MSI Claw 8 Ai+ eGPU Testing! Docked Mode 1440P Gaming on A Handheld

[@mikaeldalc]

The eGPU is currently $1200 on Amazon. You pair it up with the MSI claw and you’re looking at $2100 -- There’s no way anyone just justify that price. $1200 for an eGPU with a mobile chip alone is ridiculous

[@cm42019]

It has 12gb of VRAM. The only mobile Nvidia card with 12gb of VRAM is the 4080. Those laptops sell for way more than $1200. Someone's buying them.

[@sirbaron1012]

get a EGPU case, and use PC desktop GPU's. That way you're not forced to buy a overpriced mobile garbage.

[@name_christian]

This. Claw for mobile and dedicated Gaming PC at home makes so much more sense.

[@hdpredator11143103]

Yeah cause not everyone has youtuber money with sponsors.

[@TuPhonez4Free]

Of course this ridiculous. Truly not worth it. Something else coming soon. That's that

[@gdot1803]

If Valve adds EGPU support to Steam Deck 2, the discussion of whether to buy a PS5 over a Deck 2 becomes a lot more interesting, because you now have a portable console that has the potential to be upgraded to be a more powerful TV home console, which can now do PCVR/UEVR mod, higher end emulation, etc.

[@deluge6479]

Your first thought is pcvr mods 😂

[@III-ph3hb]

Y’all have to find new topics man

[@nickjones1609]

No one is ever gonna use an egpu on a steam deck, the entire point of steam decks is their cost effectiveness and ease of use over the other portables with way better performance fps wise, which is why they already have a community for them

[@jamskaterpete]

steam deck 2 is not dropping anytime soon. so that's not even a topic of discussion.

[@richardgordon6653]

Tb5

[@DManLewis1]

5:47 "it really does put a hurtin" omg!! LMFAAAOOO

[@pedgarage]

This setup is what I wish the next XBox/Playstation would be. If Microsoft will release a modular Xbox, handheld + eGpu with dock and dual OS, Windows + XBox Os, it will break the gaming market. Playstation is going there with the Portal as well, but in the same way, an eGpu dock to increase the performance would benefit it.

[@pikkyuukyuun4741]

you wish

[@Moe_Lester_fromUptwn]

Microsoft? Handheld? Modular? Jamais!

[@pedgarage]

@@pikkyuukyuun4741 indeed as I wrote 😂

[@BearApps]

I mean xbox gamepass works with PC. So this is an xbox already.

[@pedgarage]

@@BearApps a dedicated OS, would increase perfomance and have a better UI, specially if used with a controller, think about Steam OS or Bazzite, but with Xbox services integration like their own market with everything you bought in the past. And then you switch back to windows when you want to do productivity stuff.

[@tomd7724]

I have an MSi Claw A1M with an egpu th3p4g3 with an rtx 3060ti (400 dollars all) I do 10060 in Time Spy 3d mark (3500 without egpu) I play on a 1080p pc monitor or in my sofa with a 2 meter Thunderbolt 4 cable It's an exceptional experience. I can't wait to test with the MSI claw 8

[@chenivan3498]

How much does that 2 meter TBT4 cable cost? I would like to use a wireless controller to play on sofa instead.

[@draco2xx]

im glad you're enjoying your set up, people in the comments complaining about how pointless it is cause of the price. for an portable experience, its well worth it

[@dtzero0]

Highly tempted to return my rog ally X and get this at launch.

[@ChaosDom69]

You rock thank you 😊 Happy new year homie🥳🎄🥳

[@SneakyCaleb]

I’m gonna do this combo over a gaming desktop I absolutely love it.

[@draco2xx]

you're awesome brother, im glad people like you see the benefits unlike these other cheapskates in the comments😂

[@Johnnyynf]

I currently daily drive a surface pro 8 with egpu Really wondering how would a future lunar lake surface pro perform with egpu This is a good vid to reference to. Thanks a lot ETA prime. 1:30 BTW with any ARC card for egpu I think it's unsuitable due to all of them needing reBAR, which you couldn't do over thunderbolt

[@mattieboyce3641]

I like the reviews that eta does.

[@brandon_raby]

Very interesting setup. Pretty stoked to see how a similar setup will mature in the next few years.

[@frankpatterson9682]

Loving these videos as I strenuously await mine to be shipped and delivered. I also have the Onexgpu 2 on my desk 😁😁

[@SirNoobWulf]

Something like this would be brilliant for consoles. Game runs in handheld mode in low quality, The home dock then lets you have proper console quality performance. I think in terms of performance we are there, it'd be difficult to package all of this into an affordable console tho.

[@bushwhookie1334]

Switch already does that lol not good but 720p to 1080p runs better... Switch 2 is going to be really good the dock will run in 60w or 90w so the games will get a big boost. I was told it will have rtx 3060 graphics

[@BigMacWitCheez]

That's literally what the Nintendo Switch is.

[@Energydrinc]

This blows current gen console performance out of the water. Not that I’m a fan of egpus but I’m even less of a fan of consoles and their over priced limited selection of titles.

[@bushwhookie1334]

@Energydrinc true but if it does have a rtx 3060 in the switch 2 and the price is at $450 to $500. It will be hard to beat plus dock mode go up to 4k 60w to 90w this what I was told. Plus all the pc ports that are coming from pc all current and new will have graphics updates and fps boost. Zelda game will also have a boost. Like for my 3 kids they have their own switches bunch of games so they are waiting to get Switch 2 makes sense. For me im a pc gamer alot of steam games so I got the claw 1gen love. My kids love it better than the switch but the Switch 2 will be just as powerful as these handhelds. I would say if you didn't have a handheld wait get the switch 2 cause you be getting alot of pc ports coming. If you already got a pc handheld wouldn't worry about it unless you just want it lol

[@Energydrinc]

@@bushwhookie1334I have an Ally and deckLCD thinking about grabbing a claw for cheap. How’s it run games after all those updates?

[@soreyJr]

I wish more people would talk about how bad of an experience using an egpu actually is. Only Retro Game Corps has talked about this. Everyone else like ETA prime just blows smoke and acts like it's so amazing.

[@thenobody0817]

Blowing smoke is all ETA ever does....

[@soreyJr]

​@@thenobody0817 I know...

[@Saif0412]

Isn't the issue using AMD eGPU with AMD soc's? Was pretty sure using Nvidia GPU with AMD should work fine, and same with Intel?

[@Patrick-y4d1z]

I saw Retro Game Corps video, but it didn't seem like that bad of an experience. Not perfect, no. But it's not a console.

[@cosmicgamingunlimited]

@@Patrick-y4d1zit looks like you just have to do your homework when deciding your setup, kind of like building a PC.

[@JackRabbit72380]

Woh! I need this MSI Wallpaper dude!

[@NoWay1969]

I literally just commented on another Claw 8 video that this was something I wanted to see.

[@Leopez02]

MSi Claw 8 + Ai looks so beautiful handheld, but I think only if it's so expensive it's not worth it. 😅

[@mikaeldalc]

And it’s using an IPS panel instead of an OLED. At $900, it makes no sense at all. Even sub-$300 phones have OLED panels.

[@Iopal152]

@@mikaeldalc phones are different they have smaller panels that make it easier to manufacture oled screen

[@KingSlendy]

@@mikaeldalc imagine comparing phones to handheld PCs

[@KD-wc4rs]

Save your money 🤷‍♂️

[@Leopez02]

@KD-wc4rs yeah for the Switch 2!

[@Andyshobbies]

I just asked about this and you provided! super good performance! I think you should add the new Indiana Jones the great circle to the games you test since it "requires ray tracing" which could lead to all new games having it plus its gorgeous and a very modern triple A game

[@EhsanSibilo]

1:22 when entering new zone God Of War have stutters bro

[@TuPhonez4Free]

Why you even care?

[@draco2xx]

and your point is😂

[@thegrapevine10]

As an ROG ally x owner, it bothers me that no company wants to add Thunderbolt 5 or an oculink port.

[@fuzzymuppet1990]

Once they release the new gen cards that have pcie 5.0. You should be able to connect to the 5.0@4x m.2 slots and should be much better throughput. They aleady make the 5.0@4x m.2 to converters that switch to a pcie x16 size egpu dock. We have just been waiting for cards to be pcie 5. Hopefully, they do make an oculink 2.0 or tb5 or usb 4.2 that will do 5.0@x4 really soon. Cheers!

[@EnochGitongaKimathi]

It bothers me that Intel didn't integrate Thunderbolt 5 with Lunar Lake. It bothers me that Apple beat Intel in rolling out Thunderbolt 5. Intel announced Thunderbolt 5 before they announced Meteor Lake. Rumours suggest Intel Panther Lake won't integrate Thunderbolt 5 as well.

[@Agallx]

Oculink isnt designed for high reinsertion rates, its simple not worth it for eGPUs that you're unplugging daily.

[@harveysmith4424]

Can't wait for Thunderbolt 5 to get more popular

[@DrGrove]

This would make more sense with the upcoming legion go s which will have egpu support and cost $499

[@waffelschmied7719]

I wasnt happy using an egpu. It was unstable and had some flaws. For example: i usually had to connect the egpu and restart the system, otherwise the system would crash once in a while. Second negative thought: i always had to reset the graphic settings when connecting or disconnecting the egpu (because i wanted different ingame graphic settings in handheld mode). Too uncomfortable for me. Sadly the influencers wont tell you about that, reddit does...

[@tomd7724]

what console ? what egpu ? With the MSI Claw, the egpu is more stable than the Legion Go and the Allyx X. No problems with MSI motherboard and Thunderbolt 4 (not AMD USB4) I can plug it in and unplug it from my Claw. TH3P4 with RTX 3060ti

[@KD-wc4rs]

Maybe they didn’t have that problem ?

But what did you expect tho? Let's manage our expectations please. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your GPU in a desktop PC, same thing will happen.

[@draco2xx]

you need to test dead space remake with this egpu or silent hill remake

[@Beyondesp]

If you want to maximize the egpu experience don't have the screens mirror each other. You can just have it send to the external monitor. And it will run better.

[@MrLiamHG]

Hi, big fan of your content! Just wondering why you would output God of War onto the claw screen and your monitor? My understanding is setting video output to monitor only will improve performance and reduce bottlenecking.

[@cochxite]

Can’t wait for it to go down to $799, some people don’t think the same way as me, I guess

[@draco2xx]

i guess our wallets also thinks different, maybe having kids and wife probably affects your financial decisions

[@cochxite]

@ true

[@cochxite]

@ another reason is that I already have $800 in cash to spend on this, so once it releases, I will wait for the 8 to go down in price to $799

[@mrgay-en6dq]

So egpu-ing a handheld with any intel arc gpus wont ever work at all?

[@DaviDeXtA]

Can we get a video on the MSI Claw wirh just the video out to a monitor?

[@VideoAL935]

I get the future set-up to look forward to. But since this HH is using the new tech, how is the new tech without the egpu?

[@jefffro9508]

Can you do comparison to Ally X? I bought one and have until Mid-Jan to return it. First time with handheld Windows gaming and the MSI Claw seems a little easier compared to FSR/AFMF2 and the hit/miss with the Ally X.

[@jackykwan2580]

It depends on whats your budget, obviously this new claw is better with the bigger screen but the perfomance is just on par with ally x chip. I think ally x offers best bang for buck or you can wait for an ally 2 or legion go 2 with z2 extreme chips coming next year. Z2 will beat out this chip

[@erfgthygreas1709]

I think this msi claw is a little better then rog ally x.

[@jsp00k]

ETA PRIME, I would love to see another video exploring this with a 4K capable eGPU and vs ROG ALLY X. Curious about how the CPU on the Claw will stack up gainst the Ally X under those conditions.

[@srvuk]

Lots of people were asking for this. The MSI CEO, the MSI marketing manager, all the way down to the MSI vending machine refiller.

[@Reaper_1994]

I didn't hear you mention the performance differences between using the handheld mode vs external monitor ONLY (not in duplicated display mode). I see a difference with my OneX eGPU between using the laptop display and only the external display when gaming.

[@mrchrisknight315]

In cyberpunk, what about when you get into cars, I find that's usually when you begin to see issues?

[@dkracingfan2503]

I want love a handheld with thunderbolt 5!

[@Agallx]

Tb4 is plenty right now for most applications, as someone who daily drives an allyx and 4090 that I 'downgraded' from a direct die and fully tuned 7950x3d to.

[@AndreyPetrov-b8t]

Hello, please make same vid just raw, without egpu, just connect to monitor and lets see what it can. Thank you 🙏

[@brandon_raby]

Seriously considering upgrading to the Claw 8 from OG Ally. Any chance you could run the FFXV benchmark and post the results to help me out? It's one of my faves and the OG Ally struggles at 1080p

[@ImaginationToForm]

Toy Story: The Claw!!!

[@GerCompanyMan]

Why not shipped to Europe?

[@paulmercier9342]

Let's see star wars outlaws!

[@cosmicgamingunlimited]

Best iGPU in 2024 so far? There’s only a few days left? What do you know?

[@Havox7]

When running an external GPU i would be most interested in the 1% and 0.1% lows. Average FPS isn't telling us how the experience feels.

[@AndrewCathrow-hk4ke]

The Intel card requires resizable PCI bar, which I don't think you could do over thunderbolt

[@Agallx]

You can, but I doubt it works the same way. Using a proper asmedia usb4 dock, I get rebar and nvidia driver features like rtx video enhancement that werent available on either an old or new intel tb3 dock

[@poketrakun]

with this setup, is the driver you installed are AMD driver? or are you just install both intel and amd driver?

[@tomd7724]

Intel et AMD

[@jaybee-f9x]

Should do a video on gaming at 4K with an egpu setup like this and the best settings as a lot of people have 4K tvs now and I was just gifted a Samsung odyssey 49” oled and I’m having trouble pushing all the pixels w my 3070 egpu+legion go lmao

[@Heavy2Heavy2]

Please test indiana jones with its igpu . Specially with high ray tracing . Appreciate if you do this .

[@Russiangamerpro2021]

I wanna see if you can run on the RTX 4060 with this handheld because I wanna know which one is better the original MSI claw or the other one which is the AI8+

[@tomd7724]

I have the Claw A1M with an egpu th3p4g3 with a rtx 3060ti Score 3dmark Time Spy 10080 Works perfectly I play all games in 1080p high/ultra either on my pc monitor or on the console with a 2 meter thunderbolt4 cable connected to the egpu

[@cthugha76]

You really need to disable the internal screen, and don't use screen mirroring. That's a big no-no with all eGPU setups as it will use bandwidth to send the output back through the Thunderbolt/USB/Oculink connection.

[@Placebo6]

What CPU and GPU would compare in the desktop world?

[@Moe_Lester_fromUptwn]

Wonder how well it runs Returnal at Max settings? Best one yet, though they need to rework the design a little. That dpad especially. Happy Holidays y'all.

[@HuntaKiller91]

Im hopeful for Fsr4 performance to be similar fo fsr2 Quality in image Quality Pair that with afmf2.0 and im sure 9070XT will game easily at 4k120 TVs

[@kontonce89]

i wonder if rebar doesnt work properly over thunderbolt

[@joepascua1264]

Can you use an Nvidia Gpu? With an Aoostar AG02 docking station? I remember you making a video on that Egpu and am curious how it will run, in handheld mode?

[@cristianJoker2512]

what's happening with this cpu? it was maxed out in games , definitely something it's off, it's like it's a 6 core and not 8 core cpu

[@saschapurner9579]

I have a Laptop and a MiniComputer. Both are Strong Units, but the Joke is, the PSUs for them is nearly bigger than the device itself.^^ Looks good and all, but do not forget the PSU Side. Showcase is Showcase...

[@Ben-no7vk]

Do I need to install AMD Radeon graphics drivers? Where was the handheld recognized it after plugging into the Thunderbolt 4 port?

[@TheGoodTheBadTheRowdy]

should I get this or a ally x? Cant decide haha.

[@Agallx]

Neither, CES 2025 is like 2 weeks, and we'll be seeing Z2 Extreme handhelds, probably

[@criznittle968]

how's the native gpu/cpu compare to ROG Ally X gpu and cpu? Are they any better?

[@greendro6410]

Why do this when you can just have a mini gaming pc 😂

[@JaimeeJacobs-l4z]

I’m really impressed with the Claw! It’s awesome to have a gaming device that’s portable yet still packs a punch. Perfect for my on-the-go gaming sessions!

[@draco2xx]

mini gaming pc, wouldn't that be more expensive since you gonna have a custom made powerful gpu that can play max settings plus the cooling system is another expensive solution😂

[@marios.2975]

Pretty much the same performance like my Ally X+ Razor Core X RTC3070ti. 13k Timespy on internal screen. But this Claw has better APU gfx performance. Like 10-15%. I get 3800 Timespy on my Z1 Extreme.

[@TheBigupz]

i'll never understand why this egpus costs as much as the laptop the come with

[@draco2xx]

you're paying for portability, its not just a gpu there are other components. can you plug in a gtx card out the box externally with a power card to a laptop only

[@paulibabba5566]

If Microsoft is smart, this is what their next system should look like

[@erfgthygreas1709]

Hope its better then this. Im sure they will be using the amd z3 extreme chips

[@marticortada1292]

Hey, when ever I connect any handheld with Egpu I can’t turn on cpu boost without crashes, any tips?

[@draco2xx]

what handheld u have, you need to download the amd drivers and update them

[@beforedeth2104]

Could I hook the claw 8 into my rtw 2070 super aio ? I plan to broadcast over 5g 120hz primaryly but if I get better latency directly wired to card that’s in my desktop that be interesting to please lmk

[@JohnWilliams-gy5yc]

The most pathetic thing is that firing its CEO doesn't help 288V get 120Mbps Thunderbolt 5 before M4 Pro. Anyway Intel shareholders should thank AAPL for not supporting eGPU via TB5. Yes, Gabe has all of the potentials to implement TB5 on steamdeck but why would he rock the stagnant water?

[@gsprings43]

I wonder if this would outperform my i7 6700 desktop with 64 gb ddr4 and a Asus RX7600 GPU,,,,the i7 with this GPU does outperform the Ally X which I tried with the same RX7600 on a egpu,,,guess I will find out because I ordered a claw AI 8

[@hoseinmycle3114]

But my choice is asus rog ally x or wait for asus rog ally 2 releaseing👍

[@cadmean-reader]

At this price total, might as well build a pc

[@SneakyCaleb]

Won’t be able to go portable.

[@draco2xx]

can you take the built pc with you in a 16in backpack😂

[@hetmanpolnykoronny1918]

Its pointless to present it with additional GPU.

[@Telzrob]

Sounds like Arc performance is similar to running without resizable bar.

[@LuisPerez-5]

With an iGPU any handheld does 1440p

[@chavissuwanparin3076]

Bro I would rather get the 8 ai and a $1200 gaming laptop instead

[@draco2xx]

whats stopping you😂, dont u think we already know about a cheap pc cost 1200 smart guy. we just prefer this set up, obviously this set up isn't for you

[@patrickcadette]

😁😁😁👍👍👍

[@Russiangamerpro2021]

Why he didn’t read my comment while I actually post a comment about the exact same topic about his product that he’s gonna do on his video and that’s what I said and then there you go exact same question I said most like you just ignore us

[@tomd7724]

??

[@tremorist]

A thousand bucks for an external RX 7800M? ROFL! ROFL! ROFL!

[@draco2xx]

can you plug in a 4090 gtx card gpu out the box externally to your pc, oh by the way imagine buying a phone for 1500🫵😂

[@otcitex]

Day 60 of asking for a gamesir g8 galileo

[@ele.zer0696]

power More Giv. ME. MOOOOOOORE!!!!!

[@itzdcx]

eGPU are way too expensive to be considered practically worth you might as well just buy a real PC at that price But I really want it but it's just too much I'm just gonna financed it when I get the chance

[@tomd7724]

an egpu PCI Ex 4.0 dock costs $200 + any GPU you want

[@itzdcx]

@ dang

[@draco2xx]

but can you play that same pc on the train or on a bus😂😂

[@douubledog4008]

The only onexgpu that is still available is $2,000 Be serious...

[@seppeseppe-jq7nr]

😂😂😂

[@draco2xx]

you can always donate😂❤

[@reryaa]

i'd rather get a gaming laptop and a streaming handheld like ayaneo xD

[@brokernagy9038]

No test cod, cs2, apex, fornite , valorant ??!! Big fail!!! Now all gamer online fps gamer!!

[@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov]

USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 are not the same thing, USB4 is only Thunderbolt 3 equivalent, do not mix them up.

[@hdpredator11143103]

This video is nonsense because for the price of this Claw and an eGPU why wouldn't you just have a desktop or gaming laptop?

[@JaimeeJacobs-l4z]

I see your point, but the Claw's portability is perfect for gamers who want to play anywhere! With a better CPU for performance and an 8” screen versus the 7”, it really stands out!

[@hdpredator11143103]

@JaimeeJacobs-l4z Your point is actually better than mine. When you think about it that way it makes perfect sense.

[@EnochGitongaKimathi]

Imagine if the MSI Claw 8 had Thunderbolt 5. I'm unable to get over Intel Lunar Lake not integrating Thunderbolt 5. It's also sad to see Intel Arc Battlemage not playing nice with eGPUs. I was really hoping for an Intel Handheld paired with a Thunderbolt 5 Intel eGPU. The price of the handhelds and the eGPUs needs to be dramatically reduced.

[@seppeseppe-jq7nr]

Why he use the screen from claw when in gaming too , even my little sister know it lower the fps on extern screen 😂 cmon kewl learn pc tech please

[@draco2xx]

he knows, just showing things from a different perspective. come on dude, he's a very smart tech guy, all you need is a keyboard and a mouse to get around with external mode

[@Yusei255]

Still say the Lenova Legion GO is better.

[@reese112702]

Destiny 2

[@shayan8167]

No intel no Msi, only ASUS & AMD✌ wait for rog ally 2😈

[@KingSlendy]

For even more QC issues just like the Ally and Ally X? No thanks!

[@kongsiavang]

I was thinking the same.

[@Patrick-y4d1z]

I'm more interested in the Lenovo Legion Go 2 with its large OLED screen and 32GB RAM. Better for playing games. Better for multimedia.

[@Saif0412]

​@@KingSlendyQC issues?

[@KingSlendy]

@@Saif0412 for the Ally the SD card reader issue, stick drift. For the Ally X squeaky and loose triggers, squeaky d-pad and loose thumb sticks. They are extremely common issues

[@TrueEasyTech]

you can get laptop with RTX 3070 for about $600 and it will perform much better than this setup:)

[@Jason-mw6qd]

here

[@Coconutgl]

Weak cpu is not good for an e-gpu.

[@Patrick-y4d1z]

The CPU is fine.

[@Coconutgl]

@ The cpu it is just between 12400f to 12700f, it is good for power saving and light gaming with the igpu. However it is weak at other situations including gaming with an egpu, working serious tasks etc, AMD must be a better choice in those cases.

[@AngeloGoth]

@@Coconutgl the CPU is Fine bro. . . just accept the truth

[@Patrick-y4d1z]

@@Coconutgl Which is absolutely fine. You're not running an RTX 4090 at 1080p. And with a 4090 in an eGPU, you'll hit TB4 bottlenecks before a CPU bottleneck. I'm waiting for the Legion Go 2 because I think it's the better design. But stop with the pathetic AMD shilling dude.

[@RemTilak]

Don't fall for MSI, guys. Be clever.

[@ryangaming2402]

First