Razer Core External GPU and Razer Blade Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Is the Core a crowning achievement, or is there a worm in it? The first company to offer a complete external GPU solution over Thunderbolt 3 (TB3), Razer's "Core" is still one of the most popular graphics docks available. It uses a TB3 interface attached to an older, more compatible TI82 controller, and so should be compatible with nearly any laptop with a TB3 port (not just Razer's). We benchmark the Core and Nvidia's latest Pascal line of GPUs with the Core and the Blade to see if the juice is worth the squeeze.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Razer-Core-External-GPU-and-Razer-Blade-Laptop-Review.213526.0.html

[mvl]

Great review, thanks!

It would also be cool to test the Razer Core also at 4K and maybe also using the Razer Stealh. A combination of Stealth+Core+GTX1060 looks exciting; well, at least on paper...

That said, kind of sad, that the issue regarding the USB-Ports is not solved. The bandwidth limitations of TB3 too, but most imagined that was expected.

[Gary]

WHY Would You ?  Pay all that extra $ when you have already have a GTX you paid for and the pay ++ for only mariginally better performance.. just get a integral higher speced notebook... save your you back and bank bslance

[SueD]

Have you done any testing on models with impaired Thunderbolt 3 ports, like the Dell XPS15 with GTX1050?  Would be interesting to know if the Core with 1070 and external display is an improvement over 1050 on internal display, even considering the TB3 port with only x2 lanes of PCIE allocated.

[sicily428]

could you test that core with an external monitor?
could you test this egpu with a nvidia quadro m4000/m5000 and pro apps like solidworks/creo2 or catia? quadros work better than geforces wiith these apps.
could you also test autocad/inventor/maya/showcase with a geforce?
this is a software for testing pro apps
https://www.spec.org/gwpg/gpc.static/vp12info.html

here some benchmark with a desktop
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-pascal,4572-9.html

[SNDS]

It'd be great to see a comparison to the Alienware AMP. The AMP gives you a direct PCI-e x4 connection vs the TB3 usage here which has a bunch of controllers to pipe through before providing the throughput to the display.

[HartBreaker]

Great and detailed review.

I am currently running a MBP 460 with Titan C Pascal. I run the set up on a 3440x1440 ultrawide.

As others have noted and the review clarifies there is some degradation compared to a desktop set up. And, I know the dollars spent could of gone to a sweet desktop and decent ultrabook but I see it this way...

I can live with the knowledge I paid $2500 for desktop system to just play video games OR live with fact I am losing 20% performance on the GPU compared to a desktop set up but only have one machine. Both are not ideal but the latter let's me have the best and near best of both worlds.

Up for debate but the MBP is a great day to day work/play laptop. Adding a EGPU with top tier GPU let's me play all my games at ultra settings (with some tweaks for some games) at 60fps or better.

I just began running the MBP and the performance loss is less VS the Blade. I do not know why but I am seeing 10 to 20 FPS better with the MBP.

3DMark Ultra scored a 6190

Heaven 4.0 2560x1440 Ultra 4xAA - 112 FPS and 2898 Score

[Jack Watson]

Hi. I have a Dell XPS 9360 and am looking at buying the Razer Core V1. In the article, I noticed that my laptop was listed as "Half-Speed". What does this mean? If the GPU will really only run at half the speed then I will reconsider my decision.
Thanks a lot.

[Chi]

WHY Would You ?  Pay all that extra $ when you have already have a GTX you paid for and the pay ++ for only mariginally better performance.. just get a integral higher speced notebook... save your you back and bank bslance

your dumbo big jumbo

[NikoB]

The sellers have a lot of negative feedback about this model when it breaks all of a sudden. Poor production quality and reliability in batches.