Laptop with external RTX 3090 GPU?

leamspaceman

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I have a laptop with the following spec:

15.6" MSI GS66 Stealth, FHD, 240Hz, i7 10750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe, 6GB RTX 2060, Win10 Home

I'm getting Cyberpunk 2077 to run at Ultra/Psycho settings at 1080p at 60fps connected to my TV via HDMI.

However, I'm wondering what kind of performance upgrade I'd get using an external GPU? I'm considering this:


I am aware that these external GPU's are bottlenecked via the TB3 connection. I'm reading anywhere from 10% to 25%. I'd only be using it for gaming on my TV though so there wouldn't be data back to the laptop, so this would improve the bottleneck.

Anyone have any experience of external GPU's or any idea what I might expect to get? I'd be happy with ray-tracing at 4K and 60fps.
 
I have a laptop with the following spec:

15.6" MSI GS66 Stealth, FHD, 240Hz, i7 10750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe, 6GB RTX 2060, Win10 Home

I'm getting Cyberpunk 2077 to run at Ultra/Psycho settings at 1080p at 60fps connected to my TV via HDMI.

However, I'm wondering what kind of performance upgrade I'd get using an external GPU? I'm considering this:


I am aware that these external GPU's are bottlenecked via the TB3 connection. I'm reading anywhere from 10% to 25%. I'd only be using it for gaming on my TV though so there wouldn't be data back to the laptop, so this would improve the bottleneck.

Anyone have any experience of external GPU's or any idea what I might expect to get? I'd be happy with ray-tracing at 4K and 60fps.
I expect you won't be able to buy that GPu🤣
In all seriousness, you are going to be paying close to £2000 for that GPU, and then additional £500+ for the enclosure, all the play Cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk does look great, but the actual gameplay IMO is average. Story is good. If you are looking at gaming at 4K then I'd look at a complete 3080 system. You might be able to get on this year
 
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Seems like the gaming box linked is £3600. Just buy a proper gaming PC
 
I expect you won't be able to buy that GPu🤣
In all seriousness, you are going to be paying close to £2000 for that GPU, and then additional £500+ for the enclosure, all the play Cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk does look great, but the actual gameplay IMO is average. Story is good. If you are looking at gaming at 4K then I'd look at a complete 3080 system. You might be able to get on this year

Seems like the gaming box linked is £3600. Just buy a proper gaming PC

Errr... I didn't ask for your opinion on CP2077 and didn't say I wanted to JUST play that. I used it as an example as it's a demanding game.

And I have the opportunity to buy the gaming box I linked to for £1900... which is why I've asked for opinions on what the performance might be if I use it. The gaming box IS an enclosure with the 3090 inside. And I have way more money than sense so don't need any financial tips.

But thanks for your 'input'... :rotfl:
 
Errr... I didn't ask for your opinion on CP2077 and didn't say I wanted to JUST play that. I used it as an example.

And I have the opportunity to buy the gaming box I linked to for £1900... which is why I've asked for opinions on what the performance might be if I use it. The gaming box IS an enclosure with the 3090 inside. And I have way more money than sense so don't need any financial tips.

But thanks for your 'input'... :rotfl:
I won't bother in the future then.
As for opinions, if you want hard actual facts why bother asking in this forum when the chances are that nobody has one of the above (expecially since they are as rare as rocking horse poo and ridiculously expensive). I am sure the.likes of guru3d, linustechtips etc etc will give you a full run down of the advantages and disadvantages of such a system (in my opinion, which you clearly don't care about)
 
I won't bother in the future then.

I don't mind you giving input... but keep it relative to the question asked.

If you have any thoughts on what the performance of the external GPU will be like then feel free. If not then mind your business.
 
I don't mind you giving input... but keep it relative to the question asked.

If you have any thoughts on what the performance of the external GPU will be like then feel free. If not then mind your business.
See my edited post.
If you want a run down of the performance, go look at a bench marking website. That product is niche so you'll only probably get opinions on here (which you don't seem to like)
 
I won't bother in the future then.
As for opinions, if you want hard actual facts why bother asking in this forum when the chances are that nobody has one of the above (expecially since they are as rare as rocking horse poo and ridiculously expensive). I am sure the.likes of guru3d, linustechtips etc etc will give you a full run down of the advantages and disadvantages of such a system (in my opinion, which you clearly don't care about)

See my edited post.
If you want a run down of the performance, go look at a bench marking website. That product is niche so you'll only probably get opinions on here (which you don't seem to like)

I don't mind 'opinions'...

But telling me I won't be able to get one when I have the opportunity to, giving your opinion of a game, getting your facts wrong about needing a 3090 and enclosure, getting the RRP wrong (it's £2100 not £3600) and then telling me it's too niche and expensive... NONE of those things are opinions about the question asked in my initial post.

Oh... but you directed me to some sites that might be helpful so that deserves a D+.
 
I don't mind 'opinions'...

But telling me I won't be able to get one when I have the opportunity to, giving your opinion of a game, getting your facts wrong about needing a 3090 and enclosure, getting the RRP wrong (it's £2100 not £3600) and then telling me it's too niche and expensive... NONE of those things are opinions about the question asked in my initial post.

Oh... but you directed me to some sites that might be helpful so that deserves a D+.
Because at the moment 3 series GPUs are really hard to get. But you knew that?
The first 3 searches from Google suggest they are terrible, with regular crashes and performance issues. Only took me a whole 5 seconds to search for that as well which you could have done instead of berating me.

 
Because at the moment 3 series GPUs are really hard to get. But you knew that?
The first 3 searches from Google suggest they are terrible, with regular crashes and performance issues. Only took me a whole 5 seconds to search for that as well which you could have done instead of berating me.


So by your philosophy, nobody should ever ask for others thoughts on anything on here. You should just Google your questions instead???

Availability of series 3 GPU's is not something I asked about in my post. YOU chose to take the 'p' about not being able to get one... I simply told you I had the opportunity to buy one.

Oh yes... and you suggested getting a 'proper' gaming PC. Yeah... that's going to work for me carrying that around and plugging it in with a monitor in Starbucks when they open.

Some people want portable gaming set-ups, which is why they buy laptops and ask about external GPU's.

Nothing you have contributed to this thread is of any use to me. Nothing you've said offers anything relating to the original question I asked.

Anyway...
 
So by your philosophy, nobody should ever ask for others thoughts on anything on here. You should just Google your questions instead???

Availability of series 3 GPU's is not something I asked about in my post. YOU chose to take the 'p' about not being able to get one... I simply told you I had the opportunity to buy one.

Oh yes... and you suggested getting a 'proper' gaming PC. Yeah... that's going to work for me carrying that around and plugging it in with a monitor in Starbucks when they open.

Some people want portable gaming set-ups, which is why they buy laptops and ask about external GPU's.

Nothing you have contributed to this thread is of any use to me. Nothing you've said offers anything relating to the original question I asked.

Anyway...
So my above post with regards to people having issues is no use?
Fair enough 🙄
 
Oh yes... and you suggested getting a 'proper' gaming PC. Yeah... that's going to work for me carrying that around and plugging it in with a monitor in Starbucks when they open.
So you are going to lug the Aorus EGPU around with you?
 
Some people want portable gaming set-ups, which is why they buy laptops and ask about external GPU's.
Here is a thought. You already have a decent gaming laptop for on the move.
Why not spend spend £1900 on a decent gaming PC then? OMG what a genius idea 😲😲😲😲
 
I don't have one of these either but all the reviews from the last few years regarding this type of tech always come back to it being a good idea only if you have a very very niche set of requirements.

CONS
Cost is massively more than it gaming in other ways to the same level.
Performance is lower than the card in the bay, sometime a lot lower.
Compatibility on what works is lower, some games become very unstable.
Can be noisy - in public that might be more of a concern as well if thats your use case.
Its not really portable - it of course needs a plug socket which there may be in a coffee shop but I would be worried about lugging it around personally - again that's just me.

PROS
you can have a very portable laptop to carry around with you and get proper gaming when your at home.

I think a lot of the thinking is that buying a more exspenive gaming laptop is a better idea but of course that no use when you already have one - is there an option to sell what you have got and use the combine cash to buy a veyr powerfull gaming laptop ? Just a consideration.

If you can get one for £1900 with a genuine branded 3090 in it thats a good price for it - check what card it contains before you purchase would be my advice as that price is wandering into too good to be true territory. Also be prepared for some additional work getting things to work as this is likely to be something that will happen and your working in a very small world of users so getting support on places like this would be harder.

Personally I work in IT and if I do say so myself am very technical and I wouldnt want one unless I won the lottery and didnt care about money and wanted to see how it worked for a laugh as when it has issues your on your own and I could stop using it then.
 
I don't have one of these either but all the reviews from the last few years regarding this type of tech always come back to it being a good idea only if you have a very very niche set of requirements.

CONS
Cost is massively more than it gaming in other ways to the same level.
Performance is lower than the card in the bay, sometime a lot lower.
Compatibility on what works is lower, some games become very unstable.
Can be noisy - in public that might be more of a concern as well if thats your use case.
Its not really portable - it of course needs a plug socket which there may be in a coffee shop but I would be worried about lugging it around personally - again that's just me.

PROS
you can have a very portable laptop to carry around with you and get proper gaming when your at home.

I think a lot of the thinking is that buying a more exspenive gaming laptop is a better idea but of course that no use when you already have one - is there an option to sell what you have got and use the combine cash to buy a veyr powerfull gaming laptop ? Just a consideration.

If you can get one for £1900 with a genuine branded 3090 in it thats a good price for it - check what card it contains before you purchase would be my advice as that price is wandering into too good to be true territory. Also be prepared for some additional work getting things to work as this is likely to be something that will happen and your working in a very small world of users so getting support on places like this would be harder.

Personally I work in IT and if I do say so myself am very technical and I wouldnt want one unless I won the lottery and didnt care about money and wanted to see how it worked for a laugh as when it didnt your on your own.
All valid points. The GPU is built in (so it cannot be swapped out by the looks of it) which brings me back to:
you are going to be paying close to £2000 for that GPU, and then additional £500+ for the enclosure
In 3 years time when the GPU is starting to show its age, you are stuck with it as it doesn't seem to be removable (it doesn't use standard PCI power pins). At least with a separate enclosure and GPU you can upgrade the GPU
 
I don't have one of these either but all the reviews from the last few years regarding this type of tech always come back to it being a good idea only if you have a very very niche set of requirements.

CONS
Cost is massively more than it gaming in other ways to the same level.
Performance is lower than the card in the bay, sometime a lot lower.
Compatibility on what works is lower, some games become very unstable.
Can be noisy - in public that might be more of a concern as well if thats your use case.
Its not really portable - it of course needs a plug socket which there may be in a coffee shop but I would be worried about lugging it around personally - again that's just me.

PROS
you can have a very portable laptop to carry around with you and get proper gaming when your at home.

I think a lot of the thinking is that buying a more exspenive gaming laptop is a better idea but of course that no use when you already have one - is there an option to sell what you have got and use the combine cash to buy a veyr powerfull gaming laptop ? Just a consideration.

If you can get one for £1900 with a genuine branded 3090 in it thats a good price for it - check what card it contains before you purchase would be my advice as that price is wandering into too good to be true territory. Also be prepared for some additional work getting things to work as this is likely to be something that will happen and your working in a very small world of users so getting support on places like this would be harder.

Personally I work in IT and if I do say so myself am very technical and I wouldnt want one unless I won the lottery and didnt care about money and wanted to see how it worked for a laugh as when it has issues your on your own and I could stop using it then.
Hey... thanks for the really useful post.

Yes, it's a genuine product and everything about it checks out so far... including confirmation of purchase from the original retail outlet. Obviously I'd delve further before parting with any money.

Some good pros and cons to consider there regarding external GPU's in general... which is what I was after... many thanks. It's pretty obvious to me that you're technically proficient enough to comment on my queries.

My main concern is the performance drop with an external GPU from the use of TB3? Lots of differing opinions on what it actually is percentage wise? I was going to go for the 3080 version of the Aorus which is expected in early April, but then this 3090 version came up...

Cheers...
 
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@Delvey

Can I ask you politely not to comment further on this thread? I'd appreciate that a lot.

Many thanks...
 
I’m still trying to work out why exactly you would want to take a ridiculous 4kg box of a PC with you to a Starbucks?, you’ll get some right stares carting that thing around that’s for sure.

But then I’ve no clue why anyone would want to play games in a coffee shop in the first place, a loud distracting environment full of people, with food and drink around sounds like a nightmare.
 
I’m still trying to work out why exactly you would want to take a ridiculous 4kg box of a PC with you to a Starbucks?, you’ll get some right stares carting that thing around that’s for sure.

But then I’ve no clue why anyone would want to play games in a coffee shop in the first place, a loud distracting environment full of people, with food and drink around sounds like a nightmare.
I couldn't care less who stares. If they do I'll ask "What are you staring at?" And why I want to do it is my affair. So I'd give up trying to work it out. One person's nightmare is another persons dream... you know nothing about my circumstances and I've not asked anyone to comment on them.

As I keep repeating... I've asked a question about how these external GPU's perform and if anyone has any experience of using them. That's all I'm interested in... not price, not whether it's a waste of money, not what other people's reactions will be.

I haven't asked anywhere for anyone's opinion about where I want to use it, why I want to use it and what will other people who see me using it think...

The title of the thread isn't:

'Laptop with external RTX 3090 GPU - What will people think of me when they see me using it? Is it too expensive? Where and when can I get one? What do you think of CP2077 as a game? Is it too heavy to carry around? Is Starbucks an ideal place to game?'

The only person who gets it is @Fe_man2000 which is why they've offered the most constructive advice.

Apart from those comments, all this threads has done is added two more people to my ignore list.
 
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@Delvey

Can I ask you politely not to comment further on this thread? I'd appreciate that a lot.

Many thanks...
No problem. It is clear you don't want any proper advice on the matter. I look forward to the "My Aorus has died, the retailer won't do anything because I've bought it second hand" in a few months.
 
No problem. It is clear you don't want any proper advice on the matter. I look forward to the "My Aorus has died, the retailer won't do anything because I've bought it second hand" in a few months.

He does have one thing spot on, I completely agree with his initial assessment that he has more money than sense!.
 
It just goes to show that those who claim to be knowledgeable simply don't have a clue much of the time... and don't read posts properly.

If you read my original post then you'd have seen the spec of my laptop. It's FHD... not UHD. I also stated that I'd use the EGPU at home connected to my TV.

So I dropped in the comment about using the EGPU at Starbucks in to see if certain posters would comment... quite rightly, that "you said you want the EGPU for 4K gaming on your TV at home. If you use it with your laptop in a coffee shop you'll only ever get 1080p as your laptop is only FHD capable" followed by lots of laughing emoji's. You'd have been well within your rights to point out such a glaring oversight.

But nobody spotted that pretty obvious technical issue... and the fact that using an EGPU with just a laptop throttles performance even more as the TB3 link has to pass data both ways. Again, I mentioned that in my original post.

So I'm wondering why one member is surprised not to be taken seriously?

That same member assumed I couldn't actually get the EGPU, thought it was a GPU and separate enclosure bought separately, got the RRP of the item wrong and gave me their short review of CP2077???

Hardly a ringing endorsement of their technical expertise.

The other day I posted on another forum about investing £4K. The amount of people who actually answered the question was small. Most were people asking things like "How the hell have you got £4K savings?"... "Why don't you buy XYZ with it?"... "I bet you've done XYZ to amass that much money?"

Nobody answering the actual question... just making assumptions about things that were not even asked about.

Same in this thread.
 
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Lets get some things straightened up shall we. First
getting the RRP wrong (it's £2100 not £3600)

Point me to a reputable retailer (because that is what the RR stands for) that is selling the item you posted for £2100? Nobody has stock, and my £3600 came from here

It is clear you do not understand the current GPU market. The 3080 released with a RRP of £650. Only one after market manufacturer (Asus) sold a card for that price. Nobody else, apart from Nvidia, some a card for £650. Subsequently, Asus now sell that model for £900. Why?
Demand.
Demand for the new 3 series cards is ridiculous, due to the performance of the cards (the 3070 performs nearly on bar as the 2080ti, which cost 4 times the amount on release) and lack of supply.
The 3090 RRP is £1400, but nobody (apart from Nvidia) is selling a 3090 for £1400. An aftermarket board will cost you £1600.
A similar style board to what you have listed (with a built in water cooler) will cost you at least £2000 (remember, the RRP is £1400). Which takes me onto my next point.

The GPU housed in that case is similar (yet not identical) to the below

And for comparison, a sold listing


So why would somebody sell it to you for £1900? They could sell it for £2500 on ebay. But then if it is faulty, they would have to refund the buyer.
The post I listed above
Because at the moment 3 series GPUs are really hard to get. But you knew that?
The first 3 searches from Google suggest they are terrible, with regular crashes and performance issues. Only took me a whole 5 seconds to search for that as well which you could have done instead of berating me.


Points to the item you listed being plagued with issues. Factor in that you will have no warranty on the item (Gigabyte warranty is non-transferable, and retailers will only deal with the original purchaser) and you will need to rely on the person you are buying from, I would not touch that it with a barge pole.
If you are dead set on using an EGPU, I would buy a separate enclosure and standalone GPU (such as).
1616662249748.png
You will have full warranty, and you can upgrade the GPU in the future (the one you listed isn't upgradeable by the looks of it), or get a new one Gigabyte AORUS RTX 3080 GAMING BOX NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB GDDR6X

Alternatively, look at a small form factor PC. Something like this is a similar size to the EGPU

The 3080 is about 15% slower than the 3090, but you would lose that using an EGPU. You will have full warranty and in 5 years time, can buy a new GPU and slot it straight in.

Hopefully the above reply is "technical" enough for you
 
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It just goes to show that those who claim to be knowledgeable simply don't have a clue much of the time... and don't read posts properly.

If you read my original post then you'd have seen the spec of my laptop. It's FHD... not UHD. I also stated that I'd use the EGPU at home connected to my TV.

So I dropped in the comment about using the EGPU at Starbucks in to see if certain posters would comment... quite rightly, that "you said you want the EGPU for 4K gaming on your TV at home. If you use it with your laptop in a coffee shop you'll only ever get 1080p as your laptop is only FHD capable" followed by lots of laughing emoji's. You'd have been well within your rights to point out such a glaring oversight.
So basically you are being a sarcastic ass?
If the only aim you have is to game at home, then spend £2000 on a 3080 gaming PC. The 3090 is only 15% quicker than the 3080 which you'll lose with an EGPU anyway
 

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