Question RTX 5090 laptop alternative -- a Mini-PC with an eGPU ?

[mf2385]

I've been doing some research for the past couple of weeks on alternatives to spending upwards of 5-6 thousand dollars upgrading from my 2.5 year old 3080 Ti laptop to another more mobile solution for my work/gaming. I see new mini-PC solutions coming with oculink and thunderbolt 5 support? Would it make sense to just buy a new mini-PC with the best CPU I can find or even use my ROG ALLY X and then buy just a GPU such as an RTX 5070 Ti and hook that into a 1440p/2K display, it would certainly save me money. Any setups anyone can recommend for my line of thinking? Much appreciated.

I just wanted to reiterate this wouldn't be for 4K gaming, but rather 2k/1440p and high settings, thanks again.

 

[helper800]

I've been doing some research for the past couple of weeks on alternatives to spending upwards of 5-6 thousand dollars upgrading from my 2 and a half year old 3080 ti laptop to another more mobile solution for my work/gaming. I see new mini-PC solutions coming with oculink and thunderbolt 5 support? Would it make sense to just buy a new mini-PC with the best CPU I can find or even use my ROG ALLY X and then buy just a GPU such as an RTX 5070 ti and hook that into a 1440p/2K display, it would certainly save me money. Any setups anyone can recommend for my line of thinking? Much appreciated.

I just wanted to reiterate this wouldn't be for 4K gaming, but rather 2k/1440p and high settings, thanks again.

Do you need the portability of a laptop?

 

[helper800]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($405.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Gigabyte AORUS WATERFORCE II 240 64.95 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($138.69 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850I AORUS PRO Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Inland Performance Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($132.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Lexar NM790 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($244.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB Video Card ($1359.99 @ MSI)
Case: Jonsbo Jonsplus Z20 MicroATX Desktop Case ($96.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: FSP Group Hydro PTM X PRO,Gen5 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($179.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Total: $2989.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-16 19:43 EDT-0400

 

[mf2385]

Do you need the portability of a laptop?

That's part of it yes, but with more horsepower would be nice.

 

[VizzieTheViz]

If you need a laptop you need a laptop and you could try to find one with occulink or tb5 and go egpu or bite the bullet and just get a 5090 or 5080 laptop.

If you don’t need a laptop I’d see about getting either a full fledged gaming pc in as small as possible a case or a mini pc with a strix halo cpu and a ton of fast ram.

For the price of a 5090 laptop you could probably also buy a big pc for gaming and a thin and light laptop for work (that’s what I did because I only use my laptop for work and game at home occasionally).

What’s best for you depends on your use case.

 

[LordVile]

I've been doing some research for the past couple of weeks on alternatives to spending upwards of 5-6 thousand dollars upgrading from my 2 and a half year old 3080 ti laptop to another more mobile solution for my work/gaming. I see new mini-PC solutions coming with oculink and thunderbolt 5 support? Would it make sense to just buy a new mini-PC with the best CPU I can find or even use my ROG ALLY X and then buy just a GPU such as an RTX 5070 ti and hook that into a 1440p/2K display, it would certainly save me money. Any setups anyone can recommend for my line of thinking? Much appreciated.

I just wanted to reiterate this wouldn't be for 4K gaming, but rather 2k/1440p and high settings, thanks again.

My question is why do you want 1440p on a laptop size display?

Also are you planning to take the entire PC and eGPU with you? In that case why not just get a portable Mini ITX system with a handle

 

[mf2385]

My question is why do you want 1440p on a laptop size display?

Also are you planning to take the entire PC and eGPU with you? In that case why not just get a portable Mini ITX system with a handle

My question is why do you want 1440p on a laptop size display?

Also are you planning to take the entire PC and eGPU with you? In that case why not just get a portable Mini ITX system with a handle

I probably won't be using the laptop display but an external 2k/1440p monitor 27'-32'.

Can those mini iTX systems use rtx 4090 or 5080 GPU haven't really looked into that.

 

[USAFRet]

If you're going to attach an eGPU, you've lost all portability.

Might as well just go with a regular desktop case.

 

[mf2385]

If you're going to attach an eGPU, you've lost all portability.

Might as well just go with a regular desktop case.

Actually no I can bring a GPU much easier than a full ATX case for sure especially on planes, I've done both lol and I may not bring the eGPU with me everywhere I go but using it for home use would be easy as well.

 

[USAFRet]

Actually no I can bring a GPU much easier than a full ATX case for sure especially on planes, I've done both lol

mini PC + eGPU pod + power supply + kbd/mouse + monitor....

vs...a good laptop.

 

[mf2385]

mini PC + eGPU pod + power supply + kbd/mouse + monitor....

vs...a good laptop.

right but I have some stuff with me in both locations, I don't need to lug everything all the time, the big bulky desktop makes me have to unless I do some mini-PC sort of rig or an extremely expensive laptop that has an rtx 5070 ti desktop performance or less, idk man lol

 

[artk2219]

right but I have some stuff with me in both locations, I don't need to lug everything all the time, the big bulky desktop makes me have to unless I do some mini-PC sort of rig or an extremely expensive laptop that has an rtx 5070 ti desktop performance or less, idk man lol

Alright, question, when you're traveling for work with your laptop, do you play games on it, or do you mainly work? Also, what games are you playing for the most part when you are traveling?

 

[LordVile]

Can those mini iTX systems use rtx 4090 or 5080 GPU haven't really looked into that.

Depends on the case but a 5090 FE is significantly easier to fit than an AIB partner or 4090

 

[LordVile]

Alright, question, when you're traveling for work with your laptop, do you play games on it, or do you mainly work? Also, what games are you playing for the most part when you are traveling?

Could also look at streaming games when travelling. Personally use a handheld PC for travelling with a MacBook. You don’t need stupid performance on the go, just convenience