External Graphics Cards are never worth it - ONEXGPU Review

[@substance90]

Super misleading title. Nothing stopping you from using a non-mobile eGPU enclosure with a beefy nVidia GPU. You’re comparing a super compact mobile eGPU with the price of gigantic custom built desktop tower?! wtf…

[@doublevendetta]

That only applies to a select number of handhelds, which does not include the ORIGINAL Ally which *does* require using the overpriced mobile enclosure GPU, so...

[@Patrick-y4d1z]

​@@sneescampers The 7600M does hit 100 percent utilisation. But it still scales. A 4070 will perform better than a 4060 even with USB4 throttling.

[@fatanddepressed7400]

I use a handheld with eGPU. Use it as a desktop when hooked up, or bring it with me as a handheld when i head out, or just relax on the couch. No regret selling my old desktop to do so.

[@ZackyVillain]

The performance of those handhelds with eGPU docked is about the same as similar priced gaming laptop. It is not as bad as he describes, but it is still a bid difficult to make this mainstream because laptops exist. Though, that is good for you that your need is for leisure, and a more compact design works.

[@jpDragna]

I was thinking this same thing. I think it's crazy how often people do the "Let me price out a completely different form factor to prove that if you want a big honking desktop it would be cheaper to build." Like that's not an equitable take. This is a tiny footprint on your desk, half of it can be undocked to play on the go, and then docked when you want to game or compute on a big screen. I don't know how building out a full sized PC for less helps anyone.

[@Kupehh8]

Nope not even close to true. Laptop gpus are far far slower than desktop Handheld+egpu=faster than laptop

[@ZackyVillain]

@@Kupehh8 You sure using it through 4 pcie lanes is the faster as using it through 16 pcie lanes?

[@123Andersonev]

@@ZackyVillain that depends on the connection interface.

[@_Turbocat777]

We literally just need someone to finally come out with an affordable diy eGPU case (or at least just a pcie>usb4/thunderbolt board), so that way "if" you want to use your handheld as your main desktop and dock it you can.

[@mikeymaiku]

100-300 on aliexpress. Its got you covered

[@CraftComputing]

A fully enclosed Thunderbolt/USB4 solution is around $300. That's $600 for a dock and an RX 7600 or RTX 4060. The value STILL isn't there vs buying a laptop with an RTX 4060 or standalone PC.

[@_Turbocat777]

@@CraftComputing Oh no totally agreed, Monies wise it's def not affordable. The keyword I missed in my comment was "affordable" I guess the main reason mass producing a solution isn't as cheap as it could be is due to it being a niche market and also cause of thunderbolt/hdmi (and whatever else) licensing?

[@DeNNiiiable]

I think it's all about the flexibility then value for money. You end up like a PC scenario where you can upgrade parts just at a smaller scale. I personally would have bought a lightweight laptop for travel and beefy DIY egpu if the market was ready instead of a 14900k and 4070ti even thought the PC parts will easily last me 2-3x longer than the laptop. It would be good to test these with current tb4/usb4 4070~ GPU but everyone just using prebuilds with mobile GPUs

[@Rushil69420]

@@CraftComputing What about Oculink instead of Thunderbolt/USB4? I've seen other videos that suggest the interface makes better use of the available PCIE bandwidth.

[@PsychoStreak]

You mentioned it at the beginning of the video - there are people who want to use their handheld as their main gaming system. I would say they want it as their only system, and in that case, an eGPU makes sense. If you're not looking for a bulky* gaming laptop with it's (generally) keyboard and trackpad, limited number of ports and the need to add a bulky controller for a decent gaming experience, but want a more powerful setup when you're at home, an eGPU dock combo is a good option. Though this one is overpriced. *When I say bulky, I mean needs a bag/sleeve vs fits in your pocket scale. People want to use it like they use their Switch, totally portable, but dock it for a bigger better experience when battery life isn't a factor. Also, if you're a road warrior, one of these could conceivably be your only computer, and the eGPU and peripherals would be all you need to turn a hotel TV into a gaming monitor. They other big problem with a gaming laptop is that you're stuck with whatever GPU it's got unless you get a Frameworks model. An eGPU (specifically a DIY or user upgradeable model) can update with the GPU market until the CPU of the handheld is truly a bottleneck.

[@Mmmmmk247]

This is me. Shopping for an egpu to make a switch-esk experience where I can take all my games on the go, but when I dock, I want some better graphics / frames on my monitor. Since I have a work computer, this will also double as my home computer instead then also having another desktop or laptop and managing all 3 hypothetical systems… additionally some games (specifically older ones) don’t have cloud saves so I want all of them to go with me and not have to manage that. I think this is why the switch absolutely slayed in sales and why mobile pcs are the trend. Just need these egpus to lower in costs

[@saturnotaku]

Neither a gaming handheld nor a Switch can fit in your pocket either so that's not an argument in favor of that versus a gaming laptop. A $900 gaming laptop will also walk all over any handheld, and many in this price range also have USB4/TB4 ports for adding an eGPU later if you really wanted.

[@alvaro9333]

@@Mmmmmk247 Yes! Im in the exact same category. Pre-ordered a Ally X for quick gaming on the go. But I'd love to have a dedicated place to dock my Ally X into when im playing multiplater or just want to go on a bigger screen at home. Already own a work laptop, so I dont want another pc/console for solely this purpose. If you have a solution I'd love to know, because im really new to all of this.

[@Mmmmmk247]

@@alvaro9333 im not experienced in this. I did preorder an X as well. The mobile gpu that seems to tick these boxes well for now is the GPD G1, but I’ll prob wait for a few months after release for Asus to ensure it’s supported before picking something up.

[@Mmmmmk247]

@@saturnotaku that is true minus the handheld is a gaming device first, pc second considering the built in controller. The laptop is a pc first and then for gaming you still need at least one thing… mouse or controller. So it’s still not a one size fits all solution. I did consider a gaming laptop for a few months before getting the steamdeck

[@memop94]

Not a terrible idea... Just an expensive one. Considering a good Thunderbolt 3 dock is around $200, you are paying a $500 premium for the addition of a GPU and the NVMe slot... For me that's not thaaaaat crazy

[@MrVkull]

Thats where my thoughts are. I just bought a msi claw and while I wait in the mail I'm looking at egpu's and docking stations. I want a single cord, plug and play, low profile solution. This is a usb hub, m.2 expansion, and a gpu all in one? I feel like its worth a little premium.

[@KiraSlith]

6:18 to 7:06 Literally what I was just drafting a comment to say, except with the addition that barebones Oculink enclosures are dirt cheap and performs better. Even if you had to have the thunderbolt interface, it still makes more sense to buy a thunderbolt enclosure and RX 7600 separately instead, so you have something more serviceable, upgradable, and reliable than a rectangle of proprietary components.

[@blendpinexus1416]

yeah, i just hope the steamdeck 2 has an oculink port so i can do that very thing. hell a combo oculink and usb4 would be perfect in my opinion.

[@oo--7714]

@@blendpinexus1416 no, just no more cost for what, something most people won't use?

[@AvalosTokyo]

I am not sure these claims are well founded, not arguing I could just really use the help. It's been hard finding a decent size enclosure for graphics cards. The smallest I've found it's still huge and the power brick about the size of this OneXgpu. The power brick for the OneX is a rounded square and while a bit heavy much more ergonomic. This is not including a M.2, either. Which website would you recommend? If something doesn't exist I create it myself, but I am having a hard time with this one. @CraftComputing doesn't seem to active on the comments, but you did great with the product list to build a PC at that price...what held you back from putting the $300 encluecare together? I would break it down dollar per inch for what the OneXgpu has...and it is absolutely necessary to include the freaking power brick for all this.

[@KiraSlith]

@@AvalosTokyo I'd guess Jeff's reason is the same as mine, the only reason I haven't built one of these enclosures is that I already have a full-size gaming PC and handheld PCs are already at the edge of my interests. If I need more grunt than my laptop or handheld, I remote into the tower over the internet if I'm away, or just move to my desk when I'm at home. We've already invested into a full desktop ecosystem, so these recommendations are for those that only have a handheld PC and want more power.

[@AvalosTokyo]

@@KiraSlith I have a good rig at home and a gaming laptop, the more I travel the more cumbersome the laptop + power brick become. I'm looking at a "gaming" tablet to get rid if the fixed keyboard and looking at this egpu expansion. Like I said, for a channel with such a reach, it really stand out at the fact that this graphics card is not easily found on the market, not even on Laptops. There is no build this size with that card, M.2, and enclosure. It's just so conspicuos that this channel loses it's appeal, like it's leaning more on armchair bias than an actual review.

[@iraqigeek8363]

the first gen Gigabyte Aorus Gaming Box (1070, 1080) can be found for under €/$100 without a GPU in your local classifieds. I bought two for around 75€ each. It has a 280W PSU and can house a dual slot ITX sized card. It's not that big either, and comes with a nicely padded carrying case. I use one with a RTX A4000 modded with a 3060 cooler (quite a common mod, google it. Runs cooler and quieter), and the 2nd with a Sandisk/Fusion-IO IoMemory 3200GB card (BTW Jeff, I think you should take a look at those IoMemory cards, quite nifty). Another option that's much less portable is the 2nd gen Gigabyte Aorus Gaming Box with a RTX 2080Ti or RTX 3080. The 3080 version sells regularly for under €/$500 in local classifieds or ebay. It's much bigger and heavier than the 1st gen, but it's not loud (thanks to being water-cooled), has some nice features like gigabit ethernet port and a couple of USB 3.0 ports, and still comes with a padded carrying case.

[@platinumsun4632]

Eh can you help me find a listing. Finding a hard time finding one. I too would be interested in getting a pair for myself.

[@wiedapp]

He already did something with Fusion-IO cards a while ago.

[@MultiDeivas]

Wish it was possible to find these so cheap in the rest of the world as they go for minimum 200-300 without a gpu elsewhere.

[@rossdev]

I picked up an empty 1070 box for €100. They have a 450W psu (80% gold rated)...I picked up a Gigabyte 4060 mini itx card and it fitted with room to spare. Some GPU brands (like MSI) do not work jumping a wire from the Aorus motherboard power cable to the pcie bus so the card is recognised. I also picked up a longer thunderbolt cable for a bit of comfort. My next purchase will be a power inverter for my lawnmower batteries - meaning I can power my Aorus box from a battery and game off-grid :-)

[@MightyShibba]

What's is the space game that showed rotating space station in the first seconds of the video? 0:05

[@CraftComputing]

Starfield

[@TheRailroad99]

The only valid point for eGPU is docked Ultrabooks for work IMO. That way a company IT can buy everyone the same laptop ( ultrabook with a rather powerful CPU) + dock so administration will be easy. But if someone needs to do GPU-heavy work (e.g. CAD / 3D-modelling) he can get a better monitor and the eGPU dock. clean setup and the docks can be upgraded separately from the laptops.

[@Elkarlo77]

Especially with the modern APU's. You get a Powerfull CPU and a Low/Moderate GPU like the 760M/780M or the A380 which are plenty for most Graphics cases and you only need the EGPU's for Rendering of Videos. For CAD and 3D-Modelling an A380 or AMD RDNA2/3 APU is powerfull enough, when you want a full Render Scene then you need an eGPU. But again Intel/AMD Notebook with powerfull APU (Intel 1x5H, AMD with 760M or 780M ) gets you a long way and you need only for some usecases an eGPU.

[@KhanhDinh291]

there's another: people who needs an ultrabook with great battery at work and only utilize a stronger gpu at home. sure, anyone can build a separate desktop , but then data synchronization becomes a chore. also the cost will balloon up much more than an egpu also these terrible results are due to the usb4 protocol. an oculink port would be a game changer

[@SkyTreeStudio]

@@KhanhDinh291 also I like the idea of having a EGPU for a smaller home Maybe I don't have the space to really want two different PC's when with a EGPU it could work fine

[@thediddlefiddler5569]

As long as I'm able to jam my setup in my backpack and take it with me wherever I go, IT WILL ALWAYS BE WORTH IT. I don't have the luxury of taking my gaming PC or even my PS5 with me every time I travel. But, I can take my ROG Ally and soon to be Ally X w/ eGPU with me wherever I go. I can game handheld while I travel and when I get to my destination, I can enjoy top tier graphics.

[@predaR6]

How is this not the best? So you have 1 device with 3 purposes. 1 you can use it as a gaming pc and play competitive game's with friends. 2. You can use it as a handheld after work on the couch. 3. You can put it in your living room connected to your tv with 4 controllers and play emulator games like supersmash, mario party, mario kart.

[@retrosean199]

Considering that the handheld itself is already more expensive than a Steam Deck, the price tag isn't a surprise. It's interesting but not fast enough.

[@surfx4804]

Oh yea you are basically paying a premium for a "portable" egpu. The only use case is traveling, where you want a handheld or thin and light laptop as well as gaming in the hotel. My experience with my zenbook flip and the GPD G1 is good, though there a couple of points to make: Thunderbolt has its limits, so higher resolutions or generating lots more information like cars can saturate this. Oculink is better than Thunderbolt for the eGPU, so if you wan to do this get a device with Oculink Noise, esp if you choose to go at 120w. I find 100w is fine and there is little gain going to 120w. The GPD G1 sounds like airflow rather than a spinning fan, so while audible it is not annoying. Lossless Scaling (on steam) works well adding scaling and frame gen to games that don't have it. Also using it to get double framegen on Starfield works quite well to make it playable.

[@AaronTheGeek]

If you already have a GPU it makes way more sense to grab a thunderbolt enclosure and put that card in, an enclosure can handle whatever GPU you wanna put in and costs a little over $200, and, if you are purchasing a new handheld with the external GPU options look for one that can do Oculink, that gives you the equivalent to a PCIe slot, not sure what speed but not full 16x, still definitely faster than thunderbolt.

[@lorsheckmolseh3345]

TBT is a stutterfest, Oculink is lots faster with 4 lanes 4.0, if signal integrity is bad, 4 lanes 3.0. Most games will still run, but expect many problems by the bottleneck. Besides Oculink is not hot swappable and can cause damage if accidentally removed and reconnected while the system is running. Better get a portable Intel enthusiast beast canyon with a i9-11900KB, already containing a complete system (without DDR4/SSD), or a Zotac Magnus to put your desktop-card in a real 16x PCI 4.0-slot. Both barebones are available in Europe from 5-600€ (new). The 11. gen i9 ("only" 8 cores) is weak at productivity (Cinebench R23 Multithreaded), but for gaming it is the perfect system, and will leave TBT and Oculink far behind. In the beast you can even put a 4090, but i would recommend a 4070 Super (550€), easily delivering twice the tempo of the G1 dock.

[@BlackApathyy]

So you didnt try oculink. Smh.

[@AirGunWeb]

Hey there. So. I bought the ROG Aly and found the XG Mobile 3080 on eBay. All in with XG Mobile, 1TB NVME upgrade, doc, etc. I was out about 2k. Ouch. For me the Aly was one big compromise after another and I decided a laptop would suite me better. I picked up the ASUS Flow x16 on a crazy sale. RTX 3060 Model, etc. I thought that I could boost performance with the 3080 XG Mobile and run it docked as an extra workstation at the office. Couldn’t be more wrong. The overhead going between the laptop and XG Mobile GPU just hamstrings performance even when directly connected to an external display and the internal disabled. There’s no advantage over the dedicated 3060. I ran several tests to see if I was missing something and nope. Total waste of money. I have an external TB3 Razer enclosure that I want to test just for giggles. Anyway, lesson learned. Very expensive lesson learned. Cheers Rick

[@mikeymaiku]

Yep. My plan for my egu solution is probably going to be my 2070 super. I even have a 3050 8gb to go with a even smaller solution with a 200mm gpu.

[@ScottGrammer]

Handheld gamer: I love my new handheld. It's small, portable, and I can take it anywhere! PC gamer: What's all this other stuff? Handheld gamer: Well, it's not really powerful enough, so I have this external GPU. PC gamer: And what's with all the wires? Handheld gamer: Well, the external GPU needs a power supply, and then it has to connect to the handheld, and since the screen is so little, I connect this monitor via HDMI. PC gamer: Not so handheld anymore is it? Why not just use a PC? Handheld gamer: . . . . Get out.

[@buddybleeyes]

or "why don't you just buy a laptop?" 🤣

[@oo--7714]

weird comment. The main reason why I got a legion go was due to its power efficiency compared to pcs. It uses a total of 45 Watts max which is lower than a lot of pcs at idle. And it was quite cheap like £476 with 2tb of storage.

[@buddybleeyes]

@oo--7714 what, the legion go was that cheap? :O dam! I got a steam deck instead of spending over a grand on a decent laptop. Don't regret it one bit. I already have a pc 😁 edit: there like £650 every where I've seen

[@johnpp21]

i mean if you already have a handheld/laptop/minipc, now you want more juice in it, instead of buying new desktop PC, you can save a lot by just building an eGPU

[@buddybleeyes]

@johnpp21 the issue is you can get better performance for the price by just building a pc. eGPU's are soo incredibly overpriced That's what this video is mainly highlighting 😁

[@anjabenn]

I got my Razer Core X for $200 and my RTX 3080 for $400. I use this with my Legion Go ($750) when docked to my tv. This is my ownly gaming setup, and I do not have a pc. 4k 60hz on my tv (even for Starfield) and I just use the handheld by itself when not playing on the tv. Flexibility is the key here. All my games on a single device with the option of handheld portability or docked 4k 60 hz. All in, I paid $1350 for this setup. It was worth it for me because I want that flexibility.

[@marcus_b1]

That price...Jesus. I would only consider an eGPU if I'm slimming down my office nook by using a mini pc but still wanted gaming power so I don't have to crank up my main system to use a full onboard GPU. They got a ways to go on that pricing. Overall good review.

[@TheNumbersPerson]

The only way this makes practical sense is if you're incredibly limited on space, and a handheld is your primary machine due to other constraints on top of that, outside of cost. Let's say someone living in a super small apartment with a long public transit commute for work but making good enough money that the high cost won't matter to them. That's a bit niche, but situations like that do happen and it would be a nice thing to have for someone who's got almost no space, but plenty of money to pay the mini-sized tax and wants a super easy solution.

[@zerohbeat]

I can see this having a market in UK, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong - Limited living space in the large cities but relatively high wages to be able to afford this.

[@flux_6223]

Thank you for actually mentioning the price up front. I appreciate that over other reviewers trying their best to never mention that. That just kills any purpose for this product IMO.

[@jeremybarber2837]

I have a dream of a one-stop device and end up keeping coming back to laptop. I do think there is a place for an e-gpu dock even with a laptop. Cloud saves for games or project files really have become ubiquitous enough that having a multi-system workflow is less arduous than it used to be, which is fabulous.

[@yoghurrt1]

Maybe follow up video that compares this eGPU with any Aliexpress TB3/4 enclosure and some GPUs?

[@Draelren]

DISCLAIMER: I haven't watched the video yet. But sir, you are firing shots. I am feeling called out on my ex-box with your title. hahaha

[@CraftComputing]

Just like eGPUs, your ExBox is stupid and not practical, but I love that you made it :-D

[@Draelren]

@@CraftComputing fully agreed actually lol, it's dumb af and a dumb use of money. But it sure is fun.

[@haikaido]

I have a lenovo legion go and next to my couch is a Razer core with a 3080 in it. I use it all the time and its an amazing combo for couch gaming.

[@bakeraus]

I think they are brilliant, and the GPU is incredible option if you want to plug-in.

[@justinmuntean7689]

I just stream from my 4090pc when on the couch with moonlight.

[@bakeraus]

@@justinmuntean7689 I've never heard of moonlight, I'll do some goggling

[@anjabenn]

My exact setup. It's crazy how good it is.

[@vincekara9446]

What thunderbolt cable are you using as factory is short?

[@nathanbanks2354]

I recently bought an eGPU to run MacOS or Windows in a VM on my Linux laptop without rebooting. Not the best performance per dollar, but I like having a box I can easily take on a plane along with my portable monitor.

[@codeman99-dev]

I wonder if the eGPU has any extra considerations for mobility. As in, grab the devices for a drive to my brother's house. If so, I think that's where this really shines. Especially if you travel a lot. Especially if you happen to travel by mass transit a lot (bus, train, or plane). Laptop gaming doesn't really make sense unless you plug in a kb/mouse or a controller. That's not necessary with a handheld. So during your travel, use the handheld as intended. Just one device without wires. No need to tuck or squeeze to avoid other people. Then, you arrive at your destination and you only need to request a monitor. --- Maybe that's the next step? Skip the eGPU form-factor completely. Just build the GPU into a Lap-dock style device. Then you still get all the benefits I described above, but you also brought along your own monitor.

[@NecroFlex]

I was lucky, got a Gigabyte GPU enclosure (that originally had a 1070 in it), with an RTX 3060Ti for 300€. Sold the GPU for around the same price so the enclosure was technically free. it's got a 450W gold flex PSU in it so it can pretty much run most of the GPUs, tho size wise it's quite limiting, but if you disassemble it, it's fine in the end.

[@charlienewman7496]

Another point for building a gaming pc instead of buying an external gpu is streaming.......Sunshine with Moonlight works amazing on my Steam Deck. I feel this option isn't talked about enough.

[@johnpp21]

hows the input lag in yourside? i tried sunshine and the input lag is horrible in higher resolutions

[@charlienewman7496]

@@johnpp21since my Steam Deck is 800p, I I use "Hotkey Resolution Changer" on my PC and set a custom res of 1440x900 when streaming...(enables full screen on the Deck) On the steam deck side I set it to 60 fps (LCD model) and transfer rate to 50mbps. With this setup, I can use the deck as a controller for my pc and don't really notice any difference from an xbox controller. So input lag is pretty low playing on the Deck....... plus the temps are low and the battery life is high.

[@charlienewman7496]

@@johnpp21 it's not bad at all......I use hotkey resolution changer and set my pc res to 1440x900....this way I have full screen on my Deck and input lag is extremely low. On the Deck side of things, I have the transfer rate set to 50mbps and 60fps (LCD model)

[@blendpinexus1416]

i like it, problem i have is my host is a linux machine and i am just struggling to get it to play nice and give me both a good looking stream AND a low input latency (not to mention any quirks)

[@Ruralmn]

About the only reason I can think of for one of these is if you only have one machine and it must be a super thin ultra book but you want to game with it occasionally. The battery life argument for the ultra book over a gaming laptop and extra CPU performance for the laptop over a second machine.

[@BlinxESP]

I really like your reviews, thanks to you I got my RTX 4000 SFF in my mini G9 Z2 HP workstation and I cannot be more happy about it. I just purchased this egpu to get my Notebook some extrapower on business trips.

[@paulbrooks4395]

Ive had a specific experience using a gaming laptop that my PC doesn't have. The CPU limitations due to cooling can lead to less GPU usage, stutter, and other jank across the board. It's clearly due to the constant boosting and throttling of cores, and I haven't yet found a way to resolve it in all games.

[@tadawakatsu]

Dear sir, pardon my negative thinking, but the title "never worth it" strikes me as clickbaity. There are some other eGPU solutions that suit the use cases of different people. To those people (including me), it definitely is worth it.

[@CraftComputing]

If I named the video "this eGPU is too expensive, as are most other models, but the technology is exciting and I'm happy they exist, but for most use cases don't make sense" would you have clicked the video?

[@tadawakatsu]

@@CraftComputing well congratulations then, because it clearly attract my view. But I must say though, you gain some, you lose some. If you do ever change your stance on this topic, I sincerely wish that you'd cover other solutions as well, e.g. DIY, oculink Vs TB/USB 4 etc. until then, have a pleasant day.

[@Mervinion]

"I need a burger with it to enjoy" is best description of a beer I've heard. I felt the taste of that beer on my tongue.

[@draco2xx]

it does worth it especially when you're out of town and don't want to bring your massive heavy 1400x 71717au, 17,000gpu pc with you

[@CraftComputing]

My point was, a laptop that's twice as fast costs less, weighs less, and takes up less space than these two devices.

[@drebbihc]

@@CraftComputingbad form factor though imo compared to handhelds. To play games on a laptop you need to lug around a huge laptop and a controller to play anything, anywhere, at any time. Legion Go + OneXGPU, I can just play the Legion Go wherever I want as it is, but then if I want to hook it up to a TV, if I happen to be somewhere with a TV, I can and then just detach the controllers from the sides and I’m good to go.

[@joshharvey513]

Thank you so much for this I appreciate all the time you took you answered all my questions. My favorite part of this video was watching the beer in your glass dissappear throughout the video.

[@SplendidNinja]

Can you use it without docking? Like can i play using the main screen of the legion go with the egpu plugged in? I dont have a monitor or a pc, just a legion go so it would work for me to boost performance.

[@BlinxESP]

Honestly, after listening your whole review I completely agree. Somehow I feel this device is worthed its value if you consider to connect your device to monitors, internet cable, upgrade storage, USB ports... It makes sense in a setup where you have a low profile Notebook with a too basic graphic card (in my case a Samsung Book 3 13 inches with a Graphics Iris Card), and you are looking for something to add more computational capabilities at the moment you connect to screens and you need that RAW power. I can barely see why someone with a handle gaming computer get this device if not other than connect it to a bigger screen. I amplanning to travel next week and I am looking forward to connect my notebook to this, so I can work on some 3d modeling using two monitors connected to this device, I am rendering in Enscape. Plus some Diablo 4 gaming at night.... I will come back to tell my experience!

[@alpenfoxvideo7255]

could you show us the cheapest usable external gpu setup you can come up with? just for the lols

[@vladimirharkonen2410]

Thanks a lot! I was an inch away from throwing away the money.

[@frankenstein3163]

Great stuff as always. Little off topic but What would you suggest if the server in the garage is 500 ft+ away from 3 gamers ? either net amplifiers of some sort ?

[@drackar]

The other day I was curious, so I put together a PC part picker list that was a full PC, with the non mobile version of that GPU, and it was sub $700. There are no permutations where this thing makes sense. If you want mobile gaming solutions, the floor is amazingly low, refurbished steam decks are sub $400. The 256 gb model is $320, the 64gb is under $300. Get one of those, and you have the budget for, say, a laptop with that mobile GPU as well, instead of buying this handheld and this mobile GPU.

[@Reaper_1994]

I got one of these from Ali about 2 weeks ago. It's amazing on my laptop as Spyro Reignited Trilogy has gone from 20-25FPS to a solid 60FPS with extra performance still available. PCSX2 Emulator is also better with constant dips to 50FPS but it's also solid 60FPS at under 20% GPU usage. Very recommended for those who travel but need their laptop to stay light for day to day work.

[@Reaper_1994]

An example for me is that I need my HP Intel i7-12th gen laptop to be light for going to customers sites and have decent battery life but I do travel to our other offices out of town and don't want to setup a gaming PC out there with my own money.

[@DeimerDiazTache]

How good is it if I use Debian or Ubuntu?

[@youquagmire]

You sound check out the ROG Ally with the 4090m egpu that goes with it. Then it's roughly the same cost as a desktop.

[@Reaper_1994]

I've just realised, you've missed the fact that connecting an external display to the dock improves performance even more as data is going 1 way instead of returning to the device to render on the display. also, this would be interesting to see if you could use crossfire with the Miniforum MS-01 and a 7600 installed in it (if possible). Or even just see if the performance is even better compared to using a handles CPU

[@CraftComputing]

The testing for both the 780M and RX 7600M XT were done through a connected display, as I was testing the perspective of a docked device and desktop monitor.

[@0LoneTech]

Besides which, there's not that much data being transferred during play, and normal PCIe has full duplex lanes with dedicated capacity. Backlink display is a minor latency issue, not much of a capacity issue.

[@jameslewis2635]

To me the biggest issue with these handhelds is that the link between one and an external GPU is just not fast enough and the gear to use it is too expensive. If you could get something like the performance of an 8x PCIE connection and the price for a bare dock (as in one that you can install your own graphics card into) under the $250 mark I could see it making sense for a lot of people but a $600 - $800 unit based on a mid range mobile GPU that can't be upgraded is not even worth considering.

[@danielstuckwisch9343]

So I'm thinking this plus an Asus Zenbook Duo would be an excellent setup for travel/hotel rooms/ etc for a dual monitor setup on the go with a charger that enables gaming. Expensive yes, but if youre on the road a lot and have the money, i think it might be the play?

[@MarcWeavers]

what abut video editing on the eGPU? :D

[@tiggerthemighty8279]

My use case: already have a handheld and I want to wall mount an egpu behind the tv for 4k gaming and reduce wear.

[@worcesterbellringingperson7513]

Meanwhile I’ve been wondering about adding an egpu to the MS-01 and passing it to a vm rather than upgrading my existing system - not completely sure about this yet though

[@replikvltyoutube3727]

Does discrete GPU work with Android phones?

[@raka9220]

No.... At least not yet

[@youquagmire]

You sound check out the ROG Ally with it's mobile 4090m egpu. That would put it in the same desktop pricing to consider comparison.

[@dhgodzilla1]

Hey Jeff in your Opinion what would be the Best X99 Xeon for a Gaming System? I recently got a good deal on some Hunanzhi X99 Motherboards so am shopping around for some good options & I trust your judgement in this area since you have built so many of them. (Edit I did leave this comment on a 3 month old video but just in case you don't see that I figured I'd ask on a recent Video)

[@CraftComputing]

This is my favorite inexpensive X99 board right now: kzbin.info/www/bejne/opmkl5-egtp0f7M You'll be seeing more of this system in a couple weeks.

[@Jasontyo]

Mini PCs and handhelds feel too much like a console model. Want more performance? “Buy the Better One” is here for you. No silly upgrades, repairs, or customization to worry about. With “Buy the Better One” you get the opportunity to spend more money, more often!

[@JoseMR1992]

Your segway is good. But im a crazy guy with a server rack on my garage. But i need more help to see if what i want to do is viable with the gear i have.

[@yissnakklives8866]

What would be really welcome, or maybe just interesting, is an external enclosure geared toward MXM gpus. They are already mobile parts so use lower power, so smaller power supplies and lower cooling requirements. Just a thought.

[@CraftComputing]

The problem with MXM is even though the slot is standard, coolers are not. Running them in an enclosure would require some amount of hackery to attach a cooler.

[@bloohaus8670]

Does this carry over for laptop + external gpu for 3d work in stuff like unreal engine / C4d etc?

[@gdingledine]

I own a gpd g1, and it's the sort of thing I want to like, particularly more for supplementing ultrabooks rather than gaming handhelds. But, the chips in the ultrabooks and upscaling solutions are getting too good to not just leave the egpu at home and live with any hitches and hiccups for someone that games here and there on the road. Having said that, if this did have better utility, I'd go to bat for it at the price. I'm getting kind of tired of discussion around gaming-focused products defaulting to a race to the $200-400 range. Its okay for niche products to remain at niche prices until a big player can swoop in and start working their economies of scale magic for everyone.

[@Wirenfeldt1990]

Do you happen to know how it performs hooked up to your WIN MAX?

[@CraftComputing]

Performance would be near identical. Ryzen 6800U, and connected via USB4.

[@Ironic-Social-Phobia]

What I don't get is if you want to add an external GPU why use an already cut down mobile part in the dock. I didn't get it with the Asus XG one either.

[@thepro08]

what about if you have a laptop?

[@CraftComputing]

This is the same speed or slower than an RTX 4060 laptop, priced just $40 apart. If you need a faster GPU in your laptop, buy a new laptop.

[@ericdeltoro8484]

I just want an egpu enclosure that I can use my own gpu with my ROG Ally. The only egpu they stock is the 4090 Mobile, which is not significantly faster than the desktop 3090 and costs $2000. The only egpu they had that was slightly reasonable was the RX 6800 XT Mobile and its basically been sold out forever to the point that second hand they sell for $800+ second hand.

[@MultiDeivas]

Good point about Minisforum HX99G or HX100G. For like 700-800 euros you get the whole mini pc combo, amazing cpu and directly linked gpu without thunderbolt loss. To think that the egpu like this costs 900 euros is a bit ridiculous. I don't believe the thunderbolt/oculink controller should cost that much. The 330w gan psus go for around a 100. If it was more like 400-500 for the specs it would make more sense. The whole egpu market would become more popular if only they weren't so out of reach with cost.

[@BozesanVlad]

Isn't an eGPU supposed to be used as dock, so not really portable?

[@pensoul5362]

Do anyone know why the onexgpu keeps overheating and crashing

[@CraftComputing]

Never experienced that in my testing. What issues are you seeing?

[@pensoul5362]

The fan would get loud than it would turn itself off than on​@@CraftComputing

[@EvilModPixie]

what makes eGPUs worth it is thunderbolt. I have a Sonnet 750ex and it works as a dock and as external gpu+dock combo. I use it with my gaming laptop to get a better gpu connected to it or with my backup laptop to give it a gpu. That is a massive advantage of intel over amd. Intel laptops/handhelds almost always have thunderbolt and amd laptops/handhelds almost never do. for $200-$400 depending on new/used or on sale/not on sale the Sonnet 750ex is one of the best in the market and being thunderbolt 3/4 it has longevity to connect to newer laptops/handhelds as well as older ones.

[@EvilModPixie]

advantage of thunderbolt vs USBc is that it works as native PCIe lanes/connections vs requiring USB controller blah blah lol

[@flyingaviator8158]

I was SO confused till I realised its a sponsored part at the beginning lmao

[@oscar21781]

Just started my lunch at work and this dropped. Cheers!

[@das2003]

Thunderbolt 5 eGPU is where its at, or a handheld (other than GPD) with the Oculink.

[@unexplained_entity7514]

Yeah i’m super excited for TB5

[@bigdude101ohyeah]

I ended up getting an eGPU because I needed a pen-compatible 2-in-1 at the time (notetaking at uni), and none of the business class models had a dedicated GPU. It served its purpose at the time, but in hindsight, I should've gone the other way around - a mobile workstation and a pen display. I would've even got upgradable RAM, and could've probably considered going AMD too. With that being said, I bought my Sonnet eGPU off Marketplace for like AU$200 (~US$130) and used a spare R9 270X.

[@administrator4728]

Just need a handheld thin client that remotely games on local server or workstation.

[@e79905]

Great vídeo thanks. I was deciding between a steam deck or building my bazzite steam machine. Turns out I enjoy the building process more than actually using it to play games.

[@Mrtickleberries]

It's hard to take this video seriously when it includes an advertisement for online gaming then showcase an external graphics card that is not being limited by the graphics card but by the USBC interface.

[@zerohbeat]

The only reason is if you need the extra power and ports. I can see myself buying something like that as a temporary solution. For example my laptop, handheld is aging, if I need more power while at home / work, I can just use this. Or if you need the extra power from time to time eg for multiple monitors or rendering a video, or photo editing.

[@fk_tech]

I have gpd g1 and it's barely works on windows or Linux over usb4. Getting it work is a task on its own. I am going to help gpd get it working on linux atleast.

[@pouterbuttercup9665]

Wow, mines been pretty much plug and play. Sorry to hear you got a lemon.

[@GAMEZOONE-9]

Does this work on rog ally

[@CraftComputing]

Yes, it should work with any USB-4 capable handheld or laptop.

[@Tongefreeeeena]

Not true. Rog Ally is restricted to Rogs proprietary XG Mobile ​@CraftComputing

[@ThomasHolbrookII]

If you are stuck in a dorm room of sorts for living quarters and want to save physical space, it would make sense. No need to assemble or disassemble a desktop computer either. It's more of a convenience thing (and possibly something that could pay for itself in terms of a lower electricity bill).

[@oo--7714]

nah, laptops would make more sense and use less power. Only using the gaming handheld on it's own would you be saving energy.

[@KillerClear94]

I absolutely love my onexgpu. It allows me not to carry down my gaming PC. I use it exclusively for my TV gaming experience.

[@thirdwheel1985au]

I feel like you'd be better off buying that $748 desktop pc and connecting to it using parsec if the hand held supports it

[@MojoDragon]

I plan on using a handheld as my main gaming system and use my quest 3 as the monitor 💪🔥

[@denvera1g1]

Jeff, dont let the very loud minority talk you into Oculink(in its current state) Yes they will loudly tell you that the latency and speed are better than thunderbolt What they wont tell you, probably because they dont know, is that it is a very low endurance connector. You may know this port from your work, as these are far FAR more common in servers, you may have even had one die on you before. We've had a few die on us, seemingly in a few years with what we assume are less than 100 insertions. What we would really need is at least 6 PCIe lanes with as re-designed connector, it could be based on Oculink, or even a revision from the body responsible for oculink. I think Asus's XG mobile port is on its way, basically being an oculink+USB-C but i think its still too fragile and not enough bandwidth. I would like to see a monoblock connector USB-D with 2-3X contacts a much higher insertion rating than oculink while still supporting 100w power delivery. And dont get me started on how most people talk about these crappy mobile GPUs in a choked enclosure, rather than a full desktop GPU in an enclosure. As an enthusiast i want to like a tiny dock+GPU. My problem is that unless it attaches physically to the handheld, what use is a mobile GPU puck, if someone is just going to leave it at home connected to a monitor, why not just get a 100% faster desktop GPU in an even better dock that just takes up a little bit more desk area.

[@Wrathlon]

I use mine with an eGPU at home - its fine for travelling but then I can slap it into a Razer Core X with my old watercooled 3090 that I replaced and game in 4k. What we need is a better eGPU interface.

[@aisle9]

$700 on top of a $900 handheld to get 1080p, high settings...deal = broken. Thanks for keeping me far away from this one, Jeff.

[@lemagreengreen]

Have to say I find my eGPU very useful, about 3x the power of my laptop dGPU when I need it, don't always have it connected but it's nice to have. Speed alone is worth it but keeping the heat and noise away from my hands is another big benefit. I guess it all depends, I just had no desire to carry around a gaming laptop and don't much like many of them any way especially since I don't always need the power they offer but did sometimes use the little 1650 Ti in my laptop so decided to get an eGPU for those times. I certainly didn't buy it new though, the number of cheap used eGPU enclosures out there - one of which I picked up and it seemed basically unused - is probably evidence they don't work for many.

[@josephbenadam]

So for you it was very okay ? Am I planning to buy one since I haveone laptop and I have the same mindset regardin buying a new Laptop that I do not fancy most of them

[@lemagreengreen]

@@josephbenadam I have found it to be just what I need. It is a Razer Core X Chroma and I have had various cards in it but currently an RTX3060. Bandwidth is limited by Thunderbolt 3 but even so I find performance to be more than adequate.

[@AshtonCoolman]

If you have a mini pc or handheld with Oculink, you will get A LOT more performance out of this eGPU. Another reviewer showed a 50% performance increase in certain games.

[@DaBigCheeso]

With the way these APUs are going, I think we're seeing less and less reason to need dedicated graphics, at least in handheld mode. While an EGPU dock would be nice, they need to get under $400 to even start making sense budget wise, at least for me.

[@DaBigCheeso]

Also, the Samsung Q1 reference got me nostalgic. Glad to see it get a mention in 2024

[@A77ick]

I love the Smell of October in Oregon! It Smells like.... bitter victory.

[@jmz8086]

I think the results would be more useful if you hadn't changed from low to high each time... just an idea.

[@edhackplays]

Here in brazil the RX 7600 XT alone costs over 460 dollars, so it's quite better to have the onexegpu since i paid only 670 dollars for it. Building a decent pc here would be far more expensive than just buying the egpu.

[@telsan4291]

Great review! The cost needs to come way down for this to be recommendable, you can get a laptop with a 6600m (similar performance) for around the price of that egpu. Then you’d have two devices rather being constrained to using just one. I get the whole all in one device but at this price this ain’t it. Good to see more competition in the market however which will hopefully push prices down over time.

[@awetisimgaming7473]

I still love the idea, my GPD WinMax 2 won't even play starfield because I got the 6800u version earlier on. I use it while at work, because I'm waiting for my work to show up for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, and I'm also going to school for cybersecurity during those breaks too. I think if I could get something like this to pipe back into my display, but just boost performance, I'd actually get this, or the G1.

[@doncortezwilder460]

I almost bought the OneXPlayer X1 and OneXGPU until I realized I could get an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 for the same money. Definitely made the right choice (for me).

[@blendpinexus1416]

honestly part of the problem is using mobile gpus. which if you want to make a small and energy efficient egpu dock than fine. but i'd rather have a way to diy one and just use a desktop gpu that i likely have laying around that is orders faster than the handheld's gpu. if the steamdeck 2 has a usb4 (or preferably an oculink) i'll try and make an egpu dock for it.

[@GenX80sKid]

I had one for my Lenovo Legion Go, it worked great for about 2 weeks, then it started constantly disconnecting, after some research I found that the thunderbolt cable was the culprit and the fix was to buy a better cable as the one included is really cheap, the fact that I paid $1300 CAD for the unit itself (no extra storage) and the cable that connects the handheld to the external gpu is the achilles heel and I have to spend MORE money on it? NOPE, that's a deal Deal Breaker, to cheap out on such a crucial component when charging so much for the device, not cool, I returned it and built a gaming PC instead, and glad I did, My Legion Go is great on it's own for portability gaming, but nothing beats a dedicated gaming desktop, nothing !

[@lorsheckmolseh3345]

If you can live with an Arc a770m (16GB, 11K TimeSpy) and a 20-Thread 12700H, get an Enthusiast Serpent Canyon, still cheaper than the eGPU.

[@glenecollins]

The Christian guy sounds exactly like he is reading out something from an early version of chat GPT, the text doesn’t seem to have much relevance to anything that is more than a few words before it. Early chat GPT also often ended stuff with a peace and love message

[@jorknorr]

I like his ultra fast Sens of the mice in tiny wonderland :P

[@ZackyVillain]

It is true that handheld+eGPU is difficult to justify because laptops exist, but it is pretty bad of an argument to compare it to desktops. There are engineering efforts put into the design to make it portable, and the demand for compact and portable use cases is there to justify the cost. At the moment, the cost of this setup is likely to be $400-800 for the handheld and $700 for this eGPU, so it is about $1100-1500 in total. It is about the same price as getting gaming laptops with similar performance at full MSRP, but there are more options and possible discounts for a mainstream product like laptop. Repairability is also a concern while comparing a niche product to a mainstream product. But overall, handheld+eGPU isn’t that bad as “never worth it”.

[@utoracat18]

This has been my thought when the prices for these egpus were announced... i insted got an adt egpu board from ali express for under 100usd and then bought a second hand 3070... use it to desktop my legion go...