I am planning on replacing my desktop setup (Ryzen 7 5800x, RTX 3060) with an XPS 13 Plus and putting my RTX 3060 into a Razer Core X Chroma. Some info on my use case:

• I would say that at this point, 75% of my workstation use is work. This includes 15+ Chrome tabs, large excel sheets, multiple conferencing platforms open at once (I am a software QA Tester/Designer for a small tech startup)
• I do some light-moderate gaming, but only at home (i.e. only while connected to the eGPU)
• I need a laptop as with COVID ending, I will be traveling for work a fair bit, and don't want to have to deal with having files on two machines (I do cloud backups, but much of my work is in IDEs and I tend to be... less than optimally organized with by backups)
• When connected to the eGPU, I plan on keeping my current monitor setup (1x Samsung Odyssey g9, 2x Dell 1080p 22'' monitors)

For reference, the XPS 13 Plus specs I went with are below:

• 14 core i7-1280P
• Intel Iris Xe Graphics
  • Don't really care about this, as mentioned I will only need GPU horsepower when connected to the eGPU at home anyway)
• 32GB LPDDR5, 5200MHz RAM
• 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (Easily upgraded later, and I plan on it)
• 13.4 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit Display
  • Based on recent LTT review, I don't want the 4k option, as the battery life was abysmal compared to the 1080p option
  • As mentioned above, I am currently using 1080p on my desk anyway, so I won't miss the sharpness
  • The non-touch option doesn't appear to be available on the website anymore, but I already ordered it and my order still states it will be non-touch (saves me $100 and I don't ever use touchscreens)

 

Does anyone see any issues with this plan? I have looked into it pretty thoroughly, and I haven't found any red flags, but I wanted to get some more eyes on it. 

 

Before anyone says it, I won't be selling or discarding the Ryzen 7 5800x, I am buying a house very soon and when I do, I will be making a server closet and running Proxmox on it with a few VMs. 

[jaslion]

Don't bother with an egpu. The 3060 far maxes out a thunderbolt connection. Basically the current best performance you can get out of it is between a 1060-1650ti level no matter the card (higher end cards do a little better but you losean insane amount of performance).

 

I would just get a good laptop in total like a asus g14. Gonna be cheaper and better than the xps + egpu can ever be.

[TechyAlex]

25 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Don't bother with an egpu. The 3060 far maxes out a thunderbolt connection. Basically the current best performance you can get out of it is between a 1060-1650ti level no matter the card (higher end cards do a little better but you losean insane amount of performance).

 

I would just get a good laptop in total like a asus g14. Gonna be cheaper and better than the xps + egpu can ever be.

Everything I've read on eGPU.io says that 30x0 cards are only slowed down ~5% by using a TB3 eGPU? Where are you getting the information that a 3060 maxes out a thunderbolt connection? 

I don't want a laptop with dedicated graphics, as that will tank my battery life and as mentioned, I want to be able to travel with it. 

I also didn't mention that a big use case for me is trade shows, which will require off-wall use for an entire day (or as close as I can get)

[jaslion]

21 minutes ago, TechyAlex said:

Everything I've read on eGPU.io says that 30x0 cards are only slowed down ~5% by using a TB3 eGPU? Where are you getting the information that a 3060 maxes out a thunderbolt connection? 

I don't want a laptop with dedicated graphics, as that will tank my battery life and as mentioned, I want to be able to travel with it. 

I also didn't mention that a big use case for me is trade shows, which will require off-wall use for an entire day (or as close as I can get)

The asus g14 easily gets 8-10 hours of battery life. The dedicated gpu isn't used on battery unless a game is started.

 

 

 

here is a good example. Half the card is basically gone due to thunderbolt. You have to keep in mind that you are essentially using a pc3.0 x4 link in the best case (usually it's a bit slower because of overhead). 3.0 x4 has been a speed thats been maxed out for years. It is game dependent but it shows. Funnily enough the best card to show the issue is the rx6500 with it's x4 link. On pcie 4.0 it's fine but on pcie 3.0 it's dropping behind a bit and it's a card flat in the spectrum of the gtx 1060 performance class.

 

Yes some games will do quite well. Flat out true. But others are gonna tank and this is something that will only get worse.

 

There is also the asus flow 13. Which is basically a better version of the xps with a pcie 4.0x8 link to currently a rtx 3080 mobile dock. It's the best version of egpu out right now.

[TechyAlex]

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

The asus g14 easily gets 8-10 hours of battery life. The dedicated gpu isn't used on battery unless a game is started.

 

 

 

here is a good example. Half the card is basically gone due to thunderbolt. You have to keep in mind that you are essentially using a pc3.0 x4 link in the best case (usually it's a bit slower because of overhead). 3.0 x4 has been a speed thats been maxed out for years. It is game dependent but it shows. Funnily enough the best card to show the issue is the rx6500 with it's x4 link. On pcie 4.0 it's fine but on pcie 3.0 it's dropping behind a bit and it's a card flat in the spectrum of the gtx 1060 performance class.

 

Yes some games will do quite well. Flat out true. But others are gonna tank and this is something that will only get worse.

 

There is also the asus flow 13. Which is basically a better version of the xps with a pcie 4.0x8 link to currently a rtx 3080 mobile dock. It's the best version of egpu out right now.

Neither of the Asus laptops have an option (at least that I see) to upgrade to 32gb ram, wgi h is important to me 

[jaslion]

37 minutes ago, TechyAlex said:

Neither of the Asus laptops have an option (at least that I see) to upgrade to 32gb ram, wgi h is important to me 

Thats very strange as the 32gb model exists and can be upgraded to 48gb.

I just found it

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-ga401-wqhd-2560-x-1440-32-gb-ram-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-1-tb-ssd/6469380.p?skuId=6469380&intl=nosplash

 

Either way all versions have 1 upgradeable ram slot. You'll run in hybrid dual channel if you decide to get a stick larger than the onboard which is fine.

 

The dell doesn't have upgrade able ram at all.

[TechyAlex]

On 5/29/2022 at 2:54 PM, jaslion said:

Thats very strange as the 32gb model exists and can be upgraded to 48gb.

I just found it

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-ga401-wqhd-2560-x-1440-32-gb-ram-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-1-tb-ssd/6469380.p?skuId=6469380&intl=nosplash

 

Either way all versions have 1 upgradeable ram slot. You'll run in hybrid dual channel if you decide to get a stick larger than the onboard which is fine.

 

The dell doesn't have upgrade able ram at all.

32gb is plenty for the next couple years, when I'll replace it anyway. And storage and battery are replacable on the Dell which are far more important to me. 

[jaslion]

On 6/4/2022 at 9:08 PM, TechyAlex said:

32gb is plenty for the next couple years, when I'll replace it anyway. And storage and battery are replacable on the Dell which are far more important to me. 

So are the g14's. I really do mean it that the xps system will flat out never be as performant mobile or docked as even the low end g14 due to all its limitations

[Willyrwyu5]

Hey,

I know this thread is old, but I wa wondering whether you could send an image of your setup?

I was planning on buying the 1360P model, with 1tb storage, but not sure whether to go with 16 or 32GB ram at this stage.

Also not sure whether to go for the 1080p touch or the 3.5k OLED model, as I heard 13th gen had better battery life?

Also was hoping to pair with a Razer core X, with an RTX 3050, for some light medium gaming when not studying at night. I don't play shooters, mostly simulators like fs22, snow runner and occasionally Minecraft with mates, but I do play some open world titles such as Elden Ring.

What would you recommend?