External gpu/ultrabook config

[forlis]

I plan on buying an ultrabook and external gpu enclosure but I need  some tips. 

If you have ideas on other options, they will be greatly appreciated.

The requirements: portability for university use
                              capable of running 1080p games at high res

The ultrabook in mind is the 2016 hp spectre 13 ( http://store.hp.com/us/en/ContentView?storeId=10151&eSpotName=hpspectre ) i7 2.5 turbo to 3.1
I am considering the razer core or any available external gpu enclosure available. I havn't decided on a gpu or if i should wait for pascal etc. Suggestions would be great( my budget will be able to go up to titan ti)

Questions:

1. Is this the right direction to go (refering to ultraook and external gpu)? in my opinion, a desktop for gaming and a cheap portable laptop for university will be far more costly and less practical.
2. What would be the best gpu decision? waiting for new cards to be released and then deciding, or buying one now?
3. Is the i7-6500U cpu good enough for 1080p gaming at high res? (maybe 1440p if possible)
   
   Please comment with any information you think is useful as I am open to any ideas
   
   Thanks

[Hunter7263]

From what I've seen you'll spend the same amount of money. The ultrabook has to be capable of pushing to an egpu enclosure and those tend to be expensive.

 

Personally id go for like an i5 zenbook and a decent system. Currently microcenter has a deal on a i7 4790 with a gtx 960 for like 700 bucks (prebuilt ROG system thats like 500 buck off, hard to beat price to performance wise). No its not the k but honestly its more than enough power for most gamers.

[mikat]

a hyperthreaded dual core at those kinds of clock speeds should not be running a 980 or above, in GTA V max 960

[forlis]

12 minutes ago, Hunter7263 said:

From what I've seen you'll spend the same amount of money. The ultrabook has to be capable of pushing to an egpu enclosure and those tend to be expensive.

 

Personally id go for like an i5 zenbook and a decent system. Currently microcenter has a deal on a i7 4790 with a gtx 960 for like 700 bucks (prebuilt ROG system thats like 500 buck off, hard to beat price to performance wise). No its not the k but honestly its more than enough power for most gamers.

Although I will be spending more, my suggestion will be far more future proof and the ultrabook will be capable of pushing egpu. From my calculations it will cost about the same but for my situation, having one system instead of two is more practical unless theres a major price difference

[Hunter7263]

Ya price is a big factor. I know that ultrabooks that can use egpu have to have a proper bios. I think there is an xps that can do it and the razor blade stealth as far as I am aware. Currently the only thunderbolt egpu I know of is the Core at like 350 bucks plus another 300? for the gpu. If you had a microcenter near you right now the core + the gpu would cost about 50 less than a full fledged system but the razorblade stealth is almost 500 bucks more than that zenbook. I assume you would need the 512gb model if its your only computer. 

 

Also there arent any quad core ultrabooks as far as I know. I had an Alienware 15 that was dual core with hyperthreading and it just couldnt keep it. The processor was okay in gaming at 1080p but it certainly wasnt powerful enough. I picked the Alienware 15 because it had the option of their external gpu (The 15 was a 2015 edition) but ended up building a desktop because even with an external gpu there just wasnt enough cpu there. Remember even the weakest i3 for the desktop beats out dual cores on a notebook and the i3 will bottleneck decent video cards.

 

Keep this thread updated on your choice though. I am actually in the market for an ultrabook (sold my alienware to my brother) and would like to see if you find something awesome.