External Graphics Cards - DIY Solutions to Be More Cost Effective than Razer's Option

kevitkotw on 29/12/2024 - 19:38
Last edited 29/12/2024 - 22:34 by 1 other user

Hey there, does anyone have clever ideas for setting up external graphics? I've been looking around on Aliexpress and there seems to be some solutions around usb4/thunderbolt.

Looking at doing it for my NUC (home theatre pc) and my son's laptop. Both have Thunderbolt (3&4)

Cards will be somewhere between GTX 4060/4070ti

Cases to suit seem stupidly priced. There is a cheap ITX case at the moment, could that work ok? It says it needs a sfx psu, will that just add a premium vs a regular one? I have some regular psus that could work if the size can be overcome. Could the itx case work with Pci to thunderbolt card and regular psu, or am I going to run into problems with layout/space?

Any thoughts on the matter appreciated. I've done some research, but I'm hoping someone here has some wisdom I hadn't considered, even a totally different solution. I'm looking for functional over fancy fwiw.

Thanks folks!
Kev

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  brendanm on 29/12/2024 - 19:47

  Replace the case for the PC with one that fits a graphics card, then just fit it. Sell your son's laptop and buy a PC, fit the graphics card to it.

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    kevitkotw on 30/12/2024 - 00:23

    There are reasons I chose to get him a laptop and work on an external graphics solution.

    Those reasons didn't justify the cost of a laptop with built in graphics card though. A pc for gaming and a laptop for portable wasn't a feasible option either sadly.

    • 

      spackbace on 30/12/2024 - 11:22

      Cloud gaming? Geforce now, etc

      Takes the pressure off the laptop, which likely won't like the increased workload (they never do)

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  bazingaa on 30/12/2024 - 06:55

  NUC (home theatre pc) and my son's laptop. Both have Thunderbolt (3&4)

  what kinds of PCs are these ? should be pretty expensive to have Thunderbolt isn't it ? I have never owned anything with Thunderbolt

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    flagsarefun on 30/12/2024 - 08:30

    +1

    Thunderbolt support, especially through USB4 v1 is actually pretty common these days

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      bazingaa on 30/12/2024 - 09:41

      is it with latest gen chipsets ? I have Z690 so only got USB3.2x2

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        flagsarefun on 03/01/2025 - 10:24

        +1

        It depends on the board. You might have a Thunderbolt internal header that you could attach to an internal PCIe card to give you some TB3 ports, but I haven’t done that so can’t comment on how good the experience is

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          bazingaa on 03/01/2025 - 16:05

          @flagsarefun: thanks mate! I didn't notice that, I got one JTBT1: Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector (1x TBT connector (supports RTD3))

          I remember I had a USB connector in my first PC (1998) like this, mentioning that there is no OS supporting this new technology, but we have included the header anyway lol :D Got a header card in 2002 to use with a USB printer, good old days!

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  barge-in hunter on 30/12/2024 - 08:15

  I’ve been looking into egpus too. Eta prime have a few good videos.

  From what I’ve seen, oculink is a more capable port (almost no performance loss) when compared to thunderbolt (up to 20/30% loss) on powerful gpus, like the 4070 up. I know that’s not helpful for your current devices, but it helps to set performance expectations.

  When the time comes, I’ll be looking to get one of the pre-made aoostar units reviewed in the video above. The technology is still in its infancy, and I hear too much about compatibility issues with usb4/tb4 to risk buying everything, only to find they don’t work together.

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  flagsarefun on 30/12/2024 - 08:34

  +1

  Go to egpu.io and look at their enclosures table. If you want the best performance with TB3/USB4, the recently released UT4G is probably your best bet, though it only comes in an open air configuration. ADT also sells variations of the EXP GDC TH3P4G3 on Aliexpress in different form factors, depending on your use case and the size of your GPU.

  The Aoostar AG02 looks good too on paper but people with the AG01 units had lots of issues with the quality of the PSU, so it is untested at the moment, and also open air.

  Otherwise if you want a pre-built enclosure, look at marketplace/gumtree for a Razer Core X of some sort.

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  postnut on 30/12/2024 - 10:57

  +1

  this is the internal m.2 PCIe setup I did a long time ago, truthfully functional to the point of being impractical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4MrueQgmdg
  The least replicable part for most people would be getting to the internal PCIe connection. I mean, I didn't use this laptop as a portable device when I had this hooked up, and when uni came around I undid everything - unless the laptop bottom panel is secured with switch lock mechanism, I'm not gonna bother.
  If that's not an issue, the next thing would be to make sure that the m.2 connection is indeed PCIe straight to CPU, and that the laptop BIOS does not feature weird white/blacklist of PCIe devices.

  agree with flagsarefun, ADT has some of the cheapest quality stuff.

  depending on how much time you're willing to spent on the project, you could even make custom power cables and even custom powersupplies (ac to 12v modules from aliexpress, gaming laptop charger etc). For TB setups, if I had the time, I'd buy the adapter from ADT and screw it into a wood board or something, or make(or buy) a tiny shelf for both psu and gpu, and some custom cabling.