Hades Canyon as daily driver ?

[JohnyCane]

Hey I'd like to buy a small linux box capable of 1080p gaming , the Hades Canyon 8809G caught my eye due to upgradability via tb3 , good noise levels (36 db when gaming ) and pretty good aesthetics , though I'm not sure about the perfomance , data from intel shows that it's on par/beats a 1060 max q , whilst independent reviewers say that it's closer to a 1050 ti in games (something like 10-20% faster I think ) , and my question is whether this is enough power for 1080p60 (40-50 in more demanding games ) at high/ultra?
Also I know this is more of a guessing game , but do y'all think ill be able to play Fallout 76 wwith thus vega m gpu?

 

[defaultluser]

You won't be able to max things out. It's about 10% faster than the 1050 Ti desktop card. That's equal to the old R9 380X, which could max-out 1080p last year, but not anymore. It's only downhill from there.

You really need a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580 to max-out 1080p today (and play 1440p at medium).

And Thunderbolt3 is a joke if you have any intentions of purchasing a serious graphics card upgrade. In tests here at 4k Ultra (not CPU-limited), a GTX 1080 Ti in the Thunderbolt 3 dock using an external monitor performed the same as a desktop GTX 1070 running in an x16 slot.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Razer...nd-Compatibility-Is-it-Worth-it.213526.0.html

THAT'S A 60% PERFORMANCE LOSS at 4k VERSUS an x16 slot JUST FROM INSISTING ON GOING EXTERNAL. And the performance impact will only go up as newer graphics cards are released.

You get a lot better scaling with slower graphics cards, but then what's the point? You already have a card that's faster than a GTX 1050 Ti onboard. You wouldn't get much of an upgrade with less than a GTX 1070, and that's when the performance scaling hits a wall.

Thunderbolt 3 makes sense for PCs that come with only Intel graphics, but there's no clear use case for models that come with mid-range discrete. Just buy a Node 202 case and do this SFF gaming system the right way.

 

[JohnyCane]

You won't be able to max things out. It's about 10% faster than the 1050 Ti desktop card. That's equal to the old R9 380X, which could max-out 1080p last year, but not anymore. It's only downhill from there.

You really need a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580 to max-out 1080p today (and play 1440p at medium).

And Thunderbolt3 is a joke if you have any intentions of purchasing a serious graphics card upgrade. In tests here at 4k Ultra (not CPU-limited), a GTX 1080 Ti in the Thunderbolt 3 dock using an external monitor performed the same as a desktop GTX 1070 running in an x16 slot.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Razer...nd-Compatibility-Is-it-Worth-it.213526.0.html

THAT'S A 60% PERFORMANCE LOSS at 4k VERSUS an x16 slot JUST FROM INSISTING ON GOING EXTERNAL. And the performance impact will only go up as newer graphics cards are released.

You get a lot better scaling with slower graphics cards, but then what's the point? You already have a card that's faster than a GTX 1050 Ti onboard. You wouldn't get much of an upgrade with less than a GTX 1070, and that's when the performance scaling hits a wall.

Thunderbolt 3 makes sense for PCs that come with only Intel graphics, but there's no clear use case for models that come with mid-range discrete. Just buy a Node 202 case and do this SFF gaming system the right way.

Certainly , but could the NUCs perfomance improve due to better drivers and optimisation overtime ? Also would overclocking the Hades Canyon bring in any perfomance improvements . I am aware of the bandwidth limitation however the NUC has 2 separate tb3 controllers at 4 pcie lanes meaning that I'd have 8 lanes total which is the same amount used by the alienware amplifier so maybe the dual controllers could help offset the loss?

 

[defaultluser]

Certainly , but could the NUCs perfomance improve due to better drivers and optimisation overtime ? Also would overclocking the Hades Canyon bring in any perfomance improvements . I am aware of the bandwidth limitation however the NUC has 2 separate tb3 controllers at 4 pcie lanes meaning that I'd have 8 lanes total which is the same amount used by the alienware amplifier so maybe the dual controllers could help offset the loss?

There is very little overclocking headroom, due to the fact that the Vega M is already overclocked (Anandtech measured 230w with both GPU and CPU fully-loaded, that's RX 480 power levels), and the thermal solution hits a wall.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3282-hades-canyon-review-intel-amd-pressure-nvidia-nuc8i7hvk

Alienware Amplifier uses the same 4x Pcie lanes as any other external dock. They just guarantee the bandwidth due to the dedicated lanes from the CPU (instead of using the same lanes as the rest of the devices in the chipset, or just x2 lane s like Dell's laptops). This will improve performance over x2 TB3 connectors, but should be identical to the x4 test I linked earlier. OH, and it's limited to their own laptops, because it's proprietary connector. Good luck with that NUC.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-graphics-amplifier

What is the difference between PCI Express Gen3X4 lanes and Intel Thunderbolt 3 Plug and Play?
The Alienware Graphics Amplifier’s technology uses a direct hardware connection, while the Thunderbolt 3 technology is based on a platform with shared bandwidth. Alienware’s amplifier will never share, or compromise, the bandwidth to your system’s GPU. Instead, it provides reserved high bandwidth directly to your system’s GPU with one unique cable connection. Alienware Graphics Amplifier utilizes four lanes of dedicated PCIe Gen 3. The Thunderbolt 3 specification is capable of either two or four lanes of PCIe depending on the OEM’s implementation of Intel’s technology. Alienware gains an advantage by having these lanes dedicated to graphics that are not shared by LAN, USB or display ports.

And the Razer Blade Stealth uses a dedicated x4 TB3 link, since it has no discrete graphics. See here where a second website proclaims the Stealth plus Razer Core as one of the highest-performing external docks plus notebook combos:

https://egpu.io/ultrabook-buyers-guide-external-gpu/

Still believe there's some Magic Fairy Dust you'll dig up that will somehow make TB3 the expansion port of the future? And I can find no information on TB3 being designed to be ganged-together (two ports driving one external video card).