Hi all, first time poster here. I have tried google already, but sadly I am currently suffering from the "too much information to sort through" problem. I had a bit of a wacky idea and was looking for input/assistance. Basically what I want to know, is if one was to build a PC in a micro PC case (I'm talking EXTREMELY small) and wanted to experiment with basically building a PC entirely around an AMD Crossfire setup, is there some kind of cheap (under $50?) USB 3.0 (or some other connection that would work better) external GPU dock that could house say an RX480 AND allow someone to crossfire that external RX480 with one in the machine (given that the motherboard can support crossfire)? I think it would be fairly straightforward to crossfire the cards and leave them outside the case, I'm just wondering if you could do it so you could detach the cards from eachother without having to open the case (obviously not in a hot-pluggable manner though). Now I know whether or not crossfire/SLI is actually useful is debateable, but I kindly ask you not to discuss your thoughts on the effectiveness of them and focus on my question. I KNOW someone could just get a bigger case and put them all inside but I am specifically curious if you could do it the way I described. Thank you for any and all input regarding this matter!
External Graphics Card on a purpose built gaming rig
- Thread starter lucky71
- Start date
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chemmajorp53
Dignified
- Apr 5, 2013
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No, you'd have to build your own, even then i doubt you could do it for close to $50. Prebuilt GPU docks have their own proprietary power supplies and usually connect through thunderbolt, that's why they're expensive. USB 3.0 isn't fast enough to make use of an RX 480, even thunderbolt diminishes performance. If you wanted to run any kind of external system, it would be a lot cheaper to use a single GTX 1070. Also I HIGHLY doubt you can crossfire cards over anything but PCIe for the 2nd card.
I know you asked people not to comment on effectiveness, but to be honest this is a pretty bad idea and will probably cost a lot more money and time than you're imagining.
The best way to do high performance small systems is to use a super small case with a Pico DC/DC power supply and use an external power brick for AC/DC. You can get a GTX 1070 and any LGA 1151 processor in a system like that pretty easily. There's a youtuber called "Not from Concentrate" that does a lot of these types of builds if you're interested. It would be cheaper, smaller and higher performance than having external GPU enclosures.
EDIT: I looked it up it's not possible to crossfire cards over thunderbolt (which they actually make external GPU docks for) so there's no chance you can crossfire over USB.
I know you asked people not to comment on effectiveness, but to be honest this is a pretty bad idea and will probably cost a lot more money and time than you're imagining.
The best way to do high performance small systems is to use a super small case with a Pico DC/DC power supply and use an external power brick for AC/DC. You can get a GTX 1070 and any LGA 1151 processor in a system like that pretty easily. There's a youtuber called "Not from Concentrate" that does a lot of these types of builds if you're interested. It would be cheaper, smaller and higher performance than having external GPU enclosures.
EDIT: I looked it up it's not possible to crossfire cards over thunderbolt (which they actually make external GPU docks for) so there's no chance you can crossfire over USB.
Thank you for your reply, however the idea is in the spirit of experimentation. Also note, it is just an idea, not worried about if its a "bad idea" or how time consuming it might be. Obviously it would not be a very practical or efficient rig, just something to explore with. Thank you.
chemmajorp53
Dignified
- Apr 5, 2013
- 3,160
- 1
- 15,010
It's not possible to crossfire a card inside the system with one outside the system without using PCIe, which means you will have to cut a hole somewhere in the case for a ribbon cable to go through to a GPU dock you've built yourself. It's possible, but it might look pretty bad and will require you to have a separate PSU that's rigged to jump start when you press the power button for the 2nd card.
If all you want is a project, I think it would be fun to make a system like this but without the first graphics card and get a GTX 1070 mini. You could build just the ITX mobo, processor, cooler, RAM, and an HDplex PSU into the main case and then cut holes into the side of the case for a short PCIe x16 extension cable and the 8 pin PCIe power connector off the HDplex. Then you could build a 2nd enclosure for just the 1070 mini and have extension cables coming outside of it to plug straight into the PCIe 16x and 8pin connections that you built into the case. Just an idea. Either that or you could just leave the case side panel off and plug the GPU in vertically whenever you need it lmao. This way you could use the main computer by itself w/o the graphics card and plug in the 2nd one when you need it. Still a lot more trouble than building something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azlP8iiMb-4&
That would still be a project
If all you want is a project, I think it would be fun to make a system like this but without the first graphics card and get a GTX 1070 mini. You could build just the ITX mobo, processor, cooler, RAM, and an HDplex PSU into the main case and then cut holes into the side of the case for a short PCIe x16 extension cable and the 8 pin PCIe power connector off the HDplex. Then you could build a 2nd enclosure for just the 1070 mini and have extension cables coming outside of it to plug straight into the PCIe 16x and 8pin connections that you built into the case. Just an idea. Either that or you could just leave the case side panel off and plug the GPU in vertically whenever you need it lmao. This way you could use the main computer by itself w/o the graphics card and plug in the 2nd one when you need it. Still a lot more trouble than building something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azlP8iiMb-4&
That would still be a project
You can use external PCI express cables , but this is not any where near $50 .. this is a $300 project ... people already did this project 2 years ago ...
MSI also made a notebook with external TRUE PCI Express dock as well ... few years ago.
MSI also made a notebook with external TRUE PCI Express dock as well ... few years ago.
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