Potentially going overseas for a year or more seeking information on laptops with eGPUs

Hardware Hub Laptops & Netbooks
1

Potentially going overseas for a long period of time can’t really transport my desktop and samsung G9 looking into a mobile solution

I would prefer to get a light-ish laptop (compared to my existing clevo NH55AF or previous P170sm-a, both laptops dense enough to kill someone if it were to fall on them) with an eGPU solution so I can travel light-ish but still work and game at home

I have tried to google the topic but I cannot find a clear answer as to what options are actually viable, Asus have some seemingly proprietary system that just gives a slightly beefier mobile GPU and it seems most if not all eGPU solutions are limited to 4X PCIe anyway

also USB4/thunderbolt or OCuLink?

2

I think oculink has the cheapest enclosures (the one from Minisforum is 100 USD I think) and doesn’t depend on patents.

But you might keep a look on Thunderbolt 5 which supports up to 120 Gbps. As of today there are lots of transitions happening in computing.

3

I’d almost go mini pc at that point,

  • usb4
  • way easier to get the CPU/ram/SSD combo you want
  • Beefier heatsinks and fans if you get the right one
  • Beefier CPU, you aren’t getting 65w on a laptop, like 25 at most
  • Can be powered by egpu through usb4

Just use a wireless keyboard/mouse and a portable monitor, pixio makes a nice one

4

so you are telling me no one has thought of taking a laptop with a high end CPU (such as mine with a (desktop) 3700 capped at 88 watts) take the GPU out (iGPU on the processor or a low end mobile unit) make it either lighter or have more dedicated CPU cooling and leave high end GPU stuff to an external box?

5

well its going to be a few months yet before I hear anything, i’m just doing preliminary “where is the tech at the moment/near future”

when is TB5 more or less expected to be found in laptops?

6

Soon I think. The razed blade 18 has it but defeats the purpose sonce it’s an 18” boat and has a 4090.

And the new m4 pro/max MacBooks…

What is your use case? Will wou be in one location for the year or moving a lot?

7

mostly in one location, I think I will be in one location for about a month before moving to another for the rest of the year

mostly after a laptop I can use on the train and/or when traveling to do general light weight tasks but then do games and similar when at home (hence the interest in eGPUs)

after lugging around a clevo NH55AF for the past four or five years (and before that the 4KG - not including massive power brick that probably added another KG and a half - P170sm-a) I really want something lighter for travel

8

Hmm, if you only intend to game at home I would consider a small gaming build + a travel laptop.

The eGPU market is in a shitty position now, there’s TB3/4 which has been on the same bandwith for basically 8 years, oculink which is mostly implemented in proprietary ways (Asus XG, and some alienware version), and TB5 seems to be around the corner but nothing really available yet…

The proprietary implementations seem really expensive to the point you could build a small gaming system for the price that’s probably more performant. I could only find the Asus XG dock for €2700 and it has a mobile 4090 (approx. desktop 4080 I believe). For that price you can build an ITX system with an x3D CPU and a desktop 4080…

At least those are the options I see. If you can find a good laptop with oculink that’s a great option I think, but I couldn’t really find any.

9

Apple made eGPUs popular then Apple made eGPUs irrelevant.

I’d get a good laptop with a decent discrete GPU. Thunderbolt will probably come as a bonus. It’s the best format for traveling or if you are in a situation where you are temporarily on a place. Mini pcs can be a good idea except external monitors are not that convenient to carry.

10

so basically eGPUs and laptops that support them are in a weird no one cares enough type situation

looks like I might end up having to build a mini system (or putting my existing system in a smaller case somehow)

shame its likely to cost an absolute bomb to ship something like a G9 across the globe, and a G9 costs a bomb anyway ;_;

11

Depending on what you play there are some nice looking laptops with mobile 40 series GPUs out there. If those suffice that’s also an option as @ulzeraj suggests.

IMO you’ll probably want a monitor any way? I couldn’t go back to using a laptop screen at home. But it might be cheaper to get one there (second hand if you can) and sell it off? You’ll likely lose less money than shipping a G9 and back, especially if there might be taxes involved.

12

nah I just kind of imagined that a laptop + eGPU would be easier to get back to my home country when i’m done (and I can buy a monitor to use with it, I will just miss the IMMENSE GIRTH of my G9 - its already got to the point where I feel that 16:9 is too narrow and restrictive, 21:9 is OK though)

but knowing me I will have to ship some things back anyway so perhaps It might be better to get a light laptop and build a small PC