Exploring Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Performance, Feat. PowerColor's Gaming Station & Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano
by Ganesh T S on February 13, 2019 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- PowerColor
- Thunderbolt 3
- eGFX
- RX Vega 56 Nano Edition
Evaluated System Configurations
Before we got to evaluating the Gaming Station itself, we first opted to isolate the PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano in order to establish its baseline performance as an internal GPU prior to its usage as an eGPU. To this (and to ensure some hardware variety) we tested it inside a couple of systems, starting with a typical high-end desktop configuration from the 2015 time-frame - the sort of system for which consumers tend to upgrade the discrete GPU. Our Custom Haswell DIY build uses an Intel Core i7-4790 in an Asus Z97-PRO Wi-Fi ac ATX motherboard, with the other components outlined in the table below. Regular readers might remember that this system (without the dGPU) was used as a direct-attached storage testbed for Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 external storage devices in the 2014 - 2017 time-frame.
Custom Haswell DIY System | |
Motherboard | Asus Z97-PRO Wi-Fi ac ATX |
CPU | Intel Core i7-4790 |
GPU | PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano |
Memory | Corsair Vengeance Pro CMY32GX3M4A2133C11 32 GB (4x 8GB) DDR3-2133 @ 11-11-11-27 |
OS Drive | Seagate 600 Pro 400 GB |
Optical Drive | Asus BW-16D1HT 16x Blu-ray Write (w/ M-Disc Support) |
Chassis | Corsair Air 540 |
PSU | Corsair AX760i 760 W |
OS | Windows 10 Enterprise 1809 |
Thanks to Asus and Corsair for the build components |
We also wanted to get an idea of the card's performance with a relatively modern system. As an internal GPU, the card was also tested in the Shuttle XPC Gaming Cube SZ270R9. Regular readers might recognize this system as one of the comparison points in our second look at the gaming performance of the Hades Canyon NUC. The only difference is the replacement of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB EVGA Founders Edition with the PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano.
Shuttle XPC Gaming Cube SZ270R9 | |
Motherboard | Z270-based Shuttle Custom |
CPU | Intel Core i7-7700K |
GPU | PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano |
Memory | Kingston Technology HyperX FURY Black HX426C16FB2K2/16 16 GB (2x 8GB) DDR4-2666 @ 16-18-18-39 |
OS Drive | SanDisk X600 SD9SB8W-256G 256 GB |
Chassis | Shuttle XPC Gaming Cube |
PSU | 80 PLUS Silver 500 W (Custom) |
OS | Windows 10 Enterprise 1809 |
Thanks to Shuttle for the build components |
A note of caution for consumers hoping to use the Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano in the XPC SZ270R9 - the PSU bundled with the Gaming Cube system (500W) can't reliably support the GPU, resulting in random reboots and shutdowns with certain workstation workloads. Using a second PSU to deliver power over one of the two power-pin connectors in the card resolved that issue.
eGFX enclosures complement ultrabooks - while the latter provides portability, the former can give it the extra power needed when GPU-intensive workloads (gaming, say) need to be processed. Most eGFX enclosures also support the power delivery profiles, and the PowerColor Gaming Station is no different. Promising up to 85W of charging capability, the enclosure has no issues keeping ultrabooks juiced up when connected. Our ultrabook platform of choice for the evaluation of the Gaming Station + Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano solution is the Razer Blade Stealth QHD model from 2016 using the Core i7-6500U processor.
Razer Blade Stealth (SKL) eGPU | |
Motherboard | Razer Custom (SKL-U) |
CPU | Intel Core i7-6500U (15W TDP) |
eGPU | PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano |
Memory | 8 GB |
OS Drive | Samsung PM951 MZVLV128HCGR 128 GB |
OS | Windows 10 Enterprise 1809 |
eGFX enclosures are also an attractive choice for mini-PC owners. A number of mini-PCs with Thunderbolt 3 are already in the market. Limited upgrade options are often cited as a downside for these systems. The eGFX enclosures take away the GPU part from that equation. We consider two mini-PCs in our evaluation of the eGFX solution - the Zotac MI553 (using a 45W TDP Kaby Lake mobile CPU), and the Intel NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon) NUC (using a 28W TDP Coffee Lake-U CPU).
Zotac MI553 | |
Motherboard | Zotac Custom (KBL-H) |
CPU | Intel Core i5-7300HQ (45W TDP) |
GPU | Intel HD Graphics 630 |
eGPU | PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano |
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws F4-2133C15-8GRS DDR4 15-15-15-36 @ 2133 MHz 2x8 GB |
OS Drive | Samsung SSD 950 PRO (512 GB; M.2 Type 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe; 40nm; MLC V-NAND) |
OS | Windows 10 Enterprise 1809 |
Thanks to Zotac for the review sample of the MI553, and G.Skill for the RAM |
The Zotac MI553 above, as well as the Bean Canyon NUC below, were both also subject to the benchmarks with the integrated GPU activated. This gives readers an idea of the benefits of using a eGFX enclosure to complement their systems.
Intel NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon) NUC | |
Motherboard | Intel Custom (CFL-U) |
CPU | Intel Core i7-8559U (28W TDP) |
GPU | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 |
eGPU | PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano |
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws F4-3000C16-16GRS DDR4 18-18-18-43 @ 3000 MHz 2x16 GB |
OS Drive | WD Black 3D NVMe SSD (2018) (1 TB; M.2 Type 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe; 64L BiCS 3D TLC NAND) |
OS | Windows 10 Enterprise 1809 |
Thanks to Intel for the review sample of the Bean Canyon NUC, G.Skill for the RAM, and WD for the SSD |
Our choice of test systems allows readers to identify workloads that are CPU-limited. In particular, the eGPU configurations are tested with systems having 15W, 28W, and 45W TDP CPUs. These point to typical ultrabook, mini-PC, and notebook systems currently in the market.
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Sunday Afternoon - Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - link
This is a version of the Mantiz Venus by another name. Here's a quiet mod that I did: https://egpu.io/forums/builds/2017-2018-15-macbook...sorten - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
Thanks Ganesh, great review. I've been very curious about the importance of the host system's TDP because of my interest in attaching a Surface Pro to an eGPU (in the perfect future where Microsoft finally caves on USB-C and TB). Looks like some games and benchmarks definitely need some CPU help, but a 30% average hit compared to a desktop with an internal GPU is not bad!eastcoast_pete - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
The fact that the Vega 56 throttled to avoid over heating shows one of the shortcomings of this box - not enough ventilation. A pair of larger vents/fans is definitely in order, especially if the manufacturer seems to think the enclosure should be okay with higher-end cards. Having only an 80 mm and a 40 mm fan won't do, unless you game in a meatlocker, and that gets old fast.PeachNCream - Thursday, February 14, 2019 - link
The GPU performance might be a problem inherent to the card rather than the enclosure. We are talking about a small form factor Vega 56 so it would be interesting to get the same thermal analysis with that specific card inside a desktop case.BuddyRich - Friday, February 15, 2019 - link
It would be interesting to test this eGPU with the new mac mini as it was designed with an eGPU in mind and has a desktop CPU in it - even dual booting into Windows.