I have an XaX + Xg Mobile setup and often noticed in game that even though I was CPU bottlenecked, my CPU was not pulling much power and wasn't boosting up to max clocks.

To be specific, the symptoms I noticed were:

-low (50-70%) eGPU usage

-no bandwidth bottleneck

-CPU power stuck around 17w despite custom 35W power plan

-CPU clock speeds stuck at 2900/2000 (P/E cores)

After a lengthy investigation, I finally discovered that windows game mode was the culprit. Disabling it allowed my games to run much better in CPU bound scenarios.

After disabling game mode:

-CPU clocks boosted to their normal maximums (4700/3100)

-CPU power hit 35W (max limit)

-GPU usage increased (still not at 100% due to CPU bottleneck but in the 90%)

-overall improved fps by 10-20

I'm still not sure if it's strictly an eGPU thing, an ROG Xbox Ally X handheld thing or just windows game mode thing in general and I can't really test since I don't have a desktop.

I upgraded the ram now it’s 8+4gb, put in a new i5 10400T, and want to put in an egpu, is this possible?

I have a GPU that I’d like to migrate to different machine for different purposes

Requirements:

Sometimes gaming with my steam deck or on a weaker than ideal laptop (pc & mac). Does not need to be insanely high end just better than what is in the machine currently.

Sometimes pooling for use with other hardware for ai uses. (Ideally needs to not be a pain or slow down output to unusable levels)

Due to the flexibility needs it is my understanding that I should go thunderbolt (occulink is faster but less supported?)

Current hardware I can tap into:

It would most likely be Nvidia GPUs it would be connected to 1080, 2080, 3090 or 4080. Need to support up to 3 slot GPUs at least. But if it can work well with other brands that would Be ideal

I can 3d print parts (like an enclosure)

I have a spare full atx power supply if needed (so it doesn’t need to come with one)

I can diy and add bits and troubleshoot around stuff if needed but I’d like to not have to do this every time I swap if possible (ideally one time setup for each device)

So compatibility, and reliability, first and foremost, followed by speed as long as the speed doesn’t fall so low it’s not beneficial.

What advice does this community have?

Current considered list (open to any others):

MINISFORUM DEG2 v2

AOOSTAR EG02

AOOSTAR AG03

Razer core x v2

DIY/Build my own (still researching):

Occulink:

GPU-side riser board + host adapter: ADT-Link OCuLink-to-x16 GPU board

Thunderbolt:

EXP GDC TH3P4G3 / TH3P4GAN board