Razer Core Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Chassis: $499/$399

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Razer Core Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Chassis: $499/$399, AMD & NVIDIA, Shipping In April

Sorry cant post links yet, but its on anandtech!
 
So basically, Nvidia slipped a few extra dollars to Razer to overcharge for this thing.

Nvidia has NOTHING to gain by people being able to buy high-powered affordable graphics solutions that compete with their highly profitable mobile GPUs.
 
So basically, Nvidia slipped a few extra dollars to Razer to overcharge for this thing.

Nvidia has NOTHING to gain by people being able to buy high-powered affordable graphics solutions that compete with their highly profitable mobile GPUs.

Honestly I don't think its overcharged, and this is way:
  1. Its a new ip
  2. only its own laptops are compatible (for now)
  3. Is obvious a lot of effort went into its development
  4. Its the only one in the market (msi has one in development I believe)
Just to finish, I don't believe the pricing has anything to do with Nvidea or AMD for that matter.
 
Honestly I don't think its overcharged, and this is way:
  1. Its a new ip
  2. only its own laptops are compatible (for now)
  3. Is obvious a lot of effort went into its development
  4. Its the only one in the market (msi has one in development I believe)
Just to finish, I don't believe the pricing has anything to do with Nvidea or AMD for that matter.

The question I ask myself is this: Nvidia makes MOST of its money from mobile graphics. Its the market leader in (discrete) mobile graphics, and it is in a total dominance in the laptop high-end segment. My question is this: What does Nvidia have to GAIN from allowing users to have a non-nvidia alternative to their mobile graphics chips? Its hard to find a notebook WITHOUT an Nvidia GPU, and those that don't simply have no discrete GPU at all. AMD is doing worse in mobile computing than it is in desktop, and its doing pretty terribly there. Essentially, the mobile GPU market is either A)Nvidia, B)Intel, or C)All of the above.

The most powerful GPUs available to the thin&light segment (the key market for this) are easily outclassed by a $250 desktop video card, and AMD has TONS of options in that price arena. Make no mistake: it was AMD who pushed for this standard. It was AMD who has EVERYTHING to gain from these enclosures, and its Nvidia who has NOTHING to gain... unless it raises the bar-of-entry so high that it changes the product from a way to cheaply add more graphics options to a high-end enthusiast-only luxury item: Where Nvidia dominates. Essentially, after $450, AMD does not compete. the 980 and 980Ti dominate. The Fury is overpriced and the FuryX does not fit. Are you going to spend LESS on the GPU than the enclosure? Of course not!

This price is VERY much engineered to benefit Nvidia, make no mistake.
 
The question I ask myself is this: Nvidia makes MOST of its money from mobile graphics. Its the market leader in (discrete) mobile graphics, and it is in a total dominance in the laptop high-end segment. My question is this: What does Nvidia have to GAIN from allowing users to have a non-nvidia alternative to their mobile graphics chips? Its hard to find a notebook WITHOUT an Nvidia GPU, and those that don't simply have no discrete GPU at all. AMD is doing worse in mobile computing than it is in desktop, and its doing pretty terribly there. Essentially, the mobile GPU market is either A)Nvidia, B)Intel, or C)All of the above.

The most powerful GPUs available to the thin&light segment (the key market for this) are easily outclassed by a $250 desktop video card, and AMD has TONS of options in that price arena. Make no mistake: it was AMD who pushed for this standard. It was AMD who has EVERYTHING to gain from these enclosures, and its Nvidia who has NOTHING to gain... unless it raises the bar-of-entry so high that it changes the product from a way to cheaply add more graphics options to a high-end enthusiast-only luxury item: Where Nvidia dominates. Essentially, after $450, AMD does not compete. the 980 and 980Ti dominate. The Fury is overpriced and the FuryX does not fit. Are you going to spend LESS on the GPU than the enclosure? Of course not!

This price is VERY much engineered to benefit Nvidia, make no mistake.

I'm guessing they're hoping to get more people to buy desktop GPU's as they're more profitable dollar wise. They can sell a laptop with an Nvidia GPU and an add in desktop class GPU. Yeah some people will move over to desktop. But more are likely to get laptops with Nvidia Mobile GPU's along with a desktop GPU. Essentially this will help them sell more Nvidia Products and thus more money.
 
I'm guessing they're hoping to get more people to buy desktop GPU's as they're more profitable dollar wise. They can sell a laptop with an Nvidia GPU and an add in desktop class GPU. Yeah some people will move over to desktop. But more are likely to get laptops with Nvidia Mobile GPU's along with a desktop GPU. Essentially this will help them sell more Nvidia Products and thus more money.

Except the fact that this opens the floodgates to buyers being open to Ultrabooks with no discrete GPU: Imagine using a nice, ultra-thin Zenbook on the train for browsing/productivity, then you take it home and blast away on BF4. In fact, MOST (I'm willing to guess upper-90%) notebook gamers are going to be 'gaming' at a desk with a USB mouse, with the AC plugged in. Nobody 'games' on the move, on a bus or on a train with a trackpad, on battery power. People are only ever going to 'game' in certain areas, just due to the logistics of what 'gaming' requires. Even people with huge 19" mega-lap-breakers aren't 'gaming' until they sit down at a desk or on the couch, plugged into AC. People only really use those powerful mobile GPUs when they are in a 'gaming friendly' area. In ALL of these situations, a GPU-less ultrabook with a detachable GFX enclosure can be used easily in the same exact way as a muxh more expensive notebook with discrete GPU. It essentially makes the little mobile GPUs useless. You could own a baseline ultrabook with a zippy i7 and NO discrete GPU and use it in the EXACT same way as a hardcore 'gaming' notebook using a GFX Enclosure.

"So why spend the extra money on a notebook with a GPU?"

Yes, Nvidia asked themselves that same question. Why indeed.

Nvidia ONLY has ground to loose with this product.
 
I can wait for the inevitable Rosewill and other low cost versions to come out. By that time this thing will be a simple cage that probably only fits a Nano sized card and you will be able to add your power supply of choice to it. Might take 3 years or so like SSD technology took to become more affordable for everyone.
 
I am onboard with the idea of the core, its the Stealth I have issues with. Why make the thing only 8gb of RAM? I would buy the stealth and the core if it had a 16gb RAM version. Then to make matters worse, they solder the RAM to the board.
 
Just wait for version 2. The current version also only has a dual core CPU ... maybe the next version will get a full quad core i7 (or greater!).
 
I called a vendor soft lock on this thing months ago, nice to see I can still trust companies to be companies and do what's worst for everyone but them :p
 
Intel debuts AMD XConnect-ready Skull Canyon NUC at GDC 2016
Intel debuts AMD XConnect-ready Skull Canyon NUC at GDC 2016 - Systems - News - HEXUS.net

Robert Hallock confirmed that it is AMD XConnect compatible.
Robert Hallock on Twitter

Razer Core compatible

It is suggested that the NUC6i7KYK unleashes the performance required for "intense game play or intensive workloads".Indeed users can use the systems straight away with 4K displays and multi-monitor configurations. However the Iris Pro graphics installed are not a brick wall in this instance, if you find them to be rather anaemic for your needs. Intel says that users can utilise the built-in Thunderbolt 3 port to connect to high-end, external graphics card(s) through a device "such as the new Razer Core". (such as – implying it is aware of competitor AMD XConnect compatible chassis solutions?).
 
If that was my use-case, I wouldn't mind. Like people have said, ultrabook for work during work hours and plop it into the dock during break for recreation. Most if not all of us have spare GPUs (I have a 780 and a 290 just sitting around), so the separate GPU isn't really an issue. Also if I was planning on ditching my desktop setup entirely, the cost of a GPU wouldn't be unreasonable for the performance boost and playability it would provide.

My issue right now - specifically with the Razorblade (which I came this close to pulling the trigger on) - is that the CPU is ok if you are using MS office or something, but not so much for gaming ... especially as we move forward with DX12. Maybe Stealth version 2 (or a similar style laptop from another company) will offer a more potent CPU to match the flexibility of the GPU.

For me /File under good idea that needs more time baking.
 
A GPU enclosure that's more expensive than the GPU.

...umm. I guess...

Yup, when you add in the cost of the PSU, dual thunderbolt chips (remember, this bus is daisy-chain!), motherboard plus slots plus case, it gets to be as expensive as a high-end desktop motherboard plus a high-end PSU plus a case.

And the price goes up even more because of the limited market for these things. Who would have thought? :rolleyes:

Just build a desktop and be done with it.
 
Yup, when you add in the cost of the PSU, dual thunderbolt chips (remember, this bus is daisy-chain!), motherboard plus slots plus case, it gets to be as expensive as a high-end desktop motherboard plus a high-end PSU plus a case.

And the price goes up even more because of the limited market for these things. Who would have thought? :rolleyes:

Just build a desktop and be done with it.

Except it doesn't have dual thunderbolt chips, only 1, this is not a device that is intended to be in the beginning of a daisy chain. The thunderbolt port on it is able to be the power adapter for the blade and blade stealth laptops.

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Someone else will build a cheaper one then, no biggie its an open standard.

Or also build a more expensive one with more features/premium materials. I see these somewhat like the choice in NAS enclosures.

This is only the first enclosure, having the choice *not* to be stuck with just the mobile GPU is a BIG step, and nice.
 
Except it doesn't have dual thunderbolt chips, only 1, this is not a device that is intended to be in the beginning of a daisy chain. The thunderbolt port on it is able to be the power adapter for the blade and blade stealth laptops.

Darn, no Core SLi or Core Crossfile.
 
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