Refreshed Razer Core v2 eGPU packs extra graphics punch

Razer Core X
Razer Core X

For those who want to have a thin laptop but use it for gaming when at home, an eGPU is one solution. Razer was one of the first to popularize the enclosures, which let you add a top-tier gaming card and power your laptop through USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3.

Version 2 of the Razer Core is now a reality, and it will start shipping soon in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, and Germany.

Razer Core v2 features

  • Connection to PC via Thunderbolt 3 using included 40 Gbps cable
  • Supports single double-wide, full-length, PCI-Express x16 graphics card
  • Razer Core inner dimensions: 5.71 in / 145 mm (H) x 1.69 in / 43 mm (W) x 11.81 in / 300 mm (L)
  • Four USB 3.0 ports (SuperSpeed)
  • Gigabyte Ethernet
  • Chroma lighting (two zones)
  • Built-in 500W power supply (GPU max power support: 375W)

One of the significant changes is internal: the Thunderbolt 3 controller. Typically, power, data (external storage), and the display all go through the same USB Type-C cable, and that overhead can tax the bandwidth for the GPU. (Thunderbolt 3 is not infinite at just 40Gbps.)

Razer claims this Razer Core "features the world's first dual Thunderbolt 3 internal controller design that separates lanes for both graphics and connected devices, ensuring fluid gameplay." That ability should give a little extra headroom for your GPU to work without running into data flowing back from an external drive.

The Razer Core v2 still supports NVIDIA GeForce 10 series and AMD Radeon 500 series with XConnect Technology, so you can bring any card you want to the box. Have a look at our roundup of the best graphics cards for hardware to add to the box.

For professionals in the office, external high-end desktop NVIDIA Quadro GPUs are also now supported.

There's no exact date for Razer Core v2 availability, but it is listed as "coming soon" and is priced at $499, just like the first version. It will eventually be available in the U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, China, and Japan.

When combined with the new quad-core Razer Blade Stealth, also announced today, this combo should be a good one for gaming fans and graphics pros.

See at Razer

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

8 Comments
  • Nice, this looks good. A bit steep at $500 though.
  • I really want this to be part of my home set up, but they are so eGPUs are still very pricey. I have limited space so I currently use an all-in-one PC, but would love to eventually use an eGPU.
  • Only 1 x DP, 1x HDMI, 2 x DVI ? I am looking for 3x DP to have three 4 K displays...looks like gigabyte aorus 1080 gaming box is better choice, of course it has dedicated graphic card.
  • That seems like it would really be up the graphics card itself. Most comps with TB3 ports can handle either (2) 4K displays or one 5K display per TB3 port, IIRC.
  • Need Surface Pro with Thunderbolt eGPU support........ Until then, I'm not upgrading my i7 SP3
  • Another year then. I wish they had updated the surface line with TB
  • Does it mean this will now be able to support my XPS 13? It only has 2x lanes of PCIe :-(
  • No mention of reduced noise, so I suppose that it still sounds like you're sitting beside a jumbo jet preparing for take-off.