The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    AW 17R4 Thunderbolt EXT GPU

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by alexnvidia, Jan 16, 2017.

  1. alexnvidia

    alexnvidia Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    434
    Messages:
    1,386
    Likes Received:
    622
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Hi all, im not sure if this question has been asked before. Does the new Alienware 17R4, 15R3 thunderbolt port works with external GPU case like Razer core?

    i know Alienware systems have Alienware Graphics Amplifier (AGA) but what if we choose to hook it up with a thunderbolt external GPU enclosure? has anyone tried it?
     
    alexnvidia, Jan 16, 2017
    #1
    sarou likes this.
  2. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Dave2D on youtube tried it and it seems to work flawlessly.
     
    rinneh, Jan 16, 2017
    #2
  3. alexnvidia

    alexnvidia Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    434
    Messages:
    1,386
    Likes Received:
    622
    Trophy Points:
    131
    did he? i must have missed that video. can you please link the video here? thanks for the info
     
    alexnvidia, Jan 16, 2017
    #3
  4. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    DOnt know which one it was anymore. But he clearly connected the machine and made a comment that the AGA was a better option due to the price.
     
    rinneh, Jan 16, 2017
    #4
  5. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,447
    Messages:
    9,069
    Likes Received:
    6,376
    Trophy Points:
    681

    Better you use the AGA, the Thunderbolt connection will have an overhead on signal conversion which leads to performance loss using the graphics card.
     
    Mobius 1, Jan 16, 2017
    #5
  6. alexnvidia

    alexnvidia Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    434
    Messages:
    1,386
    Likes Received:
    622
    Trophy Points:
    131
    you guys are right, AGA is the obvious winner when it comes to resources/bandwidth allocation. Just that AGA is so big, ugly and relatively flimsy when compared to razer core. Then again it's a lot cheaper, so cant complain much. The good thing about alienware is, if thunderbolt external gpu enclosures are supported, we do have a choice between AGA or thunderbolt EXT GPU, which is great. is the AGA due for an update?
     
    alexnvidia, Jan 16, 2017
    #6
  7. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,447
    Messages:
    9,069
    Likes Received:
    6,376
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Probably next gen
     
    Mobius 1, Jan 17, 2017
    #7