Bought an eGPU dock but my laptop does not support it's connector

[Novemberly]

Hello there,

 

I purchased an eGPU dock for ~$50 (Link provided) and did not bother to verify that my laptop supports it's connection type. (It does not)

Here are my system details:

 

ASUS TUF DASH F15 (2021)

i7-11370H

Intel Irie Xe Graphics

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 TI Laptop GPU

16GB DDR4 3200Mhz SODIMMs

 

This laptop supports thunderbolt 4 (PD charging as well), has WiFi 6 card, and dual m.2 ssd(s) Only one is occupied. Both SSD ports have PCIE GEN3x4 below them. However, the PCIE to HDMI adapter that came with the eGPU dock is much too large to fit in the ssd ports, as well as the WiFi 6 card port. I've done a little bit of searching for the right item to purchase, whether it be a whole new eGPU dock, or just the adapter. I'm working a lot (nightshift 12s) and genuinely don't have much time at the moment to try to figure it out, and I'd much rather not buy the wrong item so I'm turning to you folks who may have some insight or advice. Thank you for your time.

 

eGPU dock I purchased:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZX97ZZQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

  

Note:

Not sure if it matters but I've already purchased a 700W PSU from Thermaltake as well as an NVIDIA RTX 3070 by PNY. I didn't want to spend the ~$300 for an enclosure from Razer when I could just get a dock for sub $100, but if it seems not worth the effort, I may just order one of them and be done with it.

[birdflyer]

38 minutes ago, Novemberly said:

Hello there,

 

I purchased an eGPU dock for ~$50 (Link provided) and did not bother to verify that my laptop supports it's connection type. (It does not)

Here are my system details:

 

ASUS TUF DASH F15 (2021)

i7-11370H

Intel Irie Xe Graphics

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 TI Laptop GPU

16GB DDR4 3200Mhz SODIMMs

 

This laptop supports thunderbolt 4 (PD charging as well), has WiFi 6 card, and dual m.2 ssd(s) Only one is occupied. Both SSD ports have PCIE GEN3x4 below them. However, the PCIE to HDMI adapter that came with the eGPU dock is much too large to fit in the ssd ports, as well as the WiFi 6 card port. I've done a little bit of searching for the right item to purchase, whether it be a whole new eGPU dock, or just the adapter. I'm working a lot (nightshift 12s) and genuinely don't have much time at the moment to try to figure it out, and I'd much rather not buy the wrong item so I'm turning to you folks who may have some insight or advice. Thank you for your time.

 

eGPU dock I purchased:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZX97ZZQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

  

Note:

Not sure if it matters but I've already purchased a 700W PSU from Thermaltake as well as an NVIDIA RTX 3070 by PNY. I didn't want to spend the ~$300 for an enclosure from Razer when I could just get a dock for sub $100, but if it seems not worth the effort, I may just order one of them and be done with it.

So I do actually have experience with this dock. This may or may not be one of your issues, but you will need to ensure that you are actually getting voltage from your PSU. To turn on your PSU, you actually have to short two pins. I would look at this link to see how and what pins to short: https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/atx_psu_startup/

 

As for an adapter... This is all I can really find, and I couldn't tell you if it would work.

https://www.amazon.com/Mini-PCI-NGFF-Adapter-Module/dp/B089YS7M2Z/

[birdflyer]

As for a cheap thunderbolt eGPU enclosure, (the route I think you should probably go) I found two on AliExpress for under $300 that actually look half way decent:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804303090586.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.2e7e5d7eKEHPKA&algo_pvid=0f6128dd-35dc-42a4-b164-c513de5649fc&algo_exp_id=0f6128dd-35dc-42a4-b164-c513de5649fc-19&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000029336633849"}&pdp_npi=2%40dis!USD!280.0!212.8!!!!!%402101fd4b16645599543693554e782f!12000029336633849!sea&curPageLogUid=w2VcGKqzP8u1

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802616461835.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.100009.1.848a109e3DG9Dv&gps-id=pcDetailLeftTopSell&scm=1007.13482.271138.0&scm_id=1007.13482.271138.0&scm-url=1007.13482.271138.0&pvid=36755b1a-d842-471e-a432-b276b23d8d48&_t=gps-id%3ApcDetailLeftTopSell%2Cscm-url%3A1007.13482.271138.0%2Cpvid%3A36755b1a-d842-471e-a432-b276b23d8d48%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238112%231997&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000022259296715"%2C"sceneId"%3A"3482"}&pdp_npi=2%40dis!USD!249.0!184.26!!!!!%402101f6b116645599767437086e1a6b!12000022259296715!rec&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

 

and one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AKiTiO-Node-Titan-Thunderbolt-Enclosure/dp/B085TH77RT/

[baronvonsatchel]

I haven't used that one, but it looks like the cable terminates in a mini PCIe connector, which as far as I can tell is obsolete and not used very often anymore. Most modern boards use M.2 which is a completely different connector/form factor. I have seen similar bare bones dock-style eGPUs that use an M.2 connector for as little as $50 on AliExpress.