Razer Core v2

[HEXUS]

Can a laptop and external graphics enclosure replicate desktop performance?

Read more.

[Kanoe]

Thanks for the review Hexus.

Is it possible to re-run some gaming tests with the desktop CPU set to broadly the same speed, core, thread numbers as the laptop part so that we can see if running an external GPU is still lower in performance than the desktop equivalent please.

At the moment it's easy to point the finger at CPU for the gaming performance difference but this might be masking a penalty for using external gfx as well.

[Xlucine]

1) £500 for a PSU, case and two thunderbolt controllers is ridiculous - the entire system is £2700 for that laptop and external GPU, you could buy a really nice desktop for that with plenty left over for a non-gaming portable notebook.
2) With the performance delta between external and internal screens, it looks to me like the bandwidth was an issue - if it was fully bottlenecked by the CPU, then a small extra bandwidth demand like the screen data shouldn't have much effect. Thanks for including that comparison in the review, looks like it was worth doubling up on the testing

[Tunnah]

Ah Razer, the Apple of Windows. 500 quid seems right around the "more money than sense" mark.

[Tunnah]

1) £500 for a PSU, case and two thunderbolt controllers is ridiculous - the entire system is £2700 for that laptop and external GPU, you could buy a really nice desktop for that with plenty left over for a non-gaming portable notebook.

Hell £2700 could get you a high end desktop AND a high end laptop. £1700 will build you a 1080Ti-centred PC, and a grand will get you a very sweet lappy.

[TooNice]

Ah Razer, the Apple of Windows. 500 quid seems right around the "more money than sense" mark.

No arguing that Razer, much like the Apple, aim for the premium market (*) and price their products accordingly. Or I perhaps I should say (*) "mass premium". They are still well within reach of people with average income if they are willing to give up some other non-essentials in it's stead. To me, "more money than sense" would be diamond encrusted PC/Mice/phones where it is just bling and nothing else.

Besides, is there anything else that does exactly the same thing as a Core for less money? And no, a full desktop isn't one. Anyone who might be interested in an external graphics card likely has reasons for not opting for a desktop + laptop (e.g. space, semi frequent moving, etc.).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

No arguing that Razer, much like the Apple, aim for the premium market (*) and price their products accordingly. Or I perhaps I should say (*) "mass premium". They are still well within reach of people with average income if they are willing to give up some other non-essentials in it's stead. To me, "more money than sense" would be diamond encrusted PC/Mice/phones where it is just bling and nothing else.

Besides, is there anything else that does exactly the same thing as a Core for less money? And no, a full desktop isn't one. Anyone who might be interested in an external graphics card likely has reasons for not opting for a desktop + laptop (e.g. space, semi frequent moving, etc.).

I thought Alienware/Dell had something similar??

[Tunnah]

No arguing that Razer, much like the Apple, aim for the premium market (*) and price their products accordingly. Or I perhaps I should say (*) "mass premium". They are still well within reach of people with average income if they are willing to give up some other non-essentials in it's stead. To me, "more money than sense" would be diamond encrusted PC/Mice/phones where it is just bling and nothing else.

Besides, is there anything else that does exactly the same thing as a Core for less money? And no, a full desktop isn't one. Anyone who might be interested in an external graphics card likely has reasons for not opting for a desktop + laptop (e.g. space, semi frequent moving, etc.).

I get what you're saying, but I've always took "more money than sense" to mean you're buying something that is overpriced tat and you're too stupid to know it, you splurge on it purely for the bling factor, or the status symbol, or just because of the brand, as in this case. I've got no real issue with people wasting their money, if it makes em happy who's business is it, my problem is with companies taking advantage of that for things like this. You're not getting anything premium for your extra money; no high end materials, no special patented parts that cost R&D, just the same thing others are doing at an inflated price.

I'm also extra salty against Razer because I used to love their mice. I went through loads of em, 6 I think, each breaking every while. Other mice just didn't feel right, but after the last one died after 6 months, and they no longer did the Imperator (instead renaming it something else and bumping the price up to 85 quid) I went with Logitech.

[MaddAussie]

*Cough*

https://www.sonnetstore.com/collecti...-breakaway-box

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The main point you can get from this article,is using the box with a higher end card and a 15W TDP CPU is waste of time.

It makes more sense for a 25W~45W TDP CPU like a Core i7 7700HQ which means bulkier laptops.

If it were to be implemented into a thin and light laptop,it makes more sense if the system also could add extra cooling to the CPU which could run in a higher TDP mode.

[outwar6010]

*Cough*

https://www.sonnetstore.com/collecti...-breakaway-box

Those are priced sooo much better. It looks like you also would get better airflow in them aswell and just more options.

[Iota]

*Cough*

https://www.sonnetstore.com/collecti...-breakaway-box

*cough cough*

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-Ge...QTPHZN2KEFQAQQ

Think I'd rather have the card included!

[outwar6010]

*cough cough*

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-Ge...QTPHZN2KEFQAQQ

Think I'd rather have the card included!

Tbf with mad aussies one it looks like you can fit most dual or triple fan gpus and even swap the internal psu.

[Xlucine]

No arguing that Razer, much like the Apple, aim for the premium market (*) and price their products accordingly. Or I perhaps I should say (*) "mass premium". They are still well within reach of people with average income if they are willing to give up some other non-essentials in it's stead. To me, "more money than sense" would be diamond encrusted PC/Mice/phones where it is just bling and nothing else.

Besides, is there anything else that does exactly the same thing as a Core for less money? And no, a full desktop isn't one. Anyone who might be interested in an external graphics card likely has reasons for not opting for a desktop + laptop (e.g. space, semi frequent moving, etc.).

How is a desktop+laptop any harder to move than this with an external screen?

[Nobull]

Ludicrous pricing.

[JGJones]

I have a desktop PC for gaming and an ultralight laptop for on the move (HP Spectre).

Steam's steaming generally is enough if I wanted to game on the laptop (although that's mostly restricted to games that don't need high FPS as wifi sucks for that - so that's games like Factorio. Yes the laptop can play Factorio, but when your base start getting big, the laptop struggles, while the overclocked desktop handle it fine! )