eGPU Alienware or upgrade PC?

[smartroad]

Hi all!

 

I was hoping to get some help on my dilemma. I have an ageing custom i5 2500K machine with a GTX 1080 installed into it. Recently I brought an Alienware 13 R3 (with 7700HQ and GTX 1060) as I go away on work often and wanted to still play games. Benchmarks I have run put the 7700HQ a bit ahead of the 2500K in single thread, and some way ahead in multi-thread applications.

 

Since Ryzen I have been thinking about upgrading my main PC, but I am in a bit of a quandary. Do I upgrade my main machine probably with a Ryzen 5 6c/12t CPU, (which would require buying CPU, mobo and RAM) or buy the Alienware eGPU housing to put my 1080 into so I can run my 3 monitors at home with a decent GPU. I would need to look at getting either external USB3.1/Thunderbolt 3 cases for my SSD's (which have my games on) which adds expense, assuming I can even find some USB3.1/TB3 enclosures that don't cost the Earth! Or I go NAS using my homes gigabit network.

 

The rough estimates mean that both will come out at around the same cost.

 

I like the idea of using the laptop as more than just a machine I only use when I am away or just sitting in front of the TV. Plus I would have one machine with all my documents making it so I don't have to mess about transferring files (although I have my own OwnCloud server running which makes it a bit easier). But it means having lots of external bits and bobs, meaning cables and power supplies need to go somewhere.

 

What do you guys think? I can see advantages to both options and it is keeping me dithering. The only sticking point for me is the laptop CPU, how will it age? Will I get annoyed with its performance in a few years and be stuck with it? The eGPU makes it easier to upgrade the laptops graphics (when in 'desktop' mode) but I will be using the same CPU until the laptop dies or becomes un-useable.

[RadiatingLight]

with high resolution, there will be much less CPU bottleneck. so if you're playing at higher than 1080p, that CPU should be fine for a long time.

but keep in mind that eGPUs have a slight performance hit over being in a desktop

[Damascus]

If you have decent cooling on the Alienware I'd get the eGPU.  Alienwares proprietary setup is the most effective one on the market.

[Technomancer__]

i would go with the pc

[Pendragon]

upgrade your pc if you use it often. 

[knowlesy]

If you like putting your own flare on stuff you should have a look into one of these; https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-External-PCI-Graphics-Card/dp/B00Q4VMLF6,  i order one a month ago and it should be here in a couple of days. My plan is to run my RX470 red devil from my ROG G750JX though a thunderbolt 3 connection.

[Pendragon]

15 minutes ago, knowlesy said:

If you like putting your own flare on stuff you should have a look into one of these; https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-External-PCI-Graphics-Card/dp/B00Q4VMLF6,  i order one a month ago and it should be here in a couple of days. My plan is to run my RX470 red devil from my ROG G750JX though a thunderbolt 3 connection.

 

 

....ur laptop doesn't have a tb3 slot. and the exp gdc has some pretty large downsides. firstly you need to open the back of your laptop to use the m2 slot. and secondly it's slow as all hell compared to tb3 or the aw. you'll get some performance bottlenecks purely from bandwidth limitations. there is no reason to really attempt this solution on a new laptop. 

[knowlesy]

1 hour ago, Pendragon said:

....ur laptop doesn't have a tb3 slot. and the exp gdc has some pretty large downsides. firstly you need to open the back of your laptop to use the m2 slot. and secondly it's slow as all hell compared to tb3 or the aw. you'll get some performance bottlenecks purely from bandwidth limitations. there is no reason to really attempt this solution on a new laptop. 

Yeah the G750 has a tb3 connection. The exp gdc was only $40 AUD so I thought why not, if it ever get's here hahahaha. I will post results of the setup, i hope it will be the answer for my steam box inseted of building a PC aswell. All I want it to run is 1080p ultra settings though the TV. But for now I have to play the waiting game 

[Pendragon]

20 minutes ago, knowlesy said:

Yeah the G750 has a tb3 connection

wait wat! the g750JX???? are u sure it's not tb2? i didn't know tb3 architecture supported anything below skylake. 

[knowlesy]

3 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

wait wat! the g750JX???? are u sure it's not tb2? i didn't know tb3 architecture supported anything below skylake. 

Sorry you are right it is tb2. but should not be a problem with what i am trying to do with it

[smartroad]

Cheers all, food for thought. I have some ideas on my desktop replacement but I'll ask those in another thread