Your best eGPU & Laptop solution

Hi there eGPU-experts!

I've been looking over my options for some time now but I would like some expert input on this matter.

I'm wondering what your absolute ideal combination for portable, high end gaming would be.

I'm looking for options which doesn't require an external display!

What eGPU-case (That supports the heaviest GPU) along with which connector (Thunderbolt or ExpressCard, whichever one that suffers the least performance loss due to slow transferring, obviously )

What laptop with a CPU that doesn't bottleneck my high GPU demand.

I need a solution that makes using the internal display possible, such as Nvidia Optimus.

And last but not least which graphics card would you use.

Thank you very very much!

Best regards,

Max Johnsson

 

I have been using a vidock 2 enclosure plus an atx power supply to power initially a 8800gt (for testing purposes) and a gtx 560 since. I can't recommend that you buy a vidock 2, because I got one for a mere 100€s and I don't think it is possible to find them at this price point anymore, so your best bet is to purchase a diy kit from hwtools.

As far as the power supply is concerned, obviouly this kind of setup is not well suited for portable use so I have decided to go with a dell da-2 power supply off of ebay, using it to connect to an atx 20-pin power extension cable and rerouting the wires at one end to a pci-express male connector that i intend to cannibalize from parts lying around. Finally I will use a 6 pin to dual 6 pin y-cable to connect to the two power inputs of the graphics card. With the vidock power supply providing 75W on the pci-express slot, I assume that the power draw will not push the two power supplies and the cables.

Alternatively, a shuttle xpc psu around 300W can be used as it is quite small and light compared to regular desktop power supplies while it comes with most of the required connectors and the rest can be achieved through adapters.

edit - I just remembered that you were also asking for a laptop. am using a T520 with 8 gigs of memory and from day one, it was a hassle free experience on the laptop side. I suppose that this also goes for current thinkpad T & X series laptops.

 

do the ones sold by these guys work?
Village Instruments : ViDock

 

Yes, they do work but $300 for a 225W unit is pretty expensive. When they were still available, I bought a Vidock 2 new, for around $120 and have spent $50 on other items of which I am still waiting for some to arrive but when it's all said and done, $170 will give me enough room and juice to power a 290W gpu. You might want to wait for a couple weeks, during which I expect to have assembled and tested a configuration which is powered by a used dell external power supply (DA-2) which is cheap and easy to find on ebay. It would still save you some money and give you much more power even if you decide to buy a vidock.