Best External Graphics Card (UPDATED TODAY)
Best External GPU 2018
Read our eGPU reviews further down this page
| Best eGPU | Latest Price (Amazon) | Interface | Compatibility | OS Support | Card Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best External GPU Razer Core | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | Most* w/TB3 | Windows/OSX* | 12.2” |
| Top GPU Enclosure PowerColor Devil Box | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | All Laptops w/ TB3 | Windows/OSX* | 12.2” |
| Alienware Graphics Amplifier | Check Price | Proprietary Connection | Alienware Only | Windows | Most* |
| Also Great AkiTio Node | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | All Laptops w/ TB3 | Windows/OSX | Most* |
| Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | All Laptops w/ TB3 | Windows/OSX | 12.2” |
| HP Omen Accelerator | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | All Laptops w/ TB3 | Windows/OSX | Most |
| ASUS ROG-XG-STATION-2 | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | All Laptops w/ TB3 | Windows/OSX | "Full-length" |
| Gigabyte AORUS Gaming Box | Check Price | Thunderbolt 3 | All Laptops w/ TB3 | Windows/OSX | Card Pre-installed |
* Most cards are supported with these boxes. The manufacturer(s) only specification is “full-length double-wide cards.” The Razer Core natively only supports Razer products, but users report the enclosure working fine with other, non-Razer TB3 laptops.
* The Razer Core and PowerColor Devil Box show no official support but users have reported enabling functionality through unsupported methods in OSX.
Tired of dealing with sub-optimal frame rates or needing to slide down a few frustrating resolutions on your expensive gaming laptop, just to be able to play that newest AAA title? Ever wonder what budget gaming on the go would be like if you could switch out mobile graphics, the way you may with most desktop systems? If anything along these lines has crossed your mind at some time or the other; you might find what you’re looking for below.
E-GPU enclosures are capable of breathing new life into your laptop, but they aren’t the ultimate solution by a long run. Most modern laptops come outfitted with Thunderbolt 3 or USB Type-C to accommodate E-GPUs to some extent; but only about a handful of older machines, such as mobile workstations and premium gaming laptops would support MPCI or Express-card slots that can be retrofitted to interface with an E-GPU. Even with a Thunderbolt-3 connection (32GBPS), you’re going to experience stunted performance on your E-GPU, compared to your desktop’s PCIE (126gbps) connection; but don’t let this dissuade you from getting a better card as desktop graphics tend to be far more efficient and powerful than their mobile counterparts.
We’ve gathered some of the best consumer-friendly E-GPU enclosures and set them against each other to find out which of their kind would best be worthy of your backpack, with only the greatest making it on to this list. Below, you’ll find the best E-GPU closures of 2017, all stacked into a neat little pile for your viewing pleasure.
Best External Graphics Card 2018
At this point, it’s safe to bet that you know what to look for, but just in case, we’ll go over it one more time.
When buying an External GPU Enclosure, look for one that supports Thunderbolt 3 over USB Type-C, if your laptop supports it. If you only have access to USB 3.0, then do that if you absolutely have to. Note though that this is the last resort, as the bandwidth offered over USB 3.0 is not nearly enough for modern graphics amplifiers.
Buying a product like this can be daunting, what with how many variables there are to ensure you have a comfortable experience. From brand-exclusive enclosures to interfaces and other conditions for compatibility, buying something like this isn’t nearly as simple as buying a new graphics card, computer case or power supply. To help alleviate some of this, we’ve laid out a few product recommendations to get you started.
When you click on “Find Best Price Now” you will be redirected to Amazon.
Top eGPU – Gigabyte AORUS Gaming Box
The Gigabyte AORUS Gaming Box is unique in that it comes with everything you’ll need to get started. I mean everything. After pulling it out of the box, you’ll find that there’s already a GPU installed. It’s a Gigabyte GTX 1070, and it’s already plugged in, into the included PSU. Included in the box is the enclosure, a PSU cable, a carrying case, a Thunderbolt cable, as well as a driver CD. This thing is small, it’s compact, and it’s ready to roll whenever you are. Installation is simple, you don’t have to buy anything extra, and the included GPU is going to be more than capable of playing most anything you could throw at it. Truly, this is an interesting product that will catch the eye of many.
ASUS ROG-XG-STATION-2 External GPU Review
The ASUS ROG-XG-STATION-2 is less of an external GPU enclosure for your laptop, and more like a computer that’s only missing a handful of internals. Boasting a 600W PSU on board, 5x USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet and even an external thunderbolt connector, the ASUS ROG-XG-STATION-2 is a massive overhaul to not only your laptop or tablet’s graphics horsepower but also it’s I/O. While the gamer aesthetic may not be appreciated by many, there’s no argument here that this will transform any device you hook up to it. As mentioned previously, when paired with a good graphics card, this is practically an entirely new computer. It’s no wonder this thing took so long to become available.
External graphics card – HP Omen Review
Unfortunately, not much can be said for HP’s upcoming Omen Accelerator, as it’s yet to be released and not many have had their hands on it. However, HP has been known for their impressive build quality and features at an affordable price, so if we’re to go by instinct, we’re likely in for a good show when the Omen Accelerator finally drops. It shares its aesthetic with HP’s other Omen lineup of products, including their Omen X desktop PCs. According to many news outlets, the Omen Accelerator will offer not only external graphics but also additional I/O, as well as external SSD support.
Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box egpu Review
The Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box is another best egpu on the market that offers impressive build quality, support for a wide range of GPUs, Thunderbolt 3, and comes in at an excellent, affordable price. The blue LED on the front is subtle, but is a nice little touch to add a bit of visual flair to the product. Another nice detail is that the Breakaway Box also comes with a Thunderbolt 3 cable, so you won’t need to buy one separately to get started. With a massive panel for ventilation, you won’t have to worry about your graphics card overheating, Lastly, the enclosure supports Macs, which not many enclosures do.
Alienware Graphics Amplifier Review
The Alienware Graphics Amplifier is well-built, has support for a variety of GPUs, and is relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately, this comes at the price of Alienware opting to use a proprietary connector for the enclosure, which means the device will only be supported on Alienware devices. However, this proprietary connector boasts performance comparable to Thunderbolt 3, so you shouldn’t have to worry about bandwidth issues with any modern GPU.
PowerColor Devil Box Review
The Devil Box by PowerColor is the first external graphics card amplifier not tied to a specific brand. However, this also comes with some downsides. The Devil Box boasts support for many modern GPUs and will work on most — if not all thunderbolt 3 external GPU devices. However, many users report the device being rather loud, very large and it comes with a barrage of headaches when setting it up. However, once you’ve got the device all configured, the experience using it is relatively painless. The enclosure also has a handful of USB 3.0 ports to expand your I/O, and two 2.5” hard drive bays for expanded storage using SSDs or SFF hard drives.The Devil Box will require some disassembly and reassembly to install graphics cards, and many users also report that the firmware needs to be updated in order to function properly. With a price tag of $449, the Devil Box comes in just under the Razer Core. Both in price, and ease of use.
The Devil Box will require some disassembly and reassembly to install graphics cards, and many users also report that the firmware needs to be updated in order to function properly. With a price tag of $449, the Devil Box comes in just under the Razer Core. Both in price, and ease of use.
AkiTio Node Review
You can read our review on the AkiTio Node soon.The AkiTio Node is an interesting product, in that it boasts a very sharp, clean design with minimal branding and works near-seamlessly on both Windows and Mac. Many users report that it simply “works.” Drop in your card, plug it in and download your drivers and you’re off to the races. The Node does not offer expanded I/O, but this helps its case as well. The Node comes in at a very competitive price point of $329, which is $200 less than the Razer Core. Sure, you lose your additional ports, but the Node, unlike the Core, works without issue on most setups. It also uses Thunderbolt 3 ( Thunderbolt 3 external GPU ), which means your graphics card won’t be starved for bandwidth. The only real downside to the Node is that it can often take a long time to ship to the United States. Estimated shipping varies between two and three weeks from date of processed order. This is to be expected with a relatively small and unknown company. This could also be the best egpu easily.
The AkiTio Node is an interesting product, in that it boasts a very sharp, clean design with minimal branding and works near-seamlessly on both Windows and Mac. Many users report that it simply “works.” Drop in your card, plug it in and download your drivers and you’re off to the races. The Node does not offer expanded I/O, but this helps its case as well. The Node comes in at a very competitive price point of $329, which is $200 less than the Razer Core. Sure, you lose your additional ports, but the Node, unlike the Core, works without issue on most setups. It also uses Thunderbolt 3, which means your graphics card won’t be starved for bandwidth. The only real downside to the Node is that it can often take a long time to ship to the United States. Estimated shipping varies between two and three weeks from date of processed order. This is to be expected with a relatively small and unknown company.
Top external video card – Razer Core Review
The Razer Core is an expensive, well-built External GPU Enclosure from Razer that is marketed towards its Razer Blade series of laptops but has compatibility with a wide variety of laptops which support USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3. The enclosure is well-built, supports most if not all modern GPUs, and works on most Thunderbolt 3 laptops. Its main shortcomings are in its finicky drivers and odd software-end issues when used on non-Razer laptops. Also one of the best eGPUs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, whether you’re buying a Razer Core, Alienware Graphics Amplifier, AkiTio Node or a Devil Box, there are many options on the market for you. Razer and Alienware laptops dominate the gaming market, and this means that a majority of customers with high-end laptops are likely to own one of these brands, enabling access to a really nice product that they know will just work. The Devil Box is an experiment by PowerColor to test the waters in the market, but unfortunately, they fall flat on their face when it comes to delivering a headache-free product. This, however, is where AkiTio comes in to save the day. While it’s not as affordable as the Graphics Amplifier by Alienware (which has a price tag of $170) it is much more affordable than the Razer Core or Devil Box, and it’s the only enclosure on our list that stands with glowing reviews, touting how it “just works.”
In the future, as more laptops hit the market with better mobile CPUs for better prices, the market for an external graphics card dock is only going to grow. Here’s hoping.
What is An external gpu for laptop?
Because you’re reading this article, it’s safe to assume that you’re interested in external video cards. Whether you’re a laptop owner and you’re interested in getting more out of your laptop, or you’re on a desktop and are just curious. Regardless of what the case may be, External GPU graphics amplifier rare a really cool concept hindered only by a small market. Below, we’ll go over what they are.
A Brief explanation says “An external gpu for laptop is a box that plugs into your laptop and you can put a graphics card in it” wouldn’t be wrong, but there’s so much more to it than that. The enclosure itself is rather simple —
To say “An External GPU Enclosure is a box that plugs into your laptop and you can put a graphics card in it” wouldn’t be wrong, but there’s so much more to it than that. The enclosure itself is rather simple — usually, they’re just some form of a box with ventilation. Some variants will offer expanded I/O for your laptop. Extra USB ports, HDMI / DisplayPort, SD Card Readers, Ethernet and more. These are intended to act as an aid, as most laptops only have a very small amount of I/O. This is especially true with laptops that offer USB Type-C ports, which we’ll be focusing on a lot more later down in the article.
An External graphics amplifier typically contains these elements: an enclosure for the GPU itself, expanded I/O, ventilation for the card, and sometimes a fan(s) for additional cooling, a standalone PCB for the external graphics card dock to interface with, and a power supply to deliver additional power to the card if necessary. The enclosure will terminate a single cable that will plug into your laptop. These pieces all come together to create a seamless piece of hardware offering an elegant solution to enhance your laptop’s graphical capabilities. Unfortunately, this comes at the price of a few headaches along the way.
Buyers Beware
If the concept of a single box with a single cable to make your laptop much faster sounds too good to be true, you’d be somewhat right. Between inconsistencies between enclosures, only one type of interface really is worth using, and driver issues, not to mention whether or not your laptop even supports the interface, there’s a lot of hoops to jump through before you can get right into picking what enclosure and card you want. That is, of course, unless you’re on a Razer Blade using a Razer Core, or a few Alienware models using an Alienware Graphics Amplifier.
While we’ll go over it in more detail later, it’s worth mentioning now that USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 is the best — and in some respects only way to go when it comes to using an external graphics card dock. The Thunderbolt 3 interface supports data transfers of up to 40Gbps. This is nearly equivalent to PCI-E 3 4x speeds. Anything below this, and you’ll find that your card harshly underperforms. Your framerates will be much lower than they otherwise would be, and in some cases, you might even encounter frame skipping and stutters.
Next, you’re going to want to ensure that your laptop not only has USB Type-C but that it also has Thunderbolt 3 support, which uses the USB Type-C interface. If you have USB Type-C, it might only have SuperSpeed USB support, which is roughly equal to 10gbps bandwidth, or 25% of Thunderbolt 3. There are only a few laptops available with Thunderbolt 3 support as of now, but that should change going into the future.
With all of this said, we have a few tips for you to ensure that your experience is as pleasant as it can be.
Buyer’s Notes:
- Ensure your laptop has USB Type-C support.
- Ensure that your USB Type-C is Thunderbolt 3.
- Note that not all enclosures will work on all systems, and some enclosures claiming to work only on one brand might work on others.
- Ensure the enclosure you purchase uses the Thunderbolt 3 interface.
- An external gpu for laptop might not benefit you if your laptop’s CPU is very old or slow.
- Keeping all of this in mind, your experience as a shopper should be pleasant and painless.
What Type of Graphics Amplifier / eGPU Do I Want?
Above, I tried to drive home how important it is that your enclosure and laptop both support Thunderbolt 3. This is true, but I wanted to take the opportunity to go over a few types of interfaces you’re likely to see while shopping for an enclosure.
USB 3.0
Arguably the worst solution out of all current enclosures, USB 3.0 offers the bare minimum in bandwidth for the GPU: 5gbps. This is the only 1/8th of what is offered on Thunderbolt 3 and is roughly equivalent to PCI-E 2.0 1x speeds. This would simply starve the card for bandwidth and result in an awful experience. That being said, it will be a step up from integrated graphics, so in an absolute bind, it is a possible solution.
USB Type-C
Bear with me here, it’s about to get confusing.
USB Type-C is different than Thunderbolt 3 in that Thunderbolt 3 is an interface which can be adapted into USB Type-C. However, USB Type-C can also be using the SuperSpeed USB interface. This will result in speeds of either 5gbps (same as USB 3.0) or 10gbps, about 25% of the bandwidth possible through Thunderbolt 3. If your enclosure only supports SuperSpeed USB Type-C, you’re going to be limited in the amount of bandwidth your GPU has access to, and this will hurt your experience. However, if the interface is 10gbps and not 5, it won’t be quite as bad.
Thunderbolt 3
It’s important to note that Thunderbolt 3 is not a connector type. It’s actually a type of interface which is often used by USB Type-C. This enables data rates of up to 40gbps, the power delivery of up to 100w, and it can be adapted into many USB ports or other interfaces. Having an enclosure support USB Type-C is important, as this will allow your GPU to have full access to more than enough bandwidth for modern GPUs. This interface can also transfer enough power over Thunderbolt 3 to allow low-power cards to be powered without an additional power supply.
While these explanations are simple and only scratch the surface of the technical background behind these connectors and interfaces, it should give you more than enough information about what to look for when buying an enclosure.
Learn more about GPUs on Wikipedia
You don’t need to read below this—————————— Just an earlier article
The Best External Graphics Card
When you ask people if you like to play on a gaming desktop or a gaming laptop, people are divided. Yes, gaming desktop PCs are much more powerful in specs but best gaming laptops under 1000 are not too far behind. Gaming laptops also give you the ability to play anywhere mainly because of their portability. Some people actually do prefer gaming laptops over gaming rigs because of that reason.
Now, since laptops are already more than capable of playing the high-end games, it still lags a bit behind the desktop gaming rigs. You’re probably asking, “is there a way to improve the graphical performance of my laptop?” Actually, there is a way that you can increase the performance of your laptop and that is via an external graphics card.
What is an External GPU? In this article, I will talk about everything you need to know about external gpu for laptop and why you might need one for your laptop. I will also state some of the best ones out there if you decide to get one for yourself.
So, what are external graphics cards?
Before I recommend some external GPUs to you, let’s talk first what they are. An External graphics card is technically a desktop graphics card that is housed in an enclosure or placed on a board with a PCIe slot and then plugged into your gaming laptop via a cable. This idea actually started as a DIY by many people and it had a lot of drawbacks and hiccups. Not a lot of laptops back then were able to accept the external video card, mainly because of compatibility issues.
Since then, technology has evolved, and we now see external GPUs as a real thing thanks to the introduction of the Thunderbolt 3 connection. This port offers massive speed improvements over its predecessors and that is why using one nowadays is slowly gaining traction and is now considered as a mainstream solution in boosting a laptop’s gaming performance. You see, while it is true that the computer’s RAM and CPU are essential in gaming, no one can deny that the graphics card or the GPU is the most important. It handles all of the graphical load and if you have a rather old GPU (like 3 years old), you may not be able to play high-end games anymore.
Top External graphics card for laptop
Thankfully, some amazing people have created the External GPU solution to help you play games with your aged laptop, provided that it is compatible. More on this later in the article. There are a lot of configurations for gaming laptops but there had to be some compromises. If you want an ultra portable 13-inch laptop, you are going to have a less powerful best gaming laptops under 1000. If you are gunning for a 17-inch laptop, it is quite powerful but at the cost of increased weight.
The middle-ground, 15-inch laptops, were touted to be the ones that will bridge the gap between portability and powerful performance but that is not really the case. There were some 15-inch laptops that had powerful GPUs but they are so noisy and they tend to get really hot. The only way for people, at least back then, to harness greater graphical performance is by buying those really big 17-18-inch laptops.
If you want a laptop that is light but you also want to increase your laptop’s prowess, then there is a way. A more efficient way around that. Using an external video card will increase your gaming laptop’s performance by a lot, though, mileage may vary. Now that you know what external GPU’s are, I am now going to tackle its fundamentals.
Best gaming laptops under 1000 Basics
Now that you know what external graphics card for the laptop is, I am now going to talk about the basics of how to set it up. There are a few things you need in order for this to work, namely:
1.Your laptop
2.A Desktop Graphics Card
3.Another 144hz Monitor (this is optional)
4.The external video card
5.Power Supply
6.Now, it is important to note that mainstream external graphics card for laptop units already have a built-in power supply and you don’t really need an additional monitor. Some people recommend another monitor, though, as you can play on a bigger and better screen. But, the three main ones you should consider is your laptop, the desktop graphics card, and the particular enclosure/board you’re going to use.
Once you’ve acquired the necessary things that you need, here are the steps to have the external GPU up and running on your laptop:
The first thing you need to do is make sure that your laptop is compatible with the external GPU enclosure or board you’re going to use. An external graphics card mac such as the new Razer Core, for example, uses the Thunderbolt port of your laptop. If you do not have a Thunderbolt port, obviously, the Razer Core will not work. There are a lot of resources over the internet wherein you can find if your laptop is compatible with GPU enclosures or not. Make sure to do your research first.
Next, you need to get your desktop graphics card. Before you buy just about any graphics card enclosures out there, make sure you know its dimensions first. You also need to factor in the supported graphics card measurements your external GPU for a laptop can handle. Newer graphics cards tend to be really long. Take a look at the GTX 1080 AMP! Edition by Zotac, it is just a massive card! If you are going for big graphics cards like the one I just mentioned, make sure that it fits your chosen GPU enclosure.
Before you can even use the external graphics card mac it needs to have power. For that, you will need a power supply unit. Some external graphics card for laptop already come with built-in PSUs which you can just plug in directly to the power source but there are some that rely on a dedicated one. You don’t really need a really huge PSU; at least 350-400 watts should be more than adequate. You can even use a 250-watt power supply considering that most modern GPUs are more power efficient than ever before. If you do not know which brand of PSU you should buy, you can buy either from EVGA, Cooler Master, Corsair, Seasonic, just to name a few.
The next thing you do is the actual setting up process. First, if you’re using an external video card, you pull it out from its case to reveal the PCIe slot where you can plug your desktop graphics card in. It will come with screws so just unscrew them first, plug your GPU in, and then securely screw it back again. Next, hook up the necessary power connections to the enclosure or board. If you are using a board (and not an gpu enclosure), you might need to plug the 24-pin ATX power connector in as well. You also need to plug an additional 8-pin PCIe connector to the board and you will need to plug either a 6-pin or 8-pin power connector on your graphics card (some graphics cards may require both of them or some might even require two 6-pin or two 8-pin power connectors).
Finally, plug its cable connector to your laptop. Now, depending on the model board you’re going to use, the cables they use may vary. If you’re going to use the aforementioned Razer Core, you’re going to need a Thunderbolt 3 port as it uses a Thunderbolt 3 connection. Once everything is plugged in, power on the PSU and then turn on your laptop. When everything is setup correctly, it should work!
Note: It is important that you install the latest graphics drivers for your GPU. This will ensure maximum compatibility on the GPU side and you’re also going to be treated with new features, improvements, and bug fixes. If your external video card is not recognized, a driver update should fix it.
A lot of people ask me why the new enclosures now use a Thunderbolt connector as opposed to an HDMI connector used in the previous Best External Graphics Cards. Well, the answer is really simple: Thunderbolt 3 offers more advantages. The Thunderbolt 3 port has a maximum throughput of 40 Gbps bandwidth which means that it can deliver the necessary bandwidth from the enclosure to your laptop. Also, Thunderbolt 3 is a newer technology that will be utilized in the coming years and a lot of people actually like it due to the fact that the connector is reversible.
Also, GPU enclosures are much easier to install as almost everything that you need is already there. The only things missing in the equation are your discrete graphics card and the laptop.
For good measure, visit the external gpu enclosure manufacturer website and download the drivers for the particular external video card which will provide bug fixes as well as improvements and better stability.
Do you really need an external video card?
External GPUs give a compatible laptop some oomph when it comes to performance but the question is, do you really need one? Well, that depends on what you really want. If you’re going to get a 14-inch laptop or any light and portable laptop, you will definitely increase its performance by using one. But, do not expect it to be the best solution as it is still limited in a way.
You see, desktop graphics cards are usually placed in the PCIe x16 slot of the motherboard which gives it a bandwidth of about 128 Gbps. If you are going to use the Thunderbolt 3 connection, you’re only going to be limited to a maximum of 40Gbps, which is not even half of what a PCI x16 slot can give. Despite all of this, there is hope. Technology is ever evolving and since external graphics card enclosure is gaining popularity, they are going to be further developed. This means that in the coming years, we might see an external GPU that is more than capable of delivering the right speeds and power to your laptop.
Now, I am talking about the newer external graphics card enclosures and boards but it is important to note that it requires a Thunderbolt 3 port. Only laptops that are released late last year and this year (2016) have Thunderbolt 3 ports. Which means that if you have an old laptop, you are going to use the older forms of eGPU technology. Truth be told, there are still other GPU enclosure mechanisms out there that require an HDMI port but because of its heavy bandwidth limitation, the eGPU’s performance might be severely hampered. If, however, you have a relatively new laptop that has the said Thunderbolt port, having new eGPU game boxes can really help you boost your laptop’s gaming performance.
Before buying one of the new game boxes, you need to be aware of its connectors. Alienware is currently making new game boxes but they use a proprietary connector which can be a pain to consumers. It is a burden because if you lose the said cable, you cannot replace it readily as you will have to order from the company again. They also tend to be much more expensive than, say, a conventional Thunderbolt 3 cable. So, keep that in mind when you’re considering to get one.
External graphics card Recommendations
Now that you know what an external graphics card is and its fundamentals, I am now going to recommend some of the best ones out there. Do note that the ones I am going to recommend are GPU enclosures because I find them more robust and feature-rich compared to the GPU boards that were prevalent a few years back. Let’s get started with the first recommendation, which is…
Razer Core
Razer used to have its focus on gaming peripherals but they have since ventured into other gaming components as well. Their latest offering is the Razer Core, a nice looking external gpu enclosure that has everything that you need (well, except the GPU). It comes in a matte black finish with prominent air vents on the front. There is a foldable handle that you can pull in order to reveal the inside.
On the left side, you’re going to see the PSU Enhance and on the right side is the PCIe slot where you can plug your desktop graphics card. It also comes with the necessary power connectors to power the entire thing up.
Installing the graphics card is easy as all you’re going to do is unscrew some things, plug your GPU, screw them back in, plug the power connectors, and you’re done. It also comes with its Thunderbolt 3 connector as well. The only thing that people do not like about the Razer Core is its unusually short cable. The included cable has a length of only 20 inches. When asked about this, representatives from Razer said that the longer the cable is, the bigger the chance of signal degradation. Although this is true, the cable could’ve been a little bit longer. 20 inches is not really long and you might have to keep the Razer Core really close to your laptop.
Noise levels are also acceptable. Even with a powerful graphics card like the GTX 980 Ti, the card is under 42 decibels. It is noticeable but it isn’t annoyingly loud. Thermals are also in check thanks to its design and carefully placed air vents. This one also comes with 4 USB 3.0 ports at the back which you can use for your other peripherals (a Razer peripheral, perhaps?).
As of right now, the Razer Core only extensively supports their Razer gaming laptops but with future driver updates, the Razer Core should work on laptops that have the Thunderbolt 3 port. The Razer Core is expensive as it retails for $499. But, knowing that Razer is a company that is dedicated to offering the best to gamers, this product is going to be a solid one.
The Best External Graphics Card
External Graphics Processing Unit or GPU amplifier is a wise addition to your laptop. If you want a portable laptop that is light and you want to increase its graphical power, then the GPU box will get you covered. Yes, they are pricey and you would need to dish out some more money on a desktop graphics card, but think of the positives.
If you buy a desktop graphics card for use in the enclosure, you will find that it will be easier for you to upgrade to a desktop PC at a later time if you so desire. Furthermore, the graphical improvements they bring will surely give that extra kick to your laptop.
GPU enclosures are sturdy and they provide the best possible avenue to improve your laptop’s performance. As mentioned in the early parts of the article, some manufacturers still cannot make an ultra-portable laptop without compromising its gaming performance. This is their way to somehow improve that performance and they sure deliver (provided that you pack it with the right graphics card).
If you ask me, “do I need an External graphics processing unit for my laptop”? I would definitely say yes, especially if you want to play the latest games at really high settings. They do not come cheap but they give your ailing laptop the extra oomph to tackle the newest games.
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