eGFX on upcoming MSI laptops

We've seen some of the new laptops MSi debuted at CES recently and they look like some great options.

Does anyone know if these, or subsequent Kaby Lake refreshes will support eGFX chassis over Thunderbolt? I've seen AMD pushing this standard and I know Razer has a solution that, in theory, should work if the hardware support is there.

I also know Kaby Lake's going to integrate TB3 natively into its platform rather than as an add-on like we have with Skylake. Has anyone heard any rumblings that this'll support the PCIe x4 connection needed?

I know a lot is still speculation, but I'm curious about what's floating around out there. I'm thinking a Kaby Lake/Pascal refresh of an MSI will be a good holiday option - especially if they throw in eGFX support.

Thoughts?

 

I'm pretty sure its totally doable, but I don't know if MSI will abandon their dock thing yet.

Side note: Did you also do the heatsink mod on your GT60 to put in the 970m? I did that on mine for a 980m last year.

 

Yeah, I can understand the niche for like the GS30/40 thing. I think it'd be a great think for the GS63/73 as their GPUs are soldered on (well, previous generations were, not sure about this one) and the GPU could become obsolete way before the rest of the system. The GS63/73 line would be a lot more attractive to me if I could plug in an eGPU and get more life out of it.

It'd be nice for the GT line, but it's definitely not as necessary since the cards have been upgradeable. And I could see not putting it on the GE lines so it doesn't cannibalize the higher end sales.

MSI bills itself as the gamer's computer, and I think this would further cement that notion. Hopefully they'll include it.

As far as the heat sink mod, yeah, I had to do it. There was no fitting that card in without it. It's holding up pretty well - temps are still good.

MSI hit a homerun with the GT60 series. The upgradability has made it the best laptop I've owned to date. For it's time, the only thing that really could have made it better was better cooling but even then, it still does pretty well.

 

But now with that series being discontinued the sole remaining good option for upgrading is the Clevo P750DM-G. A great machine, but its a shame there's no competition... Then again Clevo's pricing is always pretty great.

 

It is, but the GT72/73 line is still pretty good. I'd love to see a 15" version of it, but meh I could put up with 17" if I had to. The Titan's too beastly for me though.

I haven't looked into Clevo. I've owned or used several brands over the years, but not one of those. They always seemed a bit expensive from the boutique sellers I saw at the time as they had to be built up from barebones.

I happened upon MSI looking around at Fry's once. Never knew they made laptops until then. It was a good find.