Is there anything special about Razers External GPU?

Is there anything special about Razers external GPU or are they ALL the same. I know over on Windows Central they used a razer external GPU on an XPS 15 notebook and it worked great. Do I have to buy the razer to do this mini hack, or can I use another type?

 

As with most things Razer, It's quite overpriced. 500$ for a case and mediocre power supply. The Gigabyte Aorus model is a better option by far being 2x cheaper and having the exact same functionality.

 

The core is certainly overpriced and V1 had issues with the USB hub, where peripherals connected to it would disconnect. V2 supposedly fixes this. As @don_svetlio mentioned, the aorus gaming box has the best value because it already comes with a GTX1070 or a GTX1080 (soon), but keep in mind these are the mini cards, so you can´t put a 1080Ti in there if you want.
The other options, Akitio Node and Sonnet eGFX are better priced than the Core, but they don´t have a USB hub. The Akitio Node has a crappy power supply, which can be replaced in the future....the Sonnet has a good quality power supply and good fan too.

 

All this talk about ext GPU is just that show talk but if you wanted a powerhouse - they money spent on a bare-bones laptop and a ext GPU would better put forward to a Gaming specs laptop with a power GPU that way you have the work horse when needed and plus all that extra bulk come at $$Cost and Weight and if you want a Laptop with Power to spare on the road forget about taking that eGPU with you. This is all for show when you can spend that money on a laptop with the power inside of it to do all the work and if you wanted more just get a Desktop with a workhorse GPU and that will cover the needs when needed. All eGPU is make money for those companies but in terms of portability that is a no and laptop was meant to be used on the road and have all your needs in one place not two. If you factor all the cost for laptop and eGPU that would've gotten you a generous workhorse laptop that would more then suffice since some are 1060 to 1080 GPU built in and some can be upgraded GPU. So I myself would spend more on a laptop with GPU that can be upgraded at later time to more workhorse when I need it. IMHO-eGPU is gimmick selling tool.

 

I agree, the eGPU is setup is not really meant for travelling, it is to be able to game when at home with a ultrabook....so the best value is really to have a gaming PC at home. Even a gaming laptop is not worth it, upgradable or not, it is not cost effective, unless one is looking for a machine to game on the go (portable).

 

I just want to have one computer, to do most everything on. So my question is, there is a hack for the xps 15, and I assume for the 2 in 1 13" as well. I want to know does it matter if the hack was performed using the razer or not? if not, that's cool. If so, so be it. I want my small lightweight 2 in 1 to use while travelling etc...but when I get home, I want to plug in my egpu and play some games. I don't care if a dedicated device would be better...Would any eGPU work?

 

Any eGPU would work, but keep in mind that the XPS 15 doesn´t have full performance on the thunderbolt 3, so the performance hit can be bigger than usual.

 

Indeed. I believe the usual hit is about 20% whereas the XPS models suffer a good 30-40% or so since it only has 2 PCIe lanes available.

 

Thanks Vistar,

I am going to give it whirl. Oh..quell surprise....another xps "issue" from don. how about we point out all the short comings of most every ASUS product I have owned? shall we?

 

I'm literally trying to give you a heads-up on a potential limitation. If all you want is to pick a fight, so be it. Ignore my posts. But don't say nobody told you that the TB3 interface on the XPS machines is sliced in half.

 

YEP. I am not trying to pick fights...Im just trying to prove my point that you have a pickle up your )&S about the XPS. Fine, you don't like it....however...MANY MANY people do and it WORKS FINE. so please try to give it a rest. Daniel over on WC did this exact thing and got a GREAT increase in the performance of games. Your constant bashing of anything XPS is getting quite old.

 

Since when is stating facts bashing? Seriously, calm down. The TB3 interface is limited by design and thus slower than it should be. Sad but true.

 

Unless the XPS amended its criticisms then I dont see why people cant state its criticisms?

Personally I steer clear of Dells lineup, but if I do get interest I look at the model in question and not specifically its brand.

eGPU needs bandwidth, if the XPS has less of it, then it hardly makes it viable in that particular regard. Just depends on how much of a priority that attribute weighs to you, with the price point of the core, it raises obvious concerns about alternative options.

 

-SIGH-

Your fully aggroed dude, it doesn't seem like you desire a sensible debate on the subject since your taking criticism of the laptop I guess you may own as criticism of yourself.

 

I know what you're thinking. "Did he delete six posts or only five?"

Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself.

But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful moderation tool the world, and would blow your post clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?

Well, do ya, punk?

 

@kojack XPS15 indeed has only 2x pcie lanes connected to Thunderbolt, instead of 4x. So do some other wonderful machines, e.g. Lenovo Yoga 720 15. This engineering decision will limit eGPU performance, especially on high resolutions - there's no way around it.

 

I 100 Percent understand that, However, That is not what I asked about, Nor, is anything else regarding the xps....I asked about. All I asked about is that is there anything special about the razer GPU box compared to any other unit. The "hack" works on the XPS devices, and you get a great bump in gaming performance with it. I don't game alot....mainly I want to play the Forza series....

 

So pointing out that the XPS 15's TB3 interface is unable to provide maximum performance in a thread about eGPUs with the XPS 15 is not on topic? Okay....

 

Anyways....Lets try it this way...if I was hooking up a crappy asus laptop...say a GL502VT, is there any difference in GPUS no? thought so....

 

Was that supposed to somehow make me angry/upset/triggered? Sorry, I don't identify with my laptop. The 502VT has no TB3 port available so eGPU is not possible. But with the bandwidth limitations on devices , I don't see much point in eGPU as a whole. The 4x TB3 already limits performance notably and with the 2x connection of other devices such as the XPS models there's even less point since you're not going to get nowhere near the full performance of a higher-end card. It's a shame really. A high-end device with crippled TB3 ports. The only half-decent solutions are usually proprietary ones such as the AW AMP or the MSI box-thing.

 

Not to mention the two laptops arent for the same market to begin with iirc

 

I'd say it is iGPU-only notebooks that really profit from eGPU; they also usually have 4x TB3 if any.