Gaming accessory and PC maker Razer launched a 2.75 pound gaming laptop in January called the Razer Blade Stealth. Actually, the laptop itself is a pretty decent computer, but it doesn’t really have the power for heavy-duty gaming… unless you also buy a Razer Core graphics dock, which lets you use the thin and light notebook with a desktop-class graphics card.
The only problem? While the Razer Blade Stealth has been on sale since January, you haven’t been able to buy the Razer Core… until now.
Razer is taking pre-orders for the graphics dock and says it’ll ship in April. In addition to the Razer Blade Stealth, it should work with the new 2016 Razer Blade laptop and other compatible Razer systems with Thunderbolt 3 ports.
There is one more slight problem. The dock ain’t exactly cheap.
Razer is charging $399 if you buy one with a compatible PC. If you’ve already got a PC you’d like to use the dock with, you’ll have to pay $499 to buy just the Razer Core.
And those prices don’t actually include graphics cards.
The Razer Core connects to your computer via a single Thunderbolt 3/USB-C cable, and adds four full-sized USB 3.0 ports and Gigabit Ethernet.
But it’s key selling point is the double-wide, full-length PCI-Express x16 slot for AMD or NVIDIA graphics cards. You’ll need to supply your own graphics card, but the 13.4″ x 8.6″ x 4.1″ dock should be able to handle some of the most powerful cards on the market. The Razer Core has a 500 watt power supply and it can support graphics cards that use up to 375 watts.
Weighing in at nearly 11 pounds, the dock isn’t really designed to be portable. Instead, it’s designed to hang out at home, allowing you to plug in your laptop when you want to use a high-performance graphics card, and unplug when you want to use your notebook on the go.
Note that while Razer only promises that the dock is compatible with its Blade and Blade Stealth laptops, a separate announcement from Intel suggests that it should work with any device featuring a Thunderbolt 3 port… including the upcoming Intel Skull Canyon NUC.
via Razer
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i dont think $399 is too much for what it does, and being really first off the block doing it.
call it an early adopter tax – give it a couple of years when there is competition, and external graphics card enclosures will be much cheaper.
Sony did this like five years ago. I mean, I agree, they’re the first ones doing it *now*, and there’s no one else really offering this currently.
yeah but didnt it only work on sony’s machines with a not too ubiquitous interface?
this should be platform independant
Someone pointed this out to me for another article, apparently there were other eGPU OEM solutions prior to Sony’s:
Asus XG Station (2007, apparently only launched in Australia: http://www.laptopmag.com/artic…
Fujitsu Amilo Graphics Booster (2008, http://gizmodo.com/5101686/fuj…
And of course the less well known options like Vidock.
Think the Sony probably got the most play with the Z2 in 2011, though.
Still should be better and brighter (and cheaper!) soon!
Doh! lets try those links again…
http://www.laptopmag.com/artic…
http://gizmodo.com/5101686/fuj…
taxes sux these days cuz u receive nothing in exchange except the overpopulated dirty place you find everywhere instead of a wellfare state. With that said, kaby lake comes in q3 with the latest ports and along come lof of dock models, so only someone not knowing that will let razer get that absurd amount of money for this.
$500 is pretty steep, but I’m sure Asus/Gigabyte/ASRock competitors will soon be on the market with $200 alternatives.
Lets just hope that some nice Thunderbolt 3-equipped laptops hit the market.
The Razer Blade is a really nice ultrabook for the price, but I’d like something a little more conservative looking.
Hasn’t Asus already announced they are launching the XG Station 2? (Though, they also said that they would be launching the XG Station back in 2007…)
$499? For non Stealth buyers?? That’s insane
laughable price for a box. A gimmick. Lot of variants are in the way to dock external gpu so no reason to waste like that.
Maybe in the near future, homes will have a computer graphics “appliance” equivalent to a central A/C unit or a water heater. There will be wall sockets in every room where you can plug devices in to source the power of your “central” video card. 🙂
I like the concept. However Ill be checking Aliexpress over the coming months for a perfectly functional 100 euro version, that doesn’t need a stolen shopping trolley to move it around.
I would gladly pay the $500 and hook it up to my XPS15, but it sounds like certain egpu configurations need a bios element that I doubt Dell will provide.
$400 dollars and you still have to buy the graphics card ……..oh dear.