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- #EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE UPGRADE#
- #EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE PORTABLE#
- #EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE PRO#
- #EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE SERIES#
This isn’t the greatest selection of ports, with many eGPUs offering more but it does have two Thunderbolt 3 ports which is a bonus. These include two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a DisplayPort.
#EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE PRO#
The Akitio Node Pro comes with three ports. It doesn’t come with a GPU, meaning you will have to buy one separately and, therefore, you will also need to set the eGPU up yourself which can be a hassle if you have never done this sort of thing before. If you prefer devices that work straight out of the box, however, then you might want to give this one a miss. The laptop you have will play a part in this as you will need to be sure the card is compatible but generally speaking, enclosures are a much better way to go if you are after a fully tailored setup. This means that you have the option to use a wide variety of different graphics cards with the device.
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This is evidenced by its Space Grey color scheme and aluminum chassis, so if you are a Macbook user who cares about design continuity across your devices, this is already a nice option.Īs mentioned, the Akitio Node Pro is an enclosure style eGPU. The Akitio Node Pro is a stylish enclosure that has been developed primarily for use with a MacBook.
#EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE SERIES#
Nvidia 9/10 series and later AMD Radeon R9, RX and later External GPUs Comparison Table Make and Model The loss in performance is said to be around 10-15% which isn’t too concerning but it is still something worth mentioning.
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One of the downsides to using an eGPU is that even though Thunderbolt 3 provides the fastest connection in the world right now, you still won’t get quite as much performance as you would if the GPU was housed internally.
#EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE PORTABLE#
A handle is also something to look out for if you would like the device to be as portable as possible. If it’s going to sit in one place all the time then you probably don’t need to worry about what material it is made out of, however, if you move around a lot, such as between hotels, you may want to consider an eGPU with an aluminum shell for increased durability. You should also consider how much you plan to transport the eGPU. Enclosures do require you to purchase a GPU separately though, which could mean a larger investment upfront.
#EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE UPGRADE#
Although this might be more appealing to you if you are a casual gamer, an enclosure offers the option of only having to upgrade the graphics card when needed rather than the whole device. Most tend to be the latter and this is a good thing as enclosures are a lot more versatile, allowing you to choose which graphics card you wish to use with your system.Įmbedded eGPUs come with the graphics card already inserted and aren’t necessarily designed to modified or upgraded. Things to consider when looking for an eGPUįirstly, it is important to note that there are two types of eGPUs, embedded eGPUs, and enclosure eGPUS. With an eGPU, however, you can use a slim, stylish ultrabook and still get high-end graphics performance when you need it, provided your laptop supports Thunderbolt 3 of course. Gaming laptops aren’t necessarily ugly but a lot of them look a bit out of place in a corporate office and, therefore, don’t really provide a good solution to people who want to use one device for everything. Not only does this help keep the temperature of your laptop down but it also means you don’t need to invest in a bulky gaming laptop littered with RGB lighting. This is partly due to the internal graphics card getting hot, coupled with the fact that laptops are compact machines, meaning it is difficult to disperse heat efficiently.ĮGPUs solve this problem by housing the graphics card outside of the laptop and providing it with its own dedicated cooling. Gaming laptops, however, aren’t perfect as they usually struggle to keep cool under heavy loads. The solution to this problem for many years has been to purchase a gaming laptop instead. This is the dream for most people as it means they can use one device for everything, rather than needing to buy both a laptop and a gaming PC. There are a number of reasons you may want to use an eGPU but the most popular reason tends to be so that you can run high-intensity games on a laptop.
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