Currently I am running Nobara + KDE on my old company notebook (HP Zbook 14u) with a 1080p resolution and 40GB RAM. I am using the notebook screen as output because I would like to have a “one cable” solution.
It seems my eGPU (Razer Core + RTX 2070 SUPER) is stuck at PCIe Gen 1 according to nvtop and it also reports that a 4x link is active. This also happens with a AMD Radeon 6900 XT- I also checked if the games are running on the dgpu in both cases.
The reported speed doesn’t change with or without load or if I reduce details and resolutions further and would explain why I am stuck with 20 - 30 FPS in recent games (I tried Baldurs Gate 3 and Warhammer Space Marines 2). There are no hitches or stutter in both games and the framtime are also good according to Mangohud.
What would you suggest to check next? Currently I am preparing a Windows install to see if there are differences or if HP simply cheaped out on the PCIe lanes.
I reseated the card, now the PCie speed is reported correctly in Windows and Linux but the performance didn‘t increase much with both cards - it doesn‘t matter if I use the notebooks display or an external one on the dgpu exclusively.
I suspect HP cheaped out and actually only uses 2 lanes or other bandwidth sharing shenanigans on this TB controller. The USB-C and Thunderbolt were always a bit wonky on this machine when I was using it for work, till the latest few firmware / BIOS upgrades (refusing docking stations, not charging, not detecting certain high-speed USB-C devices or highspeed USB-bridges and adapters etc.)
It’s a bit of a shame, because this machine has a nice form factor. I‘ll test out a Dell XPS from the same generation I used to play MMOs. This generally had much better TB performance but is severely limited by its soldered onboard 8GB RAM. Dell was the only manufacturer at that time which listed the lanes to the TB controller in its specs.
I‘ll most likely get rid of these machines and invest the money into a Minisforum v3 I have been eying for a while.