Seems like a great deal this. Listed for pre-order with a dispatch of 24th December but I think it's worth the wait. Hopefully will be able to get a well priced graphics card in boxing day sales to pair with this nicely.
Can also sign up to the newsletter for another $15 off.
Razer core X in black also available for $169.
Have added to the title. Is a great deal. I am a sucker for RGB lighting so went with the chroma to match my other razer gear.
Same amount of power to the video card though, 500W.
I am new to this and still deciding should I buy a 2000+ gaming laptop or 1000+ normal laptop with great screen & get eGPU. I have no idea how eGPU works but if enclosure is only $160 + $500-700gpu the total would still be cheaper than any decent gaming laptop.
For me this deal is a no brainer. I want a decent pc to play games on at home while still having portability and some gaming capacity while on the move. This paired up with my Razer blade stealth is perfect for that.
No. Because unless you are like Starfire who have a desktop and he can just transfer the gpu around, getting a egpu is not a wise choice, especially for gaming.
For one theres not a lot of non gaming laptops with a good intel cpu (you need intel for thunderbolt for now) and good cooling to go that doesnt have a dgpu as well. For two, because you are restricted a lot by the bandwidth of thunderbolt port, you lose a lot of performance in games, that while a desktop card will have better specs than a laptop card, once you use it in a egpu config, a gpu at your price point will be easily beaten by a semi decent 3070/ti equipped laptop, and the latter can be had for around 2k if not a bit more in a sale.
Seems a bit shortsighted @Brrrrt IMO
It opens up
Not to mention
@bboT: Mate none of your argument makes any sense:
future proofing
upgrade options
wheres the future proofing? spending more money? and still getting restricted by TB bandwidth? You realise the higher tier gpu the more performance lost right?
2nd hand options
because there are no 2nd end options for laptops?
ability to use existing GPU
OP clearly dont have an existing gpu, moot point
better cooling experience, less thermal strain
a good gaming laptop will not have thermal strain whatsoever. And as per my original comment, its hard to find a dgpu-less laptop with a good cpu and good cooling.
desktop experience with inbuilt dock, power, ethernet +/- USB
a good desktop also have plenty of ports, usb hubs are like 20 bucks
Most games are GPU bottlenecked so even basic laptops will benefit.
'gpu bottlenecked' except with egpu solutions the desktop gpu takes a big hit in performance, and theres no 'basic' laptop that have thunderbolt port. low powered 'business grade' 4 core intel chips will be bottlenecking your games.
Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 is here and opens up options including AMD
you clearly dont know what you are talking about:
for one, in gaming tb4 offers no real world advantage, its not a direct upgrade over TB3 but a sidegrade.
for two, no amd laptops up till now have tb, except that one real expensive corsair streamer laptop.
For three.USB 4 is also not wide spread yet, and even there is no USB 4 egpu enclosures you are looking at a hefty premium.
we are talking about the razer egpu here whihc is a tb3 enclosure, even if what you said is true, you are literally bottlenecked with the encloure no matter how fast the laptop port is
even USB4 speeds are capped by the bandwidth a lot, its improving but its nothing game changing. there is a reason why companies like asus are implementing their own proprietory solutions with a direct pcie connection instead of relying on ports.
Desktop GPUs beat mobile equivalents on almost all fronts (price, performance, resale, repairability)
if they are used in a desktop, sure price to performance is great. in a egpu encloure? laughably bad. I dont see how gaming laptops are harder to resale. repairability? if in warranty both are up to the manufacturer to repair or replace it. You arent going to just jump on a soldering station to repair a desktop gpu, just as you arent going to repair a gaming laptop. sure its harder on the laptop, but its nothing a normal person can or would do, where do you even source the parts?
@Brrrrt: Just read the other comments dude. Everything has their pros and cons, but clearly you seem to struggle to recognise any pros.
To address a couple points, before I move on ..
I currently have an old 980Ti in an enclosure for my partner, will replace it with a 2080Ti once my 4090 arrived. Does this not demonstrate my points 1 through 4?
If a GPU in a laptop dies I need to send it off to get fixed/replaced, with possibility of loss of data and productivity. A eGPU dies and I can just send that off for repairs while maintaining data and productivity (with temporary loss of gaming).
Thunderbolt 4 is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3, so there's a good chance the modern laptop you happen to be shopping for is compatible (as opposed to 1-2 years ago).
Yeah…I think I've made enough points to justify a $169 purchase. Again, you seem to be the outlier here. But you do you bud, not sure why you seem so stressed out by this.
@bboT: you aint making sense, its stuck with a physical thunderbolt 3 port, no cable or softwares gonna upgrade your physical port
@bboT: Hi. I enjoyed reading your comments and got me keen on buying one to game using my 11th gen i7 thin and light laptop. Now i am confused about which one to get as my laptop supports thunderbolt 4 but the core x is thunderbolt 3 only. Is it worth getting thunderbolt 4 for the money?
@Safoan: I'm not sure sorry, haven't looked into it for a while. I would imagine Thunderbolt 4 eGPU enclosures would be relatively new and expensive compared to this deal, but I don't know the relative price to performance.
@Safoan: Likely no difference in speed, all TB3 enclosures should be 4 lanes of PCIe 3.0 (minimum spec for TB3 is 2) TB4 minimum spec is 4, so both would offer 32 Gbps (theoretical) throughput.
Plus I'm not sure if any eGPU enclosures are TB4 (as it would offer no real advantages)
@bboT: dw about them, they'll dig their own graves. you made good points, not sure why brrrt and jvj seem to be taking this really personally 🤷
yea egpu's make sense for many reason esp if you're someone who moves around a lot, less so if you're wfh and don't have to bring it around with you
@confidantduk: Taking this personally? Which part of my comment wasnt objective? I find its you guys who failed to provide any sound argument to my points. Your reasoning is literally based on your opinions only and doesnt take account into what the thread OP is asking for? You are just negging me without providing any reason for the neg. Well played guys just keep the negs up love to see it
Thunderbolt 4 is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3
backwards compatible means tb4 runs at tb3 speeds not the other way around? I dont know why is it so hard to get this point across to you. thats not to mention TB4 offers no performance advantage over TB3 from a gaming perspective.
I didnt say egpu is useless but it clearly have a lot of downside that you failed to mention to the other commentator? You have a 980ti in your egpu of course you will be much less bottlenecked by bandwidth if the card isnt any strong in the first place. Try it with your 2080ti and you will see how much it fails in comparison to full pcie speeds.
Thread OP is literally looking to buy a new setup, he clearly doesnt have an 'old card' he can use so none of your argument stands.
@Brrrrt: A huge benefit of using a eGPU is that you can always take your GPU and put it into a desktop. I would definitely consider this future proofing as this would be a valid upgrade path.
The benefits of the enclosure would be getting the power of a desktop-sized GPU and keeping the portability of a laptop. But you'll want an external monitor connected to the Core to get the most out it, and should consider it takes up desk space next to your laptop.
If you need the laptop to stay mobile and light, I think the Core could be a good choice. But if that isn't important I'd say just go with whatever saves you the most money.
Just build a PC for gaming instead, laptops for gaming not worth the cost imo.
I've been down the eGPU route before and it hasn't ended well. I just think building a gaming PC at home works out better in the long run. I guess ask yourself if you really do gaming on the go? I guess once Steam Deck comes out to Aus (I imported one from the US) then the mobile PC gaming is kinda covered by a device dedicated to that purpose.
eGPU basically hamstrings the performance of the GPU, it's like running a desktop GPU at 60% of it's clock speed. What seems like a best of all situations ends up simply being incredibly mediocre.
I also bought a Razer Blade 14 (5900HX and 3070) but it's not been useful for me as I never find a need to play games on it while out anyway and when home I rather not have it on power all the time potentially bloating battery and whatnot and fans whirring, the PC is far more elegant (which is in a nice SSUPD case).
Also Core X is freaking gigantic vs a SFF PC.
think people expect to get a egpu case and slam in a 4090 and get equivalent performance on the go
Hi. Just a quick question dose it bottleneck all cards at 60% or just the high end ones. For example will it bottle neck a 2080 or 2070 too?
@Safoan: I saw bad bottlenecks even with 1070 cards. eGPU in it’s current form loses a lot of the GPU’s potential vs putting it in a PC.
@mc68000 eGPU enclosures actually makes sense for handheld devices especially those with Ryzen 6800U and USB4 rather than having a portable handheld and a gaming desktop separately.
@Wrongguy if you're buying something just to game then a desktop machine makes way more sense unless you need the portability.
Desktops give you more performance, a cheaper price, better cooling, significantly easier repairs, and you can do upgrades down the track and you get to choose a much bigger display.
I wouldn't look at a laptop unless you really need the form-factor.
Chroma also has USB out and Ethernet so you can use this as a Dock.
That's what I've been doing for the last couple of years. The Chroma is basically my dock when I'm using my laptop at my home desk.
Is it possible to use it as a dock without the GPU installed? This is cheaper than buying a dock and upgradeable in the future.
Yes, but just the USB ports and probably the ethernet (I'm not using ethernet so can't test). Sometimes my laptop doesn't recognise that it's connected to an eGPU (reboot fixes that), but I can still use the mouse, keyboard and printer connected to the Chroma while the laptop isn't seeing the external RTX 3070. The Razer software sees the Chroma connected, not the card.
There are no video ports on the Chroma unless you install a video card, so without one you wouldn't be able to link to an external monitor via the Chroma.
ShopBack also has 2.2% Cashback to bring that price down a little more ;-)
Thanks Op and @camshandez. Got the Black enclosure for $154 using the $15 newsletter sign-up code. This is a steal compared to what these eGPU enclosures go for.
Possible price error?
How do I get the code?
Thanks, but it went OOS when I was getting the code…
Oos what…..
Bots ???
Was signing up for the News letter tho :(
These things aren't worth the invoice paper is printed on. Anyone getting this should be prepared for endless bugs and random disconnects on long sessions. Reviewers aren't using it long enough to find these issues.
Seems like the USB4 solved many of the TB3 problems, and it works better with better performance even if you use TB3 case on an USB4 port.
From your experience?
That's not my experience. I've been using a Chroma for more than two years now (with a 3070) and it's been rock solid.
I’m not dismissing what you’re saying, but this just seems to be computer hardware in general. I’ve used the Razer Core X Chroma for quite a while (and with two different RTX 3070 video cards) and it’s been extremely stable. I had issues initially due to Windows corrupting the drivers through automatic updates, but doing a clean offline installation of Windows and being more conscious of the installation configuration and sequencing drastically improved the situation. The main problem with Thunderbolt (as of version 4) is the throughput. The theoretical limit for data is 32Gbps, but factoring in the encoding/decoding overhead, it’s significantly less than this. So, realistic expectations are certainly required as it’s far from perfect, but it does facilitate non-standard hardware setups (e.g. an ultra portable 2-in-1 laptop which can also be used for gaming).
I've got this case without the psu, can I throw in any ATX psu in as sort of an "upgrade" to its original 600W psu?
I don't know (I'm using the stock PSU and haven't investigated). But I don't see why not. It's just a PSU.
Most of the psu doesn't fit it seems
You’d need an SFX (as opposed to ATX) form factor.
What is the difference between Razer Core X Chroma & Razer Core X Black (besides from the rgb)?
700 vs 650 Watts, 4 X USB 3.1 Type-A , Gigabit Ethernet and 200mm longer cable :P
Core X Black it is then !
Oos :(
OOS
Do these things work with non razer devices
On windows yep. Just needs thunderbolt 3 connector I believe
Yes as long as you have Thunderbolt 3/4 port.
The Chroma has a newer chipset that runs a little bit faster. Razer enclosures are still considered the most stable of the egpu line up.
These are awesome deals. Makes me wondering what's coming next. With discounts this large there must be a significant new product on the way.
There may be a model released with an updated controller (i.e. Thunderbolt 4 instead of Thunderbolt 3), larger capacity power supply, and alternate cabling (i.e. 12VHPWR to accommodate the RTX 4090, etc.) but it won’t be of significance from a performance perspective, as the theoretical throughput remains the same (i.e. 32/40Gbps). Additionally, Thunderbolt 5 (if this is what Intel titles it), which doubles the theoretical throughput, is likely still years away from actually being released.
Absolutely killer deal for the Core X @$169. I managed to get a pre-order in a few hours ago.
Short story:
I was so disappointed when I missed out on the Core X Black in mid September for ~$320 brand new from the official site, delivered. Most of these were (and still are) going second hand for $300+. I told myself I didn't need it, and to stop checking the website after I did 5 times a day for at least a week.
I don't know what prompted me, perhaps the bargain gods, but this morning at 7:40 AEST I jumped on the Razer website for the first time in at least a month, checked the price, and saw Chroma in stock for $349, and Core X Black for $169 but marked OOS.
I checked back 5 minutes later and the greyed out OOS had changed to Pre-Order and I was able to place an order.
Didn't bother posting as I was assuming, similar to the last time, there was VERY limited stock…
Congrats to anyone else who picked one up at this absolute steal of a price… now just need a killer deal on a sub $400 3070 in the next few months ;)
Dam, Oos.. this would pair nicely with an intel handheld.
Killer deal, but likely just running out the thunderbolt 3 model to make way for a USB 4 or TB4 model, which is going to be more practical from a bandwidth standpoint.
But probably won't sell for much less than retail for a long time, which these were… $500+
I'd check back if people are keen. I noticed these prices last Wednesday or so I think and all three were OOS. Friday morning I happened to refresh and the chroma was back in stock so I placed an order. (It shipped out already and is arriving Tuesday). So worth checking back in on even if they are OOS right now.
Will do, thanks for the tip
Thanks for posting the deal last Wednesday ;)
They were all OOS last Wednesday. :P
A nice save there haha
Direct pcie connection is better than TB3/4.
Manufactures should focus on that more….
This is what I kept trying to tell people. They are so blindsided and seemed oblivious to the fact that thunderbolt throughput slashes your performance by so much that its no better and only worse than laptop built in gpus. Combined with the cost of card and the enclosure its only more expensive to get the same performance on a gaming laptop, not less that its not a bargain but a premium to pay for.
Asus is the only one currently doing external egpu solutions with pcie, however thats proprietory. Hope we see some new innovation to this field because thunderbolt setups just arent worth it for most people.
You're right but… if you are already the owner of a laptop that has TB3 or TB4 ports, this is your best option, and this is a great price. The convenience of a USB-C port connection to plug/unplug a significant graphic improvement (yes, at a cost…) is great for those who want/need that bit extra, but are limited by the formfactor of their [most likely] thin & light notebook.
There is no alternative to this for my imac. So your comment is very targetted. Tb3 is my only option
Chroma now OOS
Anyone get an order cancelled claiming payment was declined by payment provider? Paid by PayPal and both PayPal and credit card authorisation went through fine.
Same
Thanks, I don't need eGPU but ordered anyway.
Chroma available to pre-order again
Core X black showing available to pre-order
I picked up a core x on preorder today but didnt apply the code. It goes way too quickly and wasnt sure if price will revert now that cyber monday is over.
$169 is still very good
I forgot the code too, but i quickly cancelled the order and reordered.
I contacted Razer support via the webform and said I forgot to apply my code providing them the code and order number. They have advised that they will credit me the difference once I let them know I have received the item. Hope this helps!
They told me i couldnt use voucher on discounted item
That is not true, if you try adding the chroma which is also on sale, the code applies. You can take a screenshot of that and show it to them. Hope this helps.
that an excuse.
![[Preorder] Razer Core X Chroma External Graphics Enclosure (eGPU) $349, Razer Core X $169 Delivered @ Razer AU](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/90/741390.jpg?h=1d9fafc1)
The Razer Core X - Black at $169 added to the description seems like the best deal to me. Granted lesser PSU power but damn that's cheap for a thunderbolt 3 enclosure.