External gpu for laptops

[DarthVader61425]

So I was thinking of buying a gaming laptop because I need it's portability as I stay in hotels a lot and I need to be able to play games while doing so. I checked the performance of gaming laptops and figured out that I need at least a 970M to fit my needs but then I figured out that all 970M laptops are usually 1000$ and above my budget is 700$ so that's quite a lot over the budget I know I know, building a desktop is much much cheaper and the performance you're getting can reach up to 3 times a performance of a gaming laptop double the price but desktops aren't portable and even if I get a Mini ITX case and try to move that around I'll still need to move the monitor which is pretty fragile and most monitors can't be bent to fit in a travel bag. Yesterday, I found out about these external gpu for laptops are they really that portable? Because from what I've seen I'm gonna take the laptop, power supply, gpu, pcie x16 slot and all of my peripherals so does anyone have any experience traveling with these because I really wanna have the performance of a desktop but not have to sacrifice 1 month or 2 when I'm away that's too long for my addiction to playing games also, I need something which will last me like 2 years to come then be able to upgrade it "easily" and laptop mobile graphics cards for budget gaming computers will just not fit. 

 

So, will this way work and can I use the standard monitor that comes with the laptop or do I have to bring an external one?

[Electronics Wizardy]

The only practical ones are they ones from razer(core via thunderbolt 3, more manafactures to come) or alienware. I suggest you just get a cheaper laptop like a dell 7559.

[DarthVader61425]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

The only practical ones are they ones from razer(core via thunderbolt 3, more manafactures to come) or alienware. I suggest you just get a cheaper laptop like a dell 7559.

How much does the razer core cost? And is it compatible with other brand laptops like dell, alienware, msi etc.?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, DarthVader61425 said:

How much does the razer core cost? And is it compatible with other brand laptops like dell, alienware, msi etc.?

Razer core is 500 w/o gpu. It only works with laptops that have thunderbolt 3(so the razerblade currently)

[DarthVader61425]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Razer core is 500 w/o gpu. It only works with laptops that have thunderbolt 3(so the razerblade currently)

Woah that's expensive I heard about these PCIe graphics card slots that come for like 60$ but there are some cons one of them, is you have to connect it under the laptop and the other is I think you need to remove the wifi adapter. Isn't there any better way that's not so costly?

[ChrisCross]

external gpu's are a thing that have to come down in price yet. there arent many of them and when you buy in your not getting away under 2000$ for everything. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, DarthVader61425 said:

Woah that's expensive I heard about these PCIe graphics card slots that come for like 60$ but there are some cons one of them, is you have to connect it under the laptop and the other is I think you need to remove the wifi adapter. Isn't there any better way that's not so costly?

Normally these require you to use the pcie from the wifi card(you can also use express card if your laptop has that). Problem is you normally need a external monitor and your still not going in budget.

[DarthVader61425]

Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking? 

[Dackzy]

28 minutes ago, DarthVader61425 said:

Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking? 

Yeah that is not a problem

[Dackzy]

29 minutes ago, DarthVader61425 said:

Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking? 

Take something like this case and then get a short version of a GPU with a low TDP. You can mod the front of the case very easily so you can make a intake or exhaust there. You can basicly screw the whole case appart.

[DarthVader61425]

Just now, Dackzy said:

Take something like this case and then get a short version of a GPU with a low TDP. You can mod the front of the case very easily so you can make a intake or exhaust there. You can basicly screw the whole case appart.

I looked at that case and bookmarked it so I have two questions :

1. Will the Gigabyte windforce 970 fit in this case

2. This is my first pc build so I'm not the best with modding will it be okay if I keep the front of the case as it is?

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, DarthVader61425 said:

I looked at that case and bookmarked it so I have two questions :

1. Will the Gigabyte windforce 970 fit in this case

2. This is my first pc build so I'm not the best with modding will it be okay if I keep the front of the case as it is?

1. Most likely not you will need to get something like the asus 970 mini in size

2. oh you can bearly call this a mod you need some longer screws and this then you have pushed the front out a bit, but yeah it should be fine, just get some good fans.

[Dackzy]

5 minutes ago, DarthVader61425 said:

I looked at that case and bookmarked it so I have two questions :

1. Will the Gigabyte windforce 970 fit in this case

2. This is my first pc build so I'm not the best with modding will it be okay if I keep the front of the case as it is?

I am planning on making a CF system in the Styx classic and make the front mod and some other mods.

@Prysin has a build in the Metis case, so he can maybe help you a bit more with the parts you can fit in it.

[Ho0pz4sho]

3 hours ago, DarthVader61425 said:

Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking? 

With the mini-ITX wouldn't you still need to carry the peripherals (keyboard, monitor, at least)? Would that really be as mobile as a laptop?

[Dackzy]

2 minutes ago, Ho0pz4sho said:

With the mini-ITX wouldn't you still need to carry the peripherals (keyboard, monitor, at least)? Would that really be as mobile as a laptop?

He did not say that it needed to be as mobile as a laptop, he only said " Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking?  " well he can do that, but yeah a laptop is more mobile.

[Ho0pz4sho]

4 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

He did not say that it needed to be as mobile as a laptop, he only said " Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking?  " well he can do that, but yeah a laptop is more mobile.

I was referring more to the fact that he said he'd be spending many days (1-2 months) in hotels at a time. I'm guessing he travels a lot and he needs portability. If he travels by airplane, I might say that an mini-ITX wouldn't really be feasible for this purpose.

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Ho0pz4sho said:

I was referring more to the fact that he said he'd be spending many days (1-2 months) in hotels at a time. I'm guessing he travels a lot and he needs portability. If he travels by airplane, I might say that an mini-ITX wouldn't really be feasible for this purpose.

Maybe. He could buy a carrying case for it, it will be heavier than a laptop, but if he only needs to move it once a month, I would say they are about the same in practicality, but then again if his luggage goes missing he will loose his pc, while the laptop he could take with him onto with plane.

[Splitframe]

There is also a eGPU subreddit if you want more infos and news on this topic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/eGPU/

 

I hope it helps.

[D2ultima]

On 6/2/2016 at 2:53 AM, DarthVader61425 said:

So I was thinking of buying a gaming laptop because I need it's portability figured out that I need at least a 970M to fit my needs but my budget is 700$.

 

Yesterday, I found out about these external gpu for laptops are they really that portable? I really wanna have the performance of a desktop but not have to sacrifice 1 month or 2 when I'm away that's too long for my addiction to playing games also, I need something which will last me like 2 years to come then be able to upgrade it "easily" and laptop mobile graphics cards for budget gaming computers will just not fit. 

 

So, will this way work and can I use the standard monitor that comes with the laptop or do I have to bring an external one?

Yeah, that isn't happening. ESPECIALLY not with an eGPU scenario, which is more expensive than a pure gaming laptop.

 

They are not. They're somewhat like large boxes. And even if you DID get it to work, you're never going to have the "performance of a desktop". Mobile hardware is badly, BADLY skewed. If you managed a machine with an i5 for example, you'll only have 2.8GHz at BEST. At worst you'll have 2.3GHz, which isn't even enough to get 60fps in something like Witcher 3. And if you get a ULV i7 let's say, that'd be even worse. The worst possible purchase-able i3 CPU since Haswell launched is better than every single ULV chip intel has ever launched to this day.

 

As far as I know, the only two eGPU solutions which can use the monitor in the laptop are from Razer and from ASUS, and I don't think ASUS announced theirs, and it might likely be proprietary anyway. And also do note that using eGPU solutions like what Razer and ASUS are trying to bring involves usage of Optimus tech, which means your display is powered by whatever the primary GPU on the laptop is (likely the intel iGPU) and the external card is but a number cruncher. This means you don't have access to nVidia or AMD technology for the screen or many options to force in control panel or control center per game, and that some games may have problems with it (like Dragon Age Inquisition which refused to run in exclusive fullscreen mode with Optimus for months; I don't even know if it was ever fixed). The reason they use Optimus-type tech? Simple! They didn't want people to have to reboot the PC to change the primary graphics adapter. Great loss of functionality so people don't need to reboot, instead of strong-arming Microsoft into making Windows capable of swapping the adapter without crashing.

On 6/2/2016 at 3:01 AM, DarthVader61425 said:

How much does the razer core cost? And is it compatible with other brand laptops like dell, alienware, msi etc.?

Too much. It is compatible with any machine that has a USB 3.1 Type C/Thunderbolt 3 combo port, or a dedicated Thunderbolt 3 port. Dell/Alienware have none that I know of. MSI I don't think has any; maybe in their latest revisions of the GT72/GT73/GT83. But those are beyond your budget by a rather large margin. Clevo has USB 3.1/TB3 in their midranged and up machines as far as I remember, but that's also out of your budget.

On 6/2/2016 at 3:02 AM, Electronics Wizardy said:

Razer core is 500 w/o gpu. It only works with laptops that have thunderbolt 3(so the razerblade currently)

It works with others, just that others usually are higher end as I explained right above.

On 6/2/2016 at 3:14 AM, DarthVader61425 said:

Okay is there a way I can make a portable full gaming desktop like in a mini ITX case so I can place it in the bag without anything breaking? 

If you can carry a monitor, keyboard and mouse with you, then you'll have enough function. I believe you got lots of advice on it here already. Good luck!

12 hours ago, Splitframe said:

There is also a eGPU subreddit if you want more infos and news on this topic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/eGPU/

 

I hope it helps.

Sadly, most of that subreddit seems to be DIY ideas/projects or just hype for eGPU solutions in general. Understanding eGPUs properly requires a great deal of knowledge about both desktop GPUs & PCI/e connections as well as how laptop hardware and technology works, and excepting a few people on notebookreview, I've never run into anyone who has actually understood the depth of it all. And if people out there do, they don't say much about it on articles or elsewhere on the web.

[Ho0pz4sho]

@krkevin, read what D2ultima wrote about external GPUs. Maybe you'll change your mind about them.