Nvidia’s RTX 5090 is capable of delivering impressive performance in both small form factor PCs and handheld gaming devices. Recently, the author tested the eGPU-enabled RTX 5090 with a Minisforum DEG1 external GPU dock and paired it with an AMD Ryzen 8840U mobile CPU.
The results showed that the RTX 5090 performed reasonably well, achieving over 100 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K resolution and Ultra settings. Although it was slower than pairing the same GPU with a high-end gaming CPU, it outperformed the integrated GPU of the GPD Win Max 2 handheld by four to 12 times.
The performance disparity was most noticeable when comparing the RTX 5090 in the Minisforum dock to the desktop setup, where the GPU’s performance dropped significantly. However, even then, it remained faster than the handheld’s Radeon 780M integrated GPU.
This development suggests that future handheld gaming devices could potentially become more powerful with eGPU technology, allowing users to upgrade their mobile gaming capabilities at home.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/pc-gaming/606006/nvidia-rtx-5090-egpu-gaming-handheld-oculink-test-pcie-minisforum-deg1