I though international GPUs were a thing of the past . Why would you spend a ton of money on one of thebest graphics cards , only to slap it inside an inclosure that could cut your performance by half , or even more ? There ’s been some Bob Hope that external GPUs would make a revitalization withthe release of Thunderbolt 5 , but we have n’t seen that materialize yet . A few years ago , you could find a XII inclosure for sale . Today , you ’re leave with no - nameproducts throng pitiful reviews .
But then thecame along .
It ’s a $ 99 outside GPU enclosure that ’s shockingly simple in its construction — and due to that fact , shockingly cheaper than the enclosures of old age past . You have to supply your own graphics add-in , of form , but otherwise the DEG1 is clean unsubdivided . The big difference between it and previously attempts , however , is an emerge connection touchstone called Oculink that makes all the dispute when it comes to functioning .
There’s nothing quite like the DEG1
It ’s well-off to underestimate the DEG1 , but it has a lot going on . That ’s telling pay how the simple the machine is in its instruction execution . It comes with a individual PCIe x16 one-armed bandit and mounting points for a mightiness provision ( both ATX and SFX power supplies are supported ) . A bracket comes off the ability supply to hold the GPU in place , and you need to join two points of top executive — a 24 - pin connexion to the DEG1 and whatever mightiness your graphics card need . You also get the Oculink connection and a superpower push button , but that ’s it .
Simple , but there are n’t any other solutions like this that I ’m mindful of . you’re able to pick up a daughterboard on Amazon for around $ 25 and adjudicate to build your own Oculink enclosure , but the easiness and rest of using the DEG1 is definitely deserving the $ 99 Minisforum is asking .
The Oculink connection is what really makes the remainder for the DEG1 , though . As I ’ll get into in my benchmark below , there is n’t a huge carrying out loss in most game . More important for the DEG1 , however , is that Oculink is open - source . It ’s a monetary standard designed by PCI - SIG , which is the same radical that fix PCIe standards . There is n’t a licensing fee to use Oculink , unlike Thunderbolt , which requires a licence fee to Intel .
It ’s hard to say with foregone conclusion how much that influenced the price of the DEG1 , but consider how simple the equipment is in its construction , I ’d count the influence is quite turgid . Faster upper and a lower price ? There ’s not much more you could ask for out of any tech merchandise , and that all comes down to Oculink on the DEG1 .
It just works
I ’d heard some warning online about Oculink . bolt devices might be more expensive , but they at least support Plug and Play on Windows — you should n’t need to care about configuring anything yourself . Oculink does n’t , but the DEG1just workedwhen I test it .
I used theTecno Megamini G1to examine the envelopment , which is the only microcomputer with an Oculink connexion that I had on paw . After hooking everything up , I power on the microcomputer expecting at least an hr of troubleshooting to get the external GPU shape properly . That was n’t the case . TheRTX 4080 SuperI installed on the DEG1 spun up straightaway , and I was on the Windows screen background in a thing of seconds .
grant , the Megamini G1 expend an Nvidia graphics menu , so I did n’t have any gadget driver conflicts to worry about . Still , the fact that the PC picked up the external GPU without any intervention from me — and even managed to power the GPU on its own — is astounding . Oculink may not have Plug and Play support , but this is about the closest I ’ve gotten to a plug and fiddle experience when tinker with ironware in the last several years .
Getting to the numbers
There ’s always plump to be some performance release with an external GPU . Not only is the connection physically far when data has to travel over a cable television but there ’s also the modified bandwidth available to modern connection interfaces . The DEG1 holds up shockingly well , however , even when test a high - goal GPU like the RTX 4080 Super that can process lots of data point at once .
you may see my result above . InCyberpunk 2077andReturnal , the execution is so close that I would call it identical — no one is splitting fuzz between four frame . Red Dead Redemption 2andForza Horizon 5are a more exact representation of what you should expect to see , though . There ’s a 12 % pearl inForza Horizon 5,but that ’s not too bad , especially considering a 15 % operation cliff was the lower limit for many Thunderbolt enclosures a few year ago .
The well-defined outlier here isHorizon Zero Dawnwhere I look a 35 % drop curtain in performance . That ’s not as bad as a 50 % fall like you’re able to see on Thunderbolt 3 equipment , but it ’s still a self-aggrandizing loss . These situations should be few and far between , butHorizon Zero Dawnis proof that , no matter how fast the connection , there ’s still a going when using an external GPU .
Still , I could n’t be happier with the performance here . I ’m comparing the DEG1 and Megamini G1 to a full desktop load down an RTX 4080 Super and a Ryzen 9 7950X. The DEG1 configuration is not only at a disadvantage from the external GPU — it ’s also using a much imperfect central processor in a much little chassis . The fact that the DEG1 was able-bodied to keep up when so much was working against it is noteworthy .
The problem
The DEG1 is heavy , and that ’s on the back of Oculink . But there ’s a problem , not so much with the twist itself but with the adoption of Oculink more generally . There ’s only one mainstream laptop computer I ’m cognisant of that even has an Oculink connecter — theLenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 4 — and although you could detect the connection of mathematical product from Minisforum and brands like OneXPlayer , the standard has n’t been picked up wide . Even theAsus ROG Ally X , which would be the perfect practical program for a gimmick like the DEG1 , does n’t support Oculink .
So , even if you desire to apply the DEG1 , you might not be able-bodied to . You ’re limit to a very little readiness of relatively Modern devices , which fly in the face of why you ’d need to use an external GPU in the first place — that is , to add more power to something that no longer delivers the functioning you need .
The other problem is Thunderbolt 5 . Yes , it will be more expensive , but Thunderbolt 5 promise even higher bandwidth than Oculink and it has much broader adoption . We may not see a ton — or even any — bolt of lightning 5 external enclosure , but they ’ll be a much easier sell than the DEG1 regardless of the monetary value .
Still , there ’s some mesmerizing about the DEG1 and what Minisforum has managed to do with it . It ’s a simple-minded merchandise that executes its function flawlessly , and although it has niche applications , I ’m well-chosen the DEG1 exists for those software .
