Tag: egpu

Lenovo Legion Go 2 Handheld and eGPU Compatibility Explored

I am working on a review of Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 (compensated affiliate link) and wanted to see how well it handled an external GPU before putting together a full review. The handheld includes two USB 4 ports that are Thunderbolt-compatible, so in theory, it should support external graphics. To test it, I used the GMKtec AD-GP1 — a compact eGPU enclosure that houses an AMD RX 7600MXT with 8GB of video memory. You can find the eGPU on Amazon here (compensated affiliate link). The AD-GP1 can power itself and the Legion Go 2 through a single cable, which makes for a cleaner setup.

See it in action in my latest video!

The connection process was simple enough. I plugged the GMKtec into the top port of the Legion Go 2 and immediately saw it begin charging. Windows took a few minutes to detect everything, and I had to install AMD’s drivers for the external GPU. Once that was done, it recognized the card properly as a secondary GPU. For best performance, I disabled the Legion Go 2’s internal display and used only the monitor connected to the eGPU as pushing video through the handheld’s screen can reduce performance due to bandwidth limits.

Hot swapping between the handheld and eGPU worked on the Windows desktop, though not while gaming. You can plug and unplug the GPU while idle, but if you try to do it mid-game, it’ll crash.

Running 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, I saw a significant performance boost: the internal GPU scored about 3,999, while the eGPU setup hit 9,493. Power draw during the test hovered around 215 watts, leaving a little room within the AD-GP1’s 240-watt power budget.

Next, I tested No Man’s Sky at 4K with enhanced settings. The game ran smoothly most of the time, hitting around 60 frames per second with some dips. When I disconnected the eGPU mid-game, it predictably crashed, confirming that switching GPUs on the fly isn’t practical for gaming sessions. Still, for someone who wants a boost at home, an extra $500 or so for a dockable GPU setup delivers real gains.

I also tried other eGPU options, like the GT Box enclosure with a desktop RTX 4060 attached, but those setups are much bulkier. The GMKtec is smaller, cleaner, and more desk-friendly, even though it lacks extra USB ports for accessories. My only real complaint about the Legion Go 2 design is that one of its USB ports sits on the bottom, which makes docking awkward when the stand is open. You’d need an angled connector or stand to use it comfortably.

Despite its quirks, it’s satisfying to see a handheld like this handle desktop-class graphics with a single-cable setup. It’s not the most economical path to performance, but for those short on space who want one computer for both travel and desk use, it’s a workable approach. I’ll be putting together a full review of the Legion Go 2 soon and plan to focus on areas that haven’t been explored much yet — so if there’s something specific you’d like to see tested, let me know in the comments.

Linux Gaming Part 2 : AMD to the Rescue?

In my latest video, I revisit my Linux gaming experiment with AMD hardware after the feedback I received on my first attempt. You can see the results here!

In that earlier video, I installed a Linux distribution called Bazzite on a gaming laptop with an Nvidia GPU and the results were disappointing compared to Windows. Many of you suggested that the real problem was Nvidia’s drivers and recommended I try an AMD GPU instead. That’s what I did this time.

For this follow-up, I set up a GMKtec Evo T1 mini PC (compensated affiliate link) with an Intel Core 9 285H paired with GMKtec’s external GPU unit, the AD-GP1 (affiliate link), on top. Inside that enclosure is an AMD RX 7600M XT with 8 GB of VRAM connected over Oculink. This is essentially the same as plugging a card into a desktop. It’s the only AMD setup I had on hand, but it seemed like a good test case, especially for those interested in eGPUs.

Bazzite installed without issues. The hardware, including the GPU, was detected automatically with no manual intervention. I should note that both the mini PC and GPU were provided free of charge by GMKtec, but they had no role in this video’s content or opinions.

For benchmarking, I started with Cyberpunk 2077 on medium settings at 1080p. On Windows, the same setup averaged 131 frames per second. On Linux with AMD, the benchmark came in at 127.77 frames per second, essentially within the margin of error. On the prior video we saw about a 20% reduction in performance running similar tests. What impressed me most was that I didn’t have to touch the command line or tweak anything—it simply worked out of the box.

Next up was No Man’s Sky. Running at 1080p with enhanced settings, the game hovered around 60 frames per second, sometimes higher. The performance felt on par with Windows, without the performance hit I saw on Nvidia.

Not everything worked perfectly. Red Dead Redemption 2, which I own on Steam, wouldn’t boot at all. Others in the Bazzite community reported similar issues, so it seems like a known compatibility problem. On the other hand, Terminator Resistance, a fun first person shooter, ran at 4K medium settings at about 60 frames per second, again comparable to Windows.

Overall, using AMD hardware brought me much closer to a plug-and-play Linux gaming experience. Many of the games I tested ran just as well as they do on Windows.

All of this reminds me of the Linux based Alienware Steam Machine I tested about a decade ago, where the promise was there but the compatibility wasn’t. Proton has changed that equation, and while not every title works, most do, and they work well. This experiment showed me that with the right hardware, Linux gaming can feel nearly turnkey similar to how it does on the Steam Deck.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to try AMD hardware. It made a big difference, and if you have an AMD GPU, you might find that Linux gaming works better than expected. The progress in just ten years is remarkable, and it raises the question of whether we might soon see purpose-built Linux gaming machines make a comeback.

GTBox G-Dock Review – Oculink/USB 4/Thunderbolt eGPU Enclosure with Built-in Power Supply

I’ve been experimenting lately with external GPUs on the channel, especially now that Oculink ports are showing up in more mini PCs. One of my ongoing frustrations, though, is that a lot of the budget Oculink gear looks like a science fair project when you set it up—there’s power supplies and cables all over the place.

The other day a company called GTBox reached out and sent over their G-Dock, which aims to clean things up a bit. You can see it in action in my latest video review.

The G-Dock integrates an 800 watt power supply, which not only makes things neater but also more convenient. What’s nice about the G-Dock is that it’s more versatile than most setups I’ve tried. It supports both Oculink and Thunderbolt/USB 4 connections, and the USB/Thunderbolt port also provides power delivery, so it can charge a laptop with up to 100 watts while providing external GPU support all through one connection. You don’t get a traditional enclosure with this—your card mounts on top, exposed—but it does make for a more compact and affordable option.

The unit sells for $249 on GTBox’s site (compensated affiliate link), and they provided a coupon code—LON10—for an extra $10 off. It’s also on Amazon. Just keep in mind, if you’re connecting over USB 4, you’ll need a full 40 Gbps port for it to work. A lot of USB-C ports look the same, but older USB 3.2 ports won’t cut it. Oculink, on the other hand, requires your PC to have an Oculink port or an adapter that adds it. Some mini PCs have them built in now, and I’ve tested some of those here in the past.

For the G-Dock test, I hooked up a 4060 GPU to the dock and connected it to a MinisForum mini PC using the included Oculink cable. It’s important to note that Oculink isn’t hot-swappable, so you need to boot the system with the connection already in place. I also made sure to connect my HDMI cable directly to the GPU rather than the mini PC for best performance—routing through the system’s onboard video usually results in lower performance.

The G-Dock powered up just fine. The GPU’s fan spun up, Windows detected the card, and after installing the latest NVIDIA drivers, I fired up Cyberpunk at 1080p with medium settings which ran great. The mini PC featured in this video has strong CPU performance but weak integrated graphics, so the external GPU really gave it a boost.

Next, I tried it with a laptop over Thunderbolt. Everything worked as expected, though there was a small performance dip compared to the Oculink connection. I also made sure to disable the laptop’s internal display and run everything through the external monitor connected to the GPU, which helps avoid further performance losses.

Overall, the G-Dock felt solid. The fan noise was minimal, and the integrated power made it a lot less cluttered than the other Oculink setups I’ve worked with. Still, I’d like to see companies revisit the more protective enclosures we see in the Thunderbolt world—something that completely houses the card and power supply for better durability and aesthetics. But all in this is one of the better Oculink solutions I’ve used.

Disclosure: GTBox sent the eGPU enclosure to the channel free of charge. I purchased the 4060 GPU with my own funds. No other compensation was received and no one reviewed or approved this post or video before it was uploaded.

GMKTec AD-GP1 External GPU (eGPU) Review

The GMKTec AD-GP1 is a compact external GPU that houses an AMD RX 7600M XT graphics card with 8GB of video memory. Designed for portability, it connects via USB 4, Thunderbolt or Oculink connections. This device is a good external graphics option for those looking to boost the graphical capabilities of an ultrabook while maintaining the flexibility of a lightweight laptop. You can check it out in my latest review.

It is important to note that while the GPU supports Thunderbolt-enabled devices, it does not function with Apple’s silicon-based Macs, limiting its compatibility to certain Intel-based Macs and Windows ultrabooks with Thunderbolt, USB 4 or Oculink connections.

The price point is approximately $469 on GMKTec’s website. Depending on sales you might find a lower cost option on Amazon (compensated affiliate links).

The AD-GP1 features two HDMI 2.1 outputs and two DisplayPort 2.0 outputs, allowing for up to four external displays with resolutions up to 8K at 60Hz. However, despite its compact form factor, the GPU requires an external 240W power supply, which is roughly the same size as the unit itself. This power supply not only supports the GPU but also provides up to 100W of power back to the host device.

In testing, the GPU demonstrated solid performance when paired with an Asus Vivobook S 14 ultrabook with an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V. Running No Man’s Sky at 1080p on high settings, the system maintained a consistent 60 frames per second (fps). At ultra settings, performance fluctuated between 45 and 60 fps. However, in Red Dead Redemption 2, performance gains were negligible due to CPU bottlenecks, highlighting the fact that the GPU’s benefits will depend on how graphically demanding a game is relative to the processor’s capabilities.

Benchmark testing using 3DMark Time Spy revealed a significant increase in graphical performance with the external GPU attached. The laptop’s base score of 4,385 jumped considerably to 9,421 when the AD GP1 was connected, though the improvement was primarily in GPU-intensive tasks, with the CPU performance remaining unchanged.

Additional testing was conducted using a GMKTec Evo X1 mini PC (compensated affiliate link) equipped with a Ryzen AI 9 HX-370 processor. When connected via OCuLink, the external GPU delivered a performance score of 10,026, which was nearly identical to its performance over USB 4, suggesting that the GPU was not pushing beyond the bandwidth limitations of the connection.

Beyond gaming, the external GPU proved beneficial for tasks like local AI processing. Running a distilled version of DeepSeek 8B using the GPU significantly outperformed CPU-only processing.

Fan noise is minimal even when running at full blast for extended periods of time. The 3DMark Stress Test came in at 99.2% indicating that there won’t be much thermal throttling under sustained loads.

While external GPUs like this remain a niche product, they offer a good solution for users who need enhanced graphical power with a lightweight laptop. For those with compatible hardware, it’s an option worth considering for boosting graphics performance at home or in the office.