External graphic card for all laptops

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Expensive external graphic card for all laptops

Alienware Graphics Amplifier

Price: $200

Connection: Proprietary

Compatibility: Alienware 13, 15, 17

Dell’s gaming sub-brand Alienware is on board with the eGPU revolution, and as you might suspect, its offering is one of the cheapest on the market. What the Graphics Amplifier lacks in panache it makes up for with its $200 price tag (without the GPU and laptop, of course). It’s also the only eGPU option from a major brand to use the older USB 3.0 standard, which unfortunately means compatibility with AMD XConnect, AMD’s semi-proprietary set of drivers for easily handling eGPUs, is out. You have a variety of compatible laptop options, from the relatively tiny Alienware 13 to the monstrous Alienware 17…which probably doesn’t need an external GPU for most games anyway.

But that lower price tag does come with a few sacrifices. The Amplifier is limited to graphics cards that are 10.5 inches long, making some of the most bombastic NVIDIA and AMD models incompatible. While the Graphics Amplifier has four USB 3.0 ports for expansion, there’s no Ethernet port, meaning you have one extra cable to plug in to your laptop if you want the fastest gaming connection. It’s also a real bummer that Dell is only supporting Alienware laptops, rather than including their more utilitarian XPS line—which would make for a fantastic combination.

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PowerColor Devil Box

Price: $450

Connection: Thunderbolt 3

Compatibility: any PC with Thunderbolt eGFX

PowerColor is a GPU and accessory maker, not a dedicated system-seller like Razer or Dell. Appropriately, the sinister Devil Box is allegedly compatible with any Windows-based PC that can use a Thunderbolt 3 port with external graphics, plus any AMD or NVIDIA graphics card (including those not made by PowerColor itself). The box supports all the bells and whistles of the Razer Core, including oversized GPUs, an Ethernet connection, and up to 375 watts of power to the graphics card. It even has an internal SATA III slot for sliding in a 2.5″ hard drive or SSD for backup or external storage—a nice touch.

The Devil Box is a bit pricey at $450, but the potential for multi-system compatibility is probably worth the extra money for anyone planning on keeping it through multiple laptop and GPU upgrades. The “tramp stamp” and “DEVIL” branding might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but hey, you can always throw it under your desk.


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