As a Dan A4 owner, I'm absolutely crying at the size and emptyness of that box!! What an utter waste of space. You can get a whole PC in there, negating the need for an external GPU in the first place.
(yeah yeah, I get it, it's for laptops... just build an SFF PC)
I wonder if you could hook up a laptop to a gaming PC. Then, use Laptop keyboard, mouse and display as peripherals. I suppose the laptop would have to accept HDMI or DP as input, and I also suppose few if any do that?
Remote Desktop has a bit of trouble with DirectX and though the latency is a lot lower than something like VNC, it isn't intended as a solution for pushing a game's graphics over a network. Steam in-home streaming is a much better option for a local situation like that and you can use it rather effectively with non-Steam games by just adding them to Steam manually. You can also toss in programs like Windows Explorer or the components of an office suite to do something productive via Steam as well. In the end though, I do agree that remote access to a gaming PC from another PC is a layer of complexity that isn't typically necessary although you can, at least in theory, run a headless gaming desktop that way.
Steam has a built in game streaming solution that works perfectly for this. You don't need Windows Remote Desktop. You just use Steam's game streaming.
I wanted such a thing and couldn't find it. I enjoy the laptop form-factor for playing games in my comfy chair in my living room (and no, for the last time, I don't want to use my tv, I use that for other things).
In the end, I had to make it myself. Grabbed a dead laptop off ebay, ripped out the guts, and replaced it w/ a Chinese board off ebay that could drive laptop lcd panels from a DP connection. Made my own usb keyboard controller using a Teensy. Even added a class D amp + USB audio to drive the laptop speakers (which sounded like garbage until I used a calibration mic + Equalizer APO to clean it up).
...enjoy the laptop form-factor for playing games in my comfy chair in my living room, but got tired of the ridiculous markup (and simultaneous lack of performance) on gaming laptops. And I don't care about portability, just "lap-ability" (moving it from a table to my lap, and back).
I get what you mean, I'd love to build a ghost S1 to acquire video on set and then going back home, plug the eGFX and do the editing/color grade on a proper machine with 2 gpu
Once I saw that the testing was the same GPU with radically different processors, in terms of TDP, it was pretty obvious how the bench marking would turn out. I'd be far more interested in seeing something like different GPUs say RX 560, RX 580, GTX1080ti, the same system connected through internal pcie and then again with eGPU. I don't really care whether such configurations are realistic. I'm just really curious if there are factors like latency and bandwidth involved and how that scales with different levels of GPU performance.
Interesting review, but I missed two points I'd like to know. 1. Would have loved to see how this enclosure works with any recent, decent NVIDIA card, so a 970 or better/newer. You didn't have one around for that? Doesn't have to be the whole test suite, just some highlights and whether it was any more or less painful to get up and running. 2. Would have loved to see an internal vs. external dGPU apples-to-apples comparison using the exactly same system with the same CPU, mobo, memory etc. so a true card outside (eGPU) vs. the card(s) inside the PCI-e 8x or 16x slot. Basically, how big is the loss of performance over TB3/4 lanes, all other things being equal? If possible, with the 56 Nano and any NVIDIA card you have lying around. That would have given us a quick heads-up on what to expect.
Not sure I understand the request for an NVidia card. Have you experienced problems with NVidia cards inside eGPU enclosures? If you're just interested in bandwidth issues, the Vega 56 is going to show that problem much earlier than the 970 given it's 2x performance advantage.
No, I haven't. But, with eGPUs still being new-ish, just knowing that this enclosure plays nice with at least one NVIDIA card also would be good to know. I agree that the 970 has lower bandwidth demand than the Vega 56. I mentioned it only as a minimum if tested. What would be more interesting would be a 2070 or better, but not many reviewers have a spare 2070 or 2080 sitting around.
I really wish more of these eGPU enclosures would come with an internal SATA bay or two and an HDMI port. I want a gaming dock, dagnammit, and I don't need to be carting around my Steam library when I'm out and about.
I highly recommend the Gigabyte Gaming Box series. They can be had in 1080, 1070, and RX 580 (8GB) varieties. They are small, have 3.0 ports, display ports, and I believe an HDMI port as well. I am extremely happy with mine.
Do NOT buy a used one on Amazon, regardless of the condition! Only get a new one. I don't think the testing validation is very thorough at all. They plug it in, it lights up, and I imaging they call it good or "like new" when that happens, and resell it. I am 0 for 2 on used eGPUs, but my new RX 580 Gaming Box is excellent. I'm surprised Anand didn't mention them in this article. It addresses some of the minor gripes of most eGPUs - especially their large sizes.
Thanks Ganesh, great review. I've been very curious about the importance of the host system's TDP because of my interest in attaching a Surface Pro to an eGPU (in the perfect future where Microsoft finally caves on USB-C and TB). Looks like some games and benchmarks definitely need some CPU help, but a 30% average hit compared to a desktop with an internal GPU is not bad!
The fact that the Vega 56 throttled to avoid over heating shows one of the shortcomings of this box - not enough ventilation. A pair of larger vents/fans is definitely in order, especially if the manufacturer seems to think the enclosure should be okay with higher-end cards. Having only an 80 mm and a 40 mm fan won't do, unless you game in a meatlocker, and that gets old fast.
The GPU performance might be a problem inherent to the card rather than the enclosure. We are talking about a small form factor Vega 56 so it would be interesting to get the same thermal analysis with that specific card inside a desktop case.
It would be interesting to test this eGPU with the new mac mini as it was designed with an eGPU in mind and has a desktop CPU in it - even dual booting into Windows.
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OolonCaluphid - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
As a Dan A4 owner, I'm absolutely crying at the size and emptyness of that box!! What an utter waste of space. You can get a whole PC in there, negating the need for an external GPU in the first place.(yeah yeah, I get it, it's for laptops... just build an SFF PC)
Reflex - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
I also have a Dan A4-SFX and that was exactly my first thought! And for about the same price no less!hansmuff - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
I wonder if you could hook up a laptop to a gaming PC. Then, use Laptop keyboard, mouse and display as peripherals. I suppose the laptop would have to accept HDMI or DP as input, and I also suppose few if any do that?DanNeely - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
You're making it too complicated. No need for special hardware functions, when you could remote desktop/etc into a desktop from your laptop.PeachNCream - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
Remote Desktop has a bit of trouble with DirectX and though the latency is a lot lower than something like VNC, it isn't intended as a solution for pushing a game's graphics over a network. Steam in-home streaming is a much better option for a local situation like that and you can use it rather effectively with non-Steam games by just adding them to Steam manually. You can also toss in programs like Windows Explorer or the components of an office suite to do something productive via Steam as well. In the end though, I do agree that remote access to a gaming PC from another PC is a layer of complexity that isn't typically necessary although you can, at least in theory, run a headless gaming desktop that way.WinterCharm - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Steam has a built in game streaming solution that works perfectly for this. You don't need Windows Remote Desktop. You just use Steam's game streaming.29a - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
Steam does what you want.JoeTheDestroyr - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
I wanted such a thing and couldn't find it. I enjoy the laptop form-factor for playing games in my comfy chair in my living room (and no, for the last time, I don't want to use my tv, I use that for other things).In the end, I had to make it myself. Grabbed a dead laptop off ebay, ripped out the guts, and replaced it w/ a Chinese board off ebay that could drive laptop lcd panels from a DP connection. Made my own usb keyboard controller using a Teensy. Even added a class D amp + USB audio to drive the laptop speakers (which sounded like garbage until I used a calibration mic + Equalizer APO to clean it up).
JoeTheDestroyr - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
Stupid no edit:...enjoy the laptop form-factor for playing games in my comfy chair in my living room, but got tired of the ridiculous markup (and simultaneous lack of performance) on gaming laptops. And I don't care about portability, just "lap-ability" (moving it from a table to my lap, and back).
watersb - Friday, February 15, 2019 - link
Dang. That sounds like my kind of game. :-)piroroadkill - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
I have no idea how manufacturers continue to make external GPU boxes larger than the Dan A4-SFX, which can hold an entire PC.umano - Sunday, February 17, 2019 - link
I get what you mean, I'd love to build a ghost S1 to acquire video on set and then going back home, plug the eGFX and do the editing/color grade on a proper machine with 2 gpuGNUminex_l_cowsay - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
Once I saw that the testing was the same GPU with radically different processors, in terms of TDP, it was pretty obvious how the bench marking would turn out. I'd be far more interested in seeing something like different GPUs say RX 560, RX 580, GTX1080ti, the same system connected through internal pcie and then again with eGPU. I don't really care whether such configurations are realistic. I'm just really curious if there are factors like latency and bandwidth involved and how that scales with different levels of GPU performance.BushLin - Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - link
I would have been happy with just one system tested with the same GPU internally 16x against using the eGPU at 4x.eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
Interesting review, but I missed two points I'd like to know.1. Would have loved to see how this enclosure works with any recent, decent NVIDIA card, so a 970 or better/newer. You didn't have one around for that? Doesn't have to be the whole test suite, just some highlights and whether it was any more or less painful to get up and running.
2. Would have loved to see an internal vs. external dGPU apples-to-apples comparison using the exactly same system with the same CPU, mobo, memory etc. so a true card outside (eGPU) vs. the card(s) inside the PCI-e 8x or 16x slot. Basically, how big is the loss of performance over TB3/4 lanes, all other things being equal? If possible, with the 56 Nano and any NVIDIA card you have lying around. That would have given us a quick heads-up on what to expect.
sorten - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
Not sure I understand the request for an NVidia card. Have you experienced problems with NVidia cards inside eGPU enclosures? If you're just interested in bandwidth issues, the Vega 56 is going to show that problem much earlier than the 970 given it's 2x performance advantage.eastcoast_pete - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
No, I haven't. But, with eGPUs still being new-ish, just knowing that this enclosure plays nice with at least one NVIDIA card also would be good to know. I agree that the 970 has lower bandwidth demand than the Vega 56. I mentioned it only as a minimum if tested. What would be more interesting would be a 2070 or better, but not many reviewers have a spare 2070 or 2080 sitting around.dave_the_nerd - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
I really wish more of these eGPU enclosures would come with an internal SATA bay or two and an HDMI port. I want a gaming dock, dagnammit, and I don't need to be carting around my Steam library when I'm out and about.SirKronan - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
I highly recommend the Gigabyte Gaming Box series. They can be had in 1080, 1070, and RX 580 (8GB) varieties. They are small, have 3.0 ports, display ports, and I believe an HDMI port as well. I am extremely happy with mine.Do NOT buy a used one on Amazon, regardless of the condition! Only get a new one. I don't think the testing validation is very thorough at all. They plug it in, it lights up, and I imaging they call it good or "like new" when that happens, and resell it. I am 0 for 2 on used eGPUs, but my new RX 580 Gaming Box is excellent. I'm surprised Anand didn't mention them in this article. It addresses some of the minor gripes of most eGPUs - especially their large sizes.
Fiebre - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
I'd be really interested to see results with more modern GPUs as well.Sunday Afternoon - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
This is a version of the Mantiz Venus by another name. Here's a quiet mod that I did: https://egpu.io/forums/builds/2017-2018-15-macbook...sorten - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
Thanks Ganesh, great review. I've been very curious about the importance of the host system's TDP because of my interest in attaching a Surface Pro to an eGPU (in the perfect future where Microsoft finally caves on USB-C and TB). Looks like some games and benchmarks definitely need some CPU help, but a 30% average hit compared to a desktop with an internal GPU is not bad!eastcoast_pete - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
The fact that the Vega 56 throttled to avoid over heating shows one of the shortcomings of this box - not enough ventilation. A pair of larger vents/fans is definitely in order, especially if the manufacturer seems to think the enclosure should be okay with higher-end cards. Having only an 80 mm and a 40 mm fan won't do, unless you game in a meatlocker, and that gets old fast.PeachNCream - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
The GPU performance might be a problem inherent to the card rather than the enclosure. We are talking about a small form factor Vega 56 so it would be interesting to get the same thermal analysis with that specific card inside a desktop case.BuddyRich - Friday, February 15, 2019 - link
It would be interesting to test this eGPU with the new mac mini as it was designed with an eGPU in mind and has a desktop CPU in it - even dual booting into Windows.