UPDATE LOG:
12/25/16: Update XPS 15 section with new info on TB3 speeds and x2 PCI-e lanes.
8/25: Add MSI GS73VR to the non-Razer Laptop section (it works great so far) – check out our detailed review here.
7/4: GTX 1080 benchmarks added, rewrote performance section, added noise levels for 1080, added new findings for XPS 15 in the non-Razer laptop section. This might be my last update for some time pending something significant happening with XPS 15 compatibility.
6/23: Razer Core is now available to order, but it’ll take a few weeks for them to ship it.
6/21: Updated benchmarks with the Blade and XPS 15 with a GTX 1070. Added explanation of results in performance section. Added GS40 compatibility and lack thereof of the AW 17 in the non-Razer laptop section.
6/7: Updated availability – Up for preorder and ships 6/13
6/3: added small section about XPS 15 specs, benchmarks and noise to the non-Razer laptop section.
6/2: Fixed issues with XPS 15, updated non-Razer laptop section, updated benchmarks in performance section, add Noise and Heat section.
5/31: Added more gaming benchmarks and XPS 15+core comparisons. Added section explaining the results in the non-Razer laptop section. Added noise readings to the end of the Performance section.
5/30: Initial post
Over the years, I’ve used my desktop less and less. In fact, the only reason I even have one still is for multi-monitor support. Sure, I could hook up external monitors to my laptop, but in my situation, it’s not really ideal. Especially since my wife has a different laptop with different connections – we’d be spending a lot of time switching out dongles and wires. In short, it’s been easier just to keep the desktop around.
But now the Razer Core is here. You’re probably already familiar with the Core if you’re reading this post, but just in case you’re not, the Razer Core is an external graphics unit that hooks up to compatible laptops via Thunderbolt 3. It comes with its own power supply and can fit a multitude of modern Nvidia or AMD desktop-grade graphics chips. It also provides a set of extra ports (4 x USB 3.0, Gigabit Lan) besides the video outputs on the graphics cards, so can act as a dock for your peripherals.
I don’t have the Razer Blade Stealth around anymore, but I have the new Razer Blade 14” (2016) in order to test how it works with the Core. My wife also has a Dell XPS 15, which also has a Thunderbolt 3 port.
So the big questions on my mind are how well does a Core+laptop bundle perform compared to my desktop, how easy it is to hook up the Core and go and whether or not the Core works with non-Razer laptops. I’ve been working diligently to answer all these questions and here’s everything I’ve learned so far.
Note that this article is going to be a work in progress and I’ll be keeping it updated as I find things out. So keep checking in now and then, if interested.
The Razer Core is Thunderbolt 3 external graphics units
Specs as reviewed
| Razer Core |
| GPU Support | Single, double-wide, full-length PCI-Express x16 |
| Max GPU dimensions | 12.20” x 5.98” x 1.73” (310 x 152 x 44 mm) |
| Max GPU power | 375 watts |
| Input | Thunderbolt 3 |
| Output | USB 3.0 X 4, Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000 |
| Lighting | Chrome – 2 zones |
| Size | 310mm or 12.2” (w) x 152mm or 5.98” (d) x 44mm or 1.73” (h) |
| Weight | Roughly 12.5 lbs with the GPU installed |
Design and exterior
The overall design of the Razer Core is absolutely perfect. The look is completely professional and could easily blend in with any desk setup. The all aluminum construction really makes it look a high quality product that will likely last a long time. Even with the lighting, I would certainly feel comfortable having this on my desk.
What’s most appealing is the size. Compared to my current desktop, this thing is so tiny, but it’s still a little larger than I was expecting. Rest assured though, all that space is necessary for the internal cooling fans, power-source, IO output and wiring. It seems like Razer put an excessive amount of fans in this thing, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.
The top of the unit has a large passive vent. On the underside is another vent, with three cooling fans to circulate the air up to the card. The front has what looks like a vent grate, but it’s actually just for show. At the bottom portion of the front there’s a light which can illuminate to any color of your choosing or can be switched off.
On the right side of the unit there’s an embossed Razer logo, centered on the face. On the left side there’s the main vent that the GPU fans will blow through. When lit up, you can see your GPU with Razer’s chroma lighting color of your choice. It actually looks pretty cool when lit up. Of course yours would look differently than mine, depending on what GPU you put inside. On the back, you’ll find 4 USB 3.0 ports, a Thunderbolt 3 input, an Ethernet port and a power socket. There’s also what appears to be the PSU vent.
A single handle holds the internals in and if you lift it 90 degrees, everything pulls right out. There are no screws at all, with the exception of the single screw that will hold the GPU in place. I was a little skeptical of the locking mechanism, but it’s actually pretty solid.
I think many will probably want to put the Core on the right side of their desk to enjoy the lighting. Stealth owners may not have a choice though, since the Thunderbolt 3 cord provided with the Core is extremely short, a mere 18 inches long. Apparently making the cord longer would cause problems with performance and you would need a more expensive “active” cable. Your options with a cord this short are extremely limited.
So with the Razer Blade Stealth’s Thunderbolt 3 port being on the left side, you’d have to have the Core on your left, which puts the lighting out of sight. The other option is to turn the laptop to its side and put it on the right, but the screen would not be facing you. For me it wouldn’t matter, because I don’t plan on ever using the laptop’s screen with the Core. Plan accordingly.
Razer Blade(14”) users will have their Thunderbolt connection on the right side, so it will be a little easier. But keep in mind that the Core does not charge the Razer Blade, only the Razer Blade Stealth. So you’ll have to hook up your power adapter to the Razer Blade as well, which is on the left side of the laptop. That means wires on both sides – bummer. For me, it’s still kind of a mess because the laptop is now where my mouse was. My quick fix is to put my mousepad on top of the Blade.
These are small things to complain about, considering what’s being done. In all retrospect, the setup is a lot cleaner than the DIY external graphics enclosures I’ve seen in the past and overall, I’m really pleased with the Core’s design and ergonomics, even with the small sacrifices that had to be made to make it work.
Setup
Installing the graphics card was just as easy, if not easier, than installing it on a desktop. The card goes right into the slot and all it takes is one screw to hold it in place. Then you attach your PCI-e power connectors. Then you just slide the card into the enclosure and fold the handle bar to lock it in. It’s as simple as that. For my testing, I used a MSI GTX 970(and later the 1070) graphics card.
Things get a little more complicated after that and I ran into some issues that I can’t recreate, since I now have everything up and running. Being a Core owner, Razer emailed me some directions on what to install. I downloaded and installed the software required, but the instructions weren’t very clear on the order I was supposed to install everything in. So all I can do is tell you what I did, what problems I ran into and how I fixed them. Hopefully it will go better for you.
The first thing I was supposed to install was an updated version of Razer Synapse, which is compatible with the Core. I already own a Razer Blade though, so this was already installed.
The next thing to install is the Razer GPU Switcher Beta Tool. This opens a little program that switches the GPU either automatically or manually, depending on your preference. The launcher icon is in your quick launch toolbar, but it does nothing without the Core attached.
The last piece of software to install is Nvidia’s desktop graphics drivers. The instructions indicate that these should be installed with the Core plugged in, but this is where I ran into problems. When I plugged the Core in, it would lock up ALL my inputs, including the keyboard, mouse and touch. So there was no way to install the drivers!
I did a hard reset and installed the drivers without the Core attached. They installed fine and I rebooted. I tried attaching the Core and this time the Razer GPU switcher popped up with an option for me to switch to the GTX 970 I installed. Yay!…wait. My inputs were all locked up again. So I couldn’t even select the option to get it to work.
I tried it over and over again with the same results. The ONLY thing that worked was when I booted the laptop with the Core attached – then everything mysteriously started working correctly. Synapse then prompted me for an update and then the Core was recognized by Synapse. Somewhere in the mess, Intel’s driver popped up and notified me that the Core was attached to Thunderbolt 3 – I can’t remember when exactly that happened.
So after it finally worked, I was able to set it up for multi-monitor support. Instead of 3 screens, I chose to turn off the Razer Blade’s display and operate with it closed. The short Thunderbolt cord really makes your options limited on where to put your laptop, so again, be prepared for that.
My GPU successfully outputted to my dual QNIX 2560 x 1440 px monitors, which are dual-link DVI only. Prior to this, I have never been able to connect these displays to a laptop, so this was kind of exciting for me. The default refresh rate was set to 60Hz but I’m able to set custom resolutions with higher refresh rates. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work some of the time though and it goes back to 60Hz. I haven’t yet pinpointed why this happens, but rest assured I plan to find out.
One other thing I’ll mention concerns those who want to operate with the laptop’s lid closed, like me. There are only two ways to do this so far. The first is to disable sleep mode when you close your lid. Then you can turn it on and flip the lid closed. I happen to rely on sleep mode when closing my lid, so I chose not to use this option and leave this feature on.
However, if you choose to leave sleep mode on when closing the lid, attaching the Core will not wake the laptop from sleep. And closing the lid obviously puts the laptop to sleep. Unfortunately, the Core is powered off while the laptop is off or in sleep, so none of your attached devices will wake the laptop. So the only other option I have gotten to work so far is to use my USB mouse I have attached directly to the Razer Blade, to wake the laptop from sleep. As soon as I find a way to wake the laptop from sleep by attaching the Thunderbolt cable, I’ll be sure to update this as well.
Performance and daily experience
For the purpose of my testing, I compared the results of my current desktop with the Razer Blade 2016 attached to the Core. Both used the same video card, an Nvidia GTX 970. The desktop has a Core i5-3570K (with stock clock speeds) processor and 16GB of RAM, while the Blade gets an Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor with 16 GB of RAM as well. I also tested with the XPS 15 which has an Nvidia GTX 960m paired with the i5-6300HQ.
Some time after I initially wrote this article, I was able to repeat the Razer Blade and XPS 15 testing using a reference GTX 1070 and then again with the Asus Strix GTX 1080. My desktop is dismantled now so I couldn’t repeat the tests for that one.
All benchmarks used a QNIX 2560 x 1440 px monitor, and the laptop’s display was disabled when attached to the Core. I was able to overclock my monitor to 96Hz pretty easily, so we could see actual framerates above 60(except for Fallout below native resolution).
| Desktop w/970 | Blade + Core+970 | Blade + Core+1070 | Blade + Core+1080 | Blade | XPS 15 + Core+970 | XPS 15 + Core+1070 | XPS 15 + Core+1080 | XPS 15 |
| 3DMark – Fire Strike | 9168 | 8742 | 11554 | 12797 | 6513 | 7433* | 8266* | 11607 | 3561 |
| 3DMark – Sky Diver | 21371 | 22692 | 26401 | 27315 | 18741 | 17746* | 18599* | 22909 | 9949 |
| Fallout 4 – Outside the Corvega plant entrance with a battle |
| Desktop w/970 | Blade + Core+970 | Blade + Core+1070 | Blade + Core+1080 | Blade | XPS 15 + Core+970 | XPS 15 + Core+1070 | XPS 15 + Core+1080 | XPS 15 |
| Ultra, 2560 x 1440 px | 43-53 fps | 38-48 fps | 48-63 fps | 55-65 fps | N/A | 32-41 fps* | 44-60 fps* | 49-60 fps | N/A |
| Ultra, 1920 x 1080 px | 51-62 fps | 52-60 fps | 54-60+ fps | 54-60+ fps | 42-52 fps | 43-60 fps* | 48-60 fps* | 54-60 fps | 23-32 |
| Witcher 3 – Walking around the grounds on the first tutorial |
| Desktop w/970 | Blade + Core+970 | Blade + Core+1070 | Blade + Core+1080 | Blade | XPS 15 + Core+970 | XPS 15 + Core+1070 | XPS 15 + Core+1080 | XPS 15 |
| Ultra, 2560 x 1440 px | 34-38 fps | 24-26 fps | 34-38 fps | 40-48 fps | N/A | 20-22 fps* | 33-36 fps* | 40-48 fps | N/A |
| High, 2560 x 1440 px | 42-47 fps | 34-38 fps | 48-50 fps | 57-60 fps | N/A | 29-31 fps* | 48-50 fps* | 57-60 fps | N/A |
| Ultra, 1920 x 1080 px | 45-53 fps | 28-31 fps | 41-46 fps | 48-54 fps | 28-31 fps | 22-25 fps* | 42-46 fps* | 46-56 fps | 17-20 |
| High, 1920 x 1080 px | 60 fps | 45-53 fps | 60 fps | 60 fps | 39-41 fps | 38-40 fps* | 60 fps* | 60 fps | 23-25 |
| Dragon Age Inquisition – Battle nearby a camp at the beginning |
| Desktop w/970 | Blade + Core+970 | Blade + Core+1070 | Blade + Core+1080 | Blade | XPS 15 + Core+970 | XPS 15 + Core+1070 | XPS 15 + Core+1080 | XPS 15 |
| Ultra, 2560 x 1440 px | 32-35 fps | 22-28 fps | 32-40 fps | 45-48 fps | N/A | 23-28 fps* | 22-28 fps* | 43-48 fps | N/A |
| High, 2560 x 1440 px | 53-61 fps | 55-60 fps | 57-64 fps | 67-75 fps | N/A | 42-47 fps* | 40-48 fps* | 63-73 fps | N/A |
| Ultra, 1920 x 1080 px | 46-54 fps | 35-42 fps | 48-56 fps | 58-63 fps | 27-31 fps | 35-40 fps* | 35-42 fps* | 52-64 fps | 17-20 |
| High, 1920 x 1080 px | 75-89 fps | 60-68 fps | 73-90 fps | 80-98 fps | 48-52 fps | 55-64 fps* | 55-65 fps* | 76-88 fps | 26-33 |
| Crysis 3 – Opening mission |
| Desktop w/970 | Blade + Core+970 | Blade + Core+1070 | Blade + Core+1080 | Blade | XPS 15 + Core+970 | XPS 15 + Core+1070 | XPS 15 + Core+1080 | XPS 15 |
| Very High, 2560 x 1440 px | 31-45 fps | 25-45 fps | 35-65 fps | 40-75 fps | N/A | 25-40 fps* | 20-50 fps* | 40-65 fps | N/A |
| High, 2560 x 1440 px | 43-65 fps | 34-65 fps | 49-96 fps | 57-110 fps | N/A | 35-60 fps* | 33-75 fps* | 57-95 fps | N/A |
| Very High, 1920 x 1080 px | 46-67 fps | 40-65 fps | 46-85 fps | 52-100 fps | 29-42 fps | 37-60 fps* | 29-65 fps* | 50-85 fps | 17-27 |
| High, 1920 x 1080 px | 65-96 fps | 53-85 fps | 59-96 fps | 71-120 fps | 44-60 fps | 46-82 fps* | 45-80 fps* | 65-103 fps | 25-40 |
*readings on the XPS were taken with bios version 1.2, which was found to(sometimes) hinder performance of the GPU slightly. I can’t go back and remeasure them since I no longer have that GPU. The GTX 1080 readings were taken on bios 1.1.19, which is much more consistent.
I also added a few logs showing frequencies and temperatures of the Razer Core connected to the Razer Blade and my 1440p monitor.
As you can clearly see, the Razer Core certainly does a good job boosting the performance over the Razer Blade alone. If you have the new Nvidia GTX 1070 or 1080, it improves those graphics settings even more to get some really decent fps on AAA titles. Even the 970 shows some significant signs of improvement over the 970m, if you don’t want to spend that kind of money.
I’ve been doing a lot of research since originally writing this section and there have been a number of things I found out over the past few weeks. The first thing to mention is the performance hit the Core takes as opposed to using a desktop. If you compare my desktop+970 readings to the Razer Blade+Core+970, you’ll notice a significant fps drop. The CPUs in both machines offer very similar performance scores in benchmark tests, so the only thing I can chalk off the performance hit to is losses through the thunderbolt connections/driver issues. So if you’re planning on using a particular graphics card and are comparing it to desktop benchmarks, expect to see a 10-15% performance drop right off the bat.
Another thing I want to mention is the performance with the newest Nvidia GTX 10xx series cards. As you can see, my Firestrike scores are much higher than the 970, which is what you would expect. But if you compare those results with Firestrike benchmarks taken in people’s desktops with the 1070 or 1080, you’ll see a much larger performance drop(nearly 30%). On top of that, the Firestrike performance of the 1080 is only 10% higher than the 1070. At first I thought maybe the 1080 is being bottlenecked by the Core somehow. I ran another test though(which I’ll get to shortly) and determined it wasn’t the bandwidth limit being reached. My only conclusion is that the CPU in the Razer Blade is skewing the Firestrike scores to be really low. Here’s why.
The score is actually calculated off of the weighted average of three scores: Graphics(GPU only), Physics(CPU) and combined. Since the CPU is the same in all tests, the Physics score is unchanged. And since the Graphics score has such a large increase, but the CPU score stays the same, the average is going to be lower when compared to someone testing the card in a machine with a top of the line Skylake desktop CPU. In other words, a 20% increase in graphics performance equates to roughly a 10% increase in the Firestrike(standard) score. This would be a good place to use the Firestrike Extreme score as a comparison since it relies more on graphics performance at high resolutions.
The good news is this isn’t really a factor with many titles since they are more driven by the GPU than the CPU. You can definitely see a more proportional performance jump between the 1070 and the 1080, when looking at the fps measurements I got in the games I tested. It’s certainly better than the 970 readings and much much better than using the 970m in the Razer Blade. To the point, I’m happy with the performance of both the 1070 and 1080 in the Core.
So how did I determine that I wasn’t hitting the bandwidth limit of the Core? Well since I got the Asus Strix 1080, I decided to overclock it and see if I could improve things. My original Firestrike score was 12797(Graphics: 16764, Physics: 9603). I overclokced the GPU boost clock to 1973 Mhz, the memory to 11.2Ghz and let the voltage alone. My Firestrike score jumped to 13294(Graphics: 17785 Physics: 9610), a 6% gain from a ~10% overclock – not bad! I didn’t go crazy testing games with the overclock but I did gain 3-4 fps on the Witcher on Ultra QHD settings.
In regards to the XPS 15, you’ll notice my benchmarks are a little all over the place between GPUs. It’s because the system is a little sensitive to a number of factors(which I describe in more detail below). In short, if you use the wrong bios your performance will differ. For the 970 and 1070 tests I was on bios 1.2 but for the 1080 I was on bios version 1.1.19. The main thing it allows is for more consistently higher GPU usage, whereas before it was erratic and sometimes throttled for whatever reason. I left the XPS 15 + 970 and 1070 benchmarks on the table but take them with a grain of salt.
You might have noticed that even with the 1080 and the better bios, the XPS 15 still has a lower Firestrike score and some of the gaming benchmarks are a little lower than with the Razer Blade. I looked into it and it’s definitely because my XPS 15 is the i5 version. I’ve been collaborating with Doug who also recently got a Core. He has the i7 version of the XPS 15 and got a Firestrike score more similar to what I got with the Razer Blade. The physics portion of his score is 9973, which is more consistent with the Razer Blade. The physics portion of my score was only 6165. So if you’re looking for the bext performmance and want an XPS 15, aim for the i7 version. It’s still a buggy connection though, which I describe more in the section below.
Heat and Noise
One nice feature of the Razer Core is that the external GPU takes some of the heat load off the Razer Blade. If you read my review on the Razer Blade, you noticed that when gaming I was getting CPU and GPU temperatures as high as 87C. That’s not the case when you attach the Core though.
If you look closely at the HWinfo screenshots I took, you can see that the cooling system adequately cools the CPU alone and keeps temps in the 60s and 70s. And this is with my Razer Blade lid shut. Surely it will be a little cooler with the lid open, if that’s the way you want to set it up.
Of course the GPU still gets hot, but that’s solely going to depend on the GPU you choose to use and whether or not you repaste it. For my setup, everything is using the stock paste and fans. My temps for the 970 are in the 70s, so I’m not worried at all. For the 1080, my temps were even better for the most part.
I also took some noise readings with the Core. It’s actually pretty quiet compared to my desktop and even the Razer Blade by itself. The ambient readings in the room I was in measured 25 dB. Under normal use, the Core with 970 made noise levels increase to 35dB at ear level and 40dB six inches from the Core. Utilizing silent mode on the Asus Strix 1080, noise levels were 31bD at ear level and 36dB six inches from the Core.
Under heavy gaming loads, the levels for the 970 increased to 40dB at ear level and 50dB next to the Core. The Asus Strix 1080 measured 35dB at ear level and 46dB next to the Core. Compared to my desktop which was 50dB at normal levels, this is a welcome improvement. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on what graphics card you choose.
All this noise is pretty much coming from the Core. I barely heard my Razer Blade fans at all really. Since it’s only using the CPU and the temps are within a low range, the Razer Blade fans are not spinning as fast. Good thing too, because the combination of both would probably be a little too noisy for me.
Support for non-Razer Laptops
The Razer Core is specifically designed for the Razer Blade and Razer Blade Stealth. Even Razer’s CEO mentioned that it would not be plug and play for non-Razer laptops. But he did say that they weren’t closing the door on the option and the software was going to be open source.
Of course I’m going to give it a try though – it’s what I do. The whole point of me getting this thing was to eliminate my desktop and my wife doesn’t (and won’t ever) use a Razer laptop. So I went ahead and installed all the software on her Dell XPS 15. Let’s just say for now that I got mixed results.
First off, I have no idea what actually made it work right off the bat, but it did. I installed the GPU switcher, Razer Synapse and then installed the desktop GPU drivers. Then I connected the Razer Core and I immediately got multi-monitor support. That wasn’t even that easy for my Razer Blade… but it didn’t last.
Once I unplugged it, the XPS 15 locked up with a blank screen. Every attempt after that resulted in either a BSOD with an error with nvlddmkm.sys or a complete input hang, where the mouse and touchscreen would stop working. I tried booting with it attached, but it would just hang at the log in screen and I couldn’t do a thing.
Currently, the only way I’ve been able to get it to work is by going into the Device manager and manually disabling the mobile GTX 960M inside the laptop. Once I did that and connected the Core, it works… sort of. I’m able to get the GPU to display on my monitors, but I still don’t have interface with all the USB devices attached to the Core. Also, Razer Synapse doesn’t recognize the Core, so there’s definitely something up. To make it worse, unplugging the Core causes the laptop to sit at a blank screen indefinitely unless you reboot.
Needless to say, the support for non-Razer laptops isn’t there. But the capability certainly exists and I’ll be continuing to mess around and try to get things working. I think there’s a possibility that laptops without a discrete GPU will fare better, but I don’t have one to test. Doug is also getting a Core soon and will test it on his XPS 13, so hopefully he’ll chime in with his progress soon.
UPDATE 5/31: I’ve done some extensive testing with the XPS 15 and I can’t seem to get it to work properly. It outputs to both monitors and I can verify that the graphics card is driving them. But what I can’t figure out is why the performance is choking so bad. As you can clearly see in my benchmarks above, the performance with the XPS 15 and the Core is almost equal to the performance with the 960M. There’s definitely some firmware or driver changes that have to be made to get this thing working properly. I’ll be working on it some more, but I don’t think this thing is ready for Non-Razer laptops without some major tweaking.
UPDATE 6/2/16: As you can see from the lined out mess above, I had some challenges getting the XPS 15 to work properly. Long story short, there are some Thunderbolt drivers and firmware that must be installed in order for things to work properly. I actually figured all this out after a fresh install and I ended up getting things running rather quickly, the second time around. Here’s what I did.
First things first, make sure ALL your Dell drivers are installed and up to date. This especially includes the Thunderbolt driver and the Thunderbolt updated firmware. I think the updated firmware was the bigger part of my problem before. Also make sure the 960M is fully updated, but before you do sso, uninstall the old driver and completely delete it. This is important because when the GPU switcher disables the 960m, it will randomly try to reload the old driver which isn’t compatible with the Core. It took me forever to learn about this…
Next, install Razer Synapse. This will not be up to date right away, but it will automatically update once it detects the Core. Once that happens, you might also be prompted to accept the Core for Thunderbolt. Do so and Things will start to happen on their own.
The last thing you’ll need to do is install the desktop graphics driver provided by Razer(I had Nvidia). It will then detect your desktop GPU and everything should shift to those monitors once it does so. If it doesn’t, manually disable the 960M in device manager and things should start to pick up. Note that if things lock up for whatever reason try this again with the 960M disabled from the beginning.
Update 7/4: {You’ll also want to make sure you’re on bios version 1.1.19. The latest is bios 1.2 but has been found to be a little more buggy in regards to GPU performance. Credit goes to Doug for finding this out.}
You can also use the GPU switcher at this point, which works ok but is still kind of buggy. I’ve noticed it likes to keep my 960M disabled if I shut down while plugged into the Core. It’s not perfect yet but it’s a good start.
So if you’re caught up with me now, you’re able to output to both monitors and all your peripherals Attached to your Core are working ok. I am able to connect and disconnect pretty much the same as the Razer Blade now, which is great.
I took some benchmarks and put them into the table above. As you can see, it’s not quite as powerful as the Razer Blade and the Core but it’s really close. This is most likely due to the i5-6300HQ processor and 8GB ram configuration I have. Still, this might be something that will swing you in one direction or the other, if you’re having trouble deciding between the Razer Blade and the XPS 15.
I did notice that the fan noise was a little louder than the Razer Blade. I definitely heard it when the temps started to rise, whereas with the Razer Blade, I could not hear the fans at all. It’s not terrible, but something I wanted to note.
So there you have it folks, a non-Razer laptop working pretty decently on the Razer Core. Sometimes I still have trouble getting the Core to load properly when plugging it into the XPS 15, but I think I figured out a routine to get it to work on a regular basis. The key component is making sure the 960M is disabled. Booting with the Core plugged in works about 50% of the time and I can’t find out why it doesn’t yet. I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated if I run into any bugs or anything. But if this section stays as it is, assume no news is good news.
Update 6/21: {After a couple more weeks of on and off use, I’ve come to a happy medium with the XPS 15. It still gives me trouble occasionally but a reboot and a second try usually does the trick. I do notice that Chrome doesn’t perform as well, which I find very strange. It’s tolerable but seems sluggish.}
Update 7/4{: Doug and I have been collaborating since he also now has a Razer Core. He has been using it with an i7 version of the XPS 15 and a GTX 970. He did a lot of trial and error with different bios versions and found that version 1.19 was the most stable. I’ve been on 1.2, which has been somewhat stable but, as I mentioned before, I sometimes had to reboot because of sluggish performance. Version 1.1.19 seems to be a lot more stable in terms of performance.
We still both have different experiences, even though our firmware versions are practically the same. I can’t boot 100% of the time with the Core attached for some reason, but Doug can. But I can wake my computer from sleep and he can’t. He also sometimes has disconnect problems but I haven”t experienced any yet. Chrome for both of us is still a little sluggish but Edge works just fine. So there’s still some bugs to work out with the XPS 15.}
Update 12/25: It’s come to my attention that the reason for the erratic performance boost on the XPS 15 could be because the Thunderbolt 3 port is limited to x2 PCI speeds instead of x4. All of this info is limited to the forums but there are some pretty solid benchmarks that pretty much show the TB3 port only putting out 16GB/s. If that’s the case, that’s most likely the reason why I had such varying results and why the performance isn’t as good as other laptops. It’s still a big unknown as to whether it’s a firmware or hardware issue, but it’s good what the reason really is. It’s a shame that Dell is marketing this as being 40Gbps though – this is something everyone should be complaining about considering it’s marketed that way.
As for other laptops, I gave the Alienware 17 a try but I didn’t get it to connect. After a little research, I think Dell needs to update the firmware on the Thunderbolt 3 hardware. The AW 17 doesn’t even have any firmware on their support page, so I’m assuming it’s out of date for the specs the Core needs to operate properly. The XPS 15 had multiple firmware updates for their Dell dock, which is probably why it is somewhat compatible. I wouldn’t hold my breath with Dell doing this for Alienware though because they probably intend for you to just use the Alienware graphics amplifier instead.
Another laptop that works with the Core is the MSI GS40. I haven’t tested it personally, but hart breaker in the Razer Insider forums started a thread to try to get his to work. At first, he wasn’t able to get it to work but after installing the Thunderbolt 3 driver on Razer’s website, he got it to connect fine. He was able to run a Firestrike benchmark and get a score of 8651 with a 970 in the Core. That’s pretty much identical to what I got with the Blade, so that is very promising for GS40 owners.
Update 8/25/16: I recently got my hands on an MSI GS73VR. I’m still forming up my review on it, but I couldn’t wait to try it out with the Core. Long story short, it works just as if it was the Razer Blade. It’s actually kind of nice because since the GS73VR is equipped with a desktop variant GTX 1060, the drivers are exactly the same. Without the Core I got a Firestrike score of 9497 and a Time Spy score of 3579. With the Core and GTX 1080 attached, my Firestrike score rose to 12980 and Time Spy hit 5733. It’s still a very significant upgrade, granted you put the 1080 in there.
The MSI GS43VR(14-inch) and GS63VR(15-inch) are also compatible with the Razer Core.
I think it’s safe to say that MSI is leaving the eGPU capability of their laptops open. Of course if you get one with a 1070 or 1080 in it, the Core is practically useless, especially since those versions are MXM and are upgradable anyways. But if you go for the thin and light versions like the one I have, you can still see the benefit of having the Core attached and still enjoy carrying around a somewhat light laptop.
Price and availability
The Razer Core is currently only available for $499 on Razer’s website. It’s available to order now, but looks like the stock is backed up for several weeks
I’ll keep you posted if any other retailers get some in stock. If you do purchase from Razer, you can get a $100 off coupon code if you also buy the Razer Blade or Razer Blade Stealth.
Of course the cost doesn’t stop there since you also need to put a graphics card in it for the Core to operate. I initially was using an Nvidia GTX 970 but recently switched to the newly released Asus Strix GTX 1080. As of 7/4, they are still in very high demand, but they frequently go in and out of stock and can be picked up at many retailers such as Amazon. The base price is $649.
Final thoughts
Razer certainly beat everyone to the punch by releasing the first Thunderbolt 3 graphics card enclosure. As a tech enthusiast, the Razer Core has been quite an interesting gadget for me to play with. Even though it was a little rocky getting it set up with my Razer Blade, I’m glad they worked out the bugs and made it plug and play.
Sure, there’s a little performance loss when compared to the desktop experience, but to be honest, I was totally expecting that. I can’t think of a single enclosure where no performance is lost through a wire, compared to a direct connection. The good news is the performance is greatly increased over using the laptop by itself. This is especially true for Razer Blade Stealth owners, because without the Core, the Stealth is not much of a gaming machine.
The price tag on the Core is pretty scary though and will probably shy most people away from it. But considering there is absolutely no other alternative, Razer is going to get away with the sticker price for a little while. On top of that, the overall look and build quality probably adds $100-150 value to the device by itself, so there is some justification to be noted.
The icing on the cake would be Razer optimizing their drivers to work with other laptops. Maybe it’s not their responsibility, but I think it would boost sales if the Core would be compatibile with all Thunderbolt 3 laptops. Considering it’s on heavy backorder though, I guess they probably aren’t all that worried.
The Razer Core works well with the Razer Blade, but compatibility with non-Razer laptops is still finicky
As far as I’m concerned, this is going to replace my desktop if I can get my wife’s XPS 15 to reliably work, even without plug and play capability. Now that I got this thing working with my wife’s XPS 15, I can say without a doubt that this is going to replace my desktop. To us, the performance loss compared to a desktop is negligible and having to disable a GPU in device manager to get it to work is small potatoes compared to having to maintain a separate OS and have a giant beast of a desktop on the desk.
The good news is the drivers are open source and I’m sure somebody out there will figure out a way to optimize the performance on non-Razer laptops, even if Razer won’t. I’m excited to see how things pan out in the coming months.
For now though, that wraps things up. Again, I’ll be updating this post as I learn more, so please keep an eye out for further updates on my progress, and if you have any questions or comments, please leave a message below.
In addition to being a tech enthusiast, Derek has a career as a biomedical engineer. He enjoys taking things apart, figuring out how they work and finding ways to make them better. His other hobbies include spending time with his family, "Do it yourself" projects such as home automation and running.
Andrew
August 25, 2016 at 3:54 pm
Hi Derek,
Does your review of the core change with the new announcement of the mobile graphics chips? Is this even worth it now given the minimal difference people are saying the mobile versions have?
Derek Sullivan
August 25, 2016 at 4:05 pm
Not really. If you’re looking for the thinnest and lightest experience on the go but also want to game at home, the Core makes total sense still. Currently, the thinnest and lightest laptop with the 1060 is still .7″ thick and 4 lbs. Some people will want lighter than that so they’ll be ditching the dGPU and will welcome an eGPU. If you’re into heavy laptops though, sure the Core makes no sense at all. Chances are you’ll be getting a 1070 or even a 1080, where the eGPU is practically a useless upgrade. As far as using the Core with a laptop with the 1060? – stay tuned for that. I’m currently testing an MSI GS73VR and am hopeful it will play nice with my Razer Core + 1080. I should have something to read in about a week.
Jeffrey
November 1, 2016 at 7:03 pm
Hey Derek,
You mentioned in the article about hooking up your two QNIX monitors to the Core and overclocking it to 96hz. Currently, I only have the blade 2016 and even after trying multiple adapters the max I can get is an unstable 60hz on my QNIX (monitor will flicker and glitch out frequently). Could you provide a link perhaps or info on how you got the setup to work with the Razer Core? Thanks!
Derek Sullivan
November 3, 2016 at 7:28 am
Just so I'm not misunderstanding, are you trying to connect it directly to the Razer Blade or do you already have the Core and are trying to hook it up to your external GPU? If you're hooking it up to the Core, it should be no different of a setup as if it were a desktop.
Jeffrey
January 30, 2017 at 7:48 pm
Sorry for the confusion, I meant trying to hook it up to my Razer Blade directly, not the Core. I haven't been able to get it to output 1440p at 60hz with the numerous cables that I've tried. Do you have any insight as to what cable could possibly work for hooking the QNIX to the Blade or anything else that might be wrong? Also, just out of curiosity, what cable did you use to hook it up with the Core?
Thanks for the answer, it's good to know that if I get a Core then this problem should be fixed, but I'm trying to hold off til the prices go down as I don't need the extra juice just yet.
Derek Sullivan
January 31, 2017 at 12:48 pm
Ahh, yeah, that's a big problem. DVI-D requires an active converter in order to convert the signal. Even then, it only converts decently with Displayport. I have yet to see a Thunderbolt 3 or HDMI active cable that converts DVI-D and supports high DPI. That doesn't mean they don't exist – I just haven't seen them. To be quite honest, I'll probably never buy a DVI-D only monitor ever again because of the limitations I've had with it. It's great for desktops and eGPUs but it's such a pain to get connected with a laptop. It's not worth spending $100-200 on a conversion cable for barely adequate performance.
Aref
August 27, 2016 at 9:02 am
Can you test it worth ASUS ROG G501VW since it has the same specs as the xps
Derek Sullivan
August 29, 2016 at 10:51 am
Sorry, I don’t have one of those to test.
Eduard Duluman
October 25, 2016 at 9:47 am
So sad. I would really like to see if my G501 works with this before I buy it.
Chris
August 29, 2016 at 8:38 am
I think you’ve missed out the critical bit for us XPS 15 owners – that is, 4K gaming. If I were to get the Core, it’s to get 4K games running smoothly on my beautiful 4K display.
Derek Sullivan
August 29, 2016 at 10:51 am
Unfortunately, the XPS 15 doesn’t play well at all with the external GPU pushing the laptop display. I’ve never been able to identify if it’s a compatibility or bandwidth issue. It’s probably a little bit of both.
Regardless, using only the internal display had mixed results for me, no matter the laptop I used. I think the only laptops that truly benefit are ultrabooks like the razer blade stealth, which have no gpu at all.
wakka992
August 29, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Hi Derek, thank you for your wonderful work.
By saying that only ultrabook (without dedicated gpu) would truly benefit from this external gpu you mean that the Razer Core would works better with XPS 13 than XPS15?
Derek Sullivan
August 29, 2016 at 1:16 pm
I just mean it would benefit more, not necessarily would perform better. I’m still not even sure if the XPS 13 works with the Core though – nobody I know has confirmed it. And that’s only the case with Dell because there is definitely something wrong with the two way communication over Thunderbolt on Dell units. See the comments above between myself and Brett. We both got some crummy results using the laptop display only. But if it were the XPS 13 and we got those results, it would be a step up from integrated graphics.
It might just be Dell because MSI laptops appear to work just as well as Razer’s. I haven’t tried HP yet, but I plan on having a workstation laptop to test out in the next few weeks. Bottom line is I wouldn’t buy the Core for Dell laptops unless you plan on using an external display only.
Takis
November 15, 2016 at 10:40 am
Hi Derek, many many thanks for your efforts, any chance that you have tried with the HP workstation you mentioned back in August?
Derek Sullivan
November 15, 2016 at 1:07 pm
No sorry. i never got it in time and I no longer have the Core to test it with.
Carlos junior
September 2, 2016 at 5:19 pm
How About 4K gaming test with razer core and 1080gtx? Does 4K gaming runs well?
Derek Sullivan
September 2, 2016 at 6:16 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t have a 4k monitor to test it out. Sorry.
Mike
September 2, 2016 at 7:15 pm
It is not ideal. I tried two lower end 4K monitors. On older AAA games it was awesome. But most 2015 and 2016 AAA titles would stutter. I imagine a g-sync 4K monitor would work but only for a couple more release cycles and at 30 FPS.
I purchased a Dell Ultrawide 34 and I have been very pleased. Perfect for me. Great screen space for work and plays games fantastically. The other option would be the Predator ultrawide but who has 1300 to blow.
Carlos Junior
September 2, 2016 at 6:24 pm
If I want to play in my 78 inch Samsung uhd curved tv using razer core and 1080 gtx via hdmi out will I get sound and video out in the tv using 1080 gtx in the core together with my razer blade 2016?
Derek Sullivan
September 2, 2016 at 7:12 pm
I’m pretty sure all current video cards support audio out through hdmi. I haven’t personally tested it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Mike
September 3, 2016 at 8:03 am
I believe you will need to use a HDMI 2.0 cable to drive sound from the Core’s GPU to the TV.
Dario
September 4, 2016 at 6:13 pm
Mike maybe you can give me your opinion on this but how likely is it that hardware manufacturers will start making tablets with external GPU docks that can be used for docked or undocked VR headsets? This would essentially eliminate the need for a desktop or laptop industry right, or am I missing something?
Mike
September 5, 2016 at 7:51 pm
Goodness… I think Derek would be a better person to answer the question but I happy to provide my opinion.
I personally think slim and powerful laptops with EGPU and or other type of dock with peripherals is where things are heading. I wouldn’t see iOS or Android supporting a EGPU so only a Windows tablet would work. I can only speak for myself but I find windows tablets clumsy and tiresome.
I have thought about buying the CPU and other parts to build a desktop but I will probably never pull the trigger. I just can’t justify it when I have a great setup with the Core.
I think VR will split into two paths just like gaming has already. Low end fun experience on consoles and high end crazy real experience on PC.
Personally I think full size tablets will turnout to be a trend with 8′ inch tablets becoming the standard tablet form. My iPad air 2 128gb and Sony Xperia Z4 could barely sell for $500 on craigslist. Not a scientific study but real world experience.
Jonah
September 11, 2016 at 9:40 am
Hi Derek,
Do you have any information on whether or not the razer core works with the hp spectre.
Derek Sullivan
September 12, 2016 at 8:37 am
I don’t think it does. I remember a couple people saying it didn’t work. Haven’t tested it myself though.
Lesteph
September 15, 2016 at 7:42 pm
Hi,
Regarding the cache in system32/driverstore of all nv___ files,How do you managed to delete the files as It is own by the system which no allow me to delete these files?
I got my core and should have a Strix 1080 by tomorrow, so trying to setting everything properly..
Thanks for the help
Derek Sullivan
September 18, 2016 at 8:33 am
Why are you trying to delete them?
Steph
September 18, 2016 at 5:02 pm
For one user, after a restart the laptop loads the old drivers instead of the new ones.
I got the solution. thanks
Derek Sullivan
September 18, 2016 at 6:38 pm
Ah, I see. Yeah, all I had to do was check that box in device manager that says to delete all the files when you uninstall. Glad you got it working.
Geo Hogan
September 17, 2016 at 2:06 am
Just Recieved my Acer Predator X34, I currently have an Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW with a Thunderbolt 3 connector. I would like to try this out in the very near future with a razr core and a gtx 1080. My only question is, Will Gsync pair up with the graphics card in the core, or will my system default to the nvidia optimus presets.
Derek Sullivan
September 18, 2016 at 8:28 am
It should. Optimus only applies to the laptop screen. All external displays are supposed to be driven by the GPU. In this case, the external GPU.
Geo Hogan
September 18, 2016 at 7:01 pm
Cool thanks man I appreciate the quick reply
Steph
September 17, 2016 at 6:48 pm
My XPS 9550 (i7, 500SSD, RAM16, FHD) laptop is working with the core. Thanks for the thread.
Few obs.
Now the laptop has the fans always on, whatever is the temp of the cpu (33 c)
The core seems to have the fans on as well whatever is the temp of the GPU. is that the case for everyone?
I do have Throttlestop and it seems not able to see the Egpu (core).
Before I set the core, XPS Fans was on only when CPU was getting hot. Since I hook the core they are always on whatever is the temp.
Anyone have a solution ?
The fans from the core are also always on . Anyone knows about that and if ther is plan for start them only if GPU needs cool air?
Geo Hogan
September 18, 2016 at 7:02 pm
This should be a simple fix in the bios.
Steph
September 19, 2016 at 9:58 am
Sure but the last bios is not as good as the older one for the core.
Geo Hogan
September 19, 2016 at 1:15 pm
What I recommend doing is staying on the most stable bios and requesting a bios unlcok for your laptop if there isn’t one already. This should unlock any hidden features such as fan controls. I recommend bios-mods.com.
simon richards
January 16, 2017 at 8:33 pm
Hi Steph,
Did you ever sort out the fan noise on the core? I have the same probs!
I have a ticket in with Razer, and will post up here if I hear anything useful.
Julian Schneider
September 19, 2016 at 1:18 pm
Hi Derek,
did you get the xps 15 to charge from the razer core?
Regards
Julian
Derek Sullivan
September 19, 2016 at 1:35 pm
No. I don’t think it’s possible.
Steph
September 19, 2016 at 2:36 pm
Seems possible to charge via the core the Razer Stealth but not the others laptops like Rzer blade or the XPS
Derek Sullivan
September 19, 2016 at 2:43 pm
That’s because the stealth uses it as a charging circuit primarily. I’m not aware of any quad core laptops with a charging circuit via USB type C. Their batteries are usually 18-20V, so it might be because of that.
Julian Schneider
September 26, 2016 at 11:50 am
Huh, thats interesting, the wd-15 (and the shitty out of production TB-15) Dell docks can charge a xps 15 battery over usb c, with up to 180W even.
USB-C does allow up to 20V if I’m not mistaken
Derek Sullivan
September 26, 2016 at 12:02 pm
It does, but if it’s not the right voltage, it cannot charge. The voltage of the razer blade stealth adapter it’s different than the voltage of the razer blade 14. The core charges the stealth but not the blade 14. It’s the same reason. Dell docks work because they were designed to do so. The Core was only designed specifically for the Stealth.
Julian
September 26, 2016 at 3:43 pm
I wondering if it would be possible to design a dock that can charge all laptops that support it. Not sure if Dell is using the USB-C PD standard here.
Derek Sullivan
September 26, 2016 at 3:50 pm
Well for the hp z book series, they use a fused connector, which is a power adapter and a thunderbolt 3 connector together. I could have sworn Asus did something similar but I can’t find it.
Jared
September 19, 2016 at 2:24 pm
After updating all of the DELL Thunderbolt drivers (and making sure to stay on 1.1.9) I’m getting an error message “this computer does not support eGPUs.”
Anyone else encounter this? Any solutions?
Derek Sullivan
September 19, 2016 at 2:33 pm
That’s normal and it’s from updating the drivers. There’s no fix except to downgrade the drivers, which I haven’t done. It’s not really necessary because it still works fine – you just have to deal with the nagging notification every time you plug it in. I think they added it so you couldn’t complain it didn’t work for whatever reason.
Jared
September 19, 2016 at 2:40 pm
Thanks Derek. I’m getting inconsistent results with my Core and XPS15. Sometimes it’s recognized, sometimes on boot my cursor won’t show up. It’s only been recognized by the Synapse software once and that was prior to the Thunderbolt updates on Dell’s website (which could be the culprit?)
If I want to see how it performs driving an external monitor vs driving the laptop display, how would I go about testing that? Is that using the GPU switcher?
Thanks again and apologies for the questions.
Derek Sullivan
September 19, 2016 at 2:47 pm
The GPU switcher just tells the PC what GPU to use. So pick your GPU in the Core and then switch displays from the laptop to the external. The best way is to extend your displays and just turn off teh one you don’t want to test. Otherwise the iGPU tries to drive the laptop display.
I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be booting with it. It’s a mixed bag with all these TB3 updates. I personally stuck with the combo I have above in the post and have never wanted to change it. There’s about a 0% chance Dell is going to intentionally try and fix issues with the Razer Core because it competes with their dock solutions, so I’m really skeptical with the updates.
Steph
September 19, 2016 at 2:37 pm
Yes everybody. That means it’s working fine and Dell is upset
Gymnae
September 23, 2016 at 4:53 am
I like this :)
For now I still have a working Desktop PC with a slowly aging R280x.
But the future shall be eGPU gaming, until Grid computing is lag-free.
Hence I will watch this space, hope for an increasing amount of TB3 full-size eGPU cases while reducing prices and make a purchase later in 2017
Also hoping Dell won’t get in the way of this option by locking down through Firmware updates.
Steph
September 25, 2016 at 12:59 pm
grumffff. eveything was working like a charm….until this night.
This morning it seems I had some update installed last night (forgot to shut down the laptop).
Now :
1st I had the tb3 not working, throttlestop not working (not sure it is linked)and in device manager, I noticed yellow signal NVIDIA virtual audio device.
I tryed to reversed the update via windows but if i have now the tb3 working I still have
throttlestop not working
in device manager, I noticed yellow signal NVIDIA virtual audio device.
And when runing a game I got 30fps instead of 60 I used to have with the 1080 (I did have 60fps even with the 960m but hot and noisy)
Any idea why this happens and what I should do?
Luis Calderon
October 22, 2016 at 11:09 am
do you think I can use the XPS 15 9550 -i7/4K/16GB/512- + Razer Core set up to run Oculus Rift. I have just ordered the Rift and I'm debating if I should buy a desktop or try the XPS+CORE+1070 set up. Thanks for your help
ungeheier
October 24, 2016 at 3:06 pm
Im running a Razer Blade 2016 + Core + Asus 1080 O8G with my HTV Vive. No issues here.
Derek Sullivan
November 3, 2016 at 9:39 am
If it were the Razer Blade or an MSI laptop, I'd say yes because they are all pretty much fully compatible. But because I've had some hiccups with the XPS 15, I can't really say for sure. It should work but I don't know if it'll be glitchy or not. I don't have an Oculus to test either.
nedfr
October 25, 2016 at 10:31 am
Do you think we can get real benefits in Lightroom or all Cuda Adobe software with a setup like this :
-Razer Blade Stealth v2
-Razer Core
-Nvidia 1080 or 1070
I mean high end eGPU processing power with moderate CPU power.
Thank you.
Derek Sullivan
November 3, 2016 at 9:41 am
IT should benefit for sure, but the CPU will probably be a bottleneck for batch processing and other CPU intensive tasks. I'm sure the program will run just fine though – it'll just process a little slower than if it was a quad core. 1080 and 1070 is probably overkill though unless you play games too.
Lesteph
November 8, 2016 at 8:49 am
Hello,
Not sure any link but since last win10 update my fps drop from 60 to 30/20 (xps 15 9550 with core).
Any idea what could caused it and how to fix?
Derek Sullivan
November 9, 2016 at 1:11 am
Sorry, I have no clue what that could be about. If you figure it out, please let us know.
Lesteph
November 9, 2016 at 6:49 pm
No feed back?
So far what i noticed is :
some update.
I downloaded the last driver for my core (1080 desktop) : …3 7570
installed it but each time when i checked I find the version installed is …3 7290.
I did the cleaning of nv files in driverstore before proceeding
No idea where the version 3 7290 come from, not able to find out. seems win10 load this one instead each time.
How can have the righ driver instaled?
Derek Sullivan
November 10, 2016 at 4:57 pm
Once you install the driver, I think the latest one gets installed almost immediately. You could try rolling back the driver.
Lesteph
November 22, 2016 at 11:47 am
It seems when you roll back win 10 anniversary it does not go well.
So I finaly go for the anniversary and the drivers did not rolled back.
Everything smoothy now.
carlos
November 10, 2016 at 11:52 am
did anyone try razer core + 1080 using tv out via hdmi? Can it handle 4k gaming with a 4k tv using hdmi out?
William Cheng
November 11, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Thank you so much for your thorough review and insightful comments. I too am very interested in this. I just ordered the new Macbook Pro (even though I was very disappointed in its choice of GPU). I run my MBP in Bootcamp with Windows 10 80% of the time (but its still the best built PC laptop ever). I'd love to know if this Razor Core will work with the newer Macbook Pro with all Thunderbolt 3 connections. It would be the best of all worlds if I can get a 1080 to work with my MacBook Pro in Bootcamp. Please consider trying to see if this could work when the MBPs become more widely available.
Derek Sullivan
November 11, 2016 at 4:26 pm
I really doubt this will work with the MBP. Unless Razer goes out of their way to make the Core compatible with their competitor, it's just not likely to happen. OS/X doesn't play well with non-authorized GPUs, let alone an external enclosure. I could be wrong, but I'd be willing to gamble a lot of money that it won't ever work.
William Cheng
November 11, 2016 at 6:08 pm
I don't think the Core would work in OS/X either. I was hoping that it could be compatible under Bootcamp – which is essentially a completely Windows 10 PC.
Mike
November 11, 2016 at 5:02 pm
Someone has tried in OSX and Windows in Bootcamp with the MBP and Razer Core. No luck.
Apple could create a egpu or partner with a vendor to do so. Weird though… Much of the tech press and comments in threads have been negative about the MBP overall power. Specifically, the GPU being underwhelming. It would most likely be very expensive.
Highly doubt they would partner with Razer though because they are direct competitors at the high end market.
William Cheng
November 11, 2016 at 6:11 pm
Yeah, I see what you mean, I was afraid of that. I would have bought a Razer if they made a 15.6" version.
I'm still using my 2010 MBP and its still great! No other PC laptop I've ever owned (Sony VAIO, Acer, Asus) have survived 5yrs and been still useful.
William Cheng
November 13, 2016 at 10:06 pm
Has anyone heard of these guys?
bizon-tech.com/
They've been doing this since 2014 and seems like they're on their 3rd version. E-mailed their tech support and apparently its compatible in Bootcamp with Windows 10. I'd love to see a review similar to this one to see how well it works. BTW is there a GTX1080 card with a Thunderbolt 3 video connection?
Lesteph
November 22, 2016 at 11:39 am
Hi William,
Find out that e gpu works quit well with Mc book. below a link with list of e gpu (some specialised for Mac)
gpunerd.com/
What I gathered here and there is the new Mac is fully compatible with e gpu solution (macos-sierra-had-native-egpu-support )
an other link : reddit.com/r/eGPU/comments/59kof5/egpu_with_the_new_macbook_pro_dropping_tomorrow/
Alexander
November 13, 2016 at 9:43 pm
Hey Derek,
Would you mind spending a few minutes to compile us a summarized step by step setup guide to achieve the setup you had? Which should minimize us other readers from making mistakes or missing steps.
And on other note, I saw someone in Razer forums that he was able to get the whole setup running flawlessly even with the latest Dell 1.21 BIOS update. But he had to disable WiFi to do so. I'm asking this as I just got my XPS15, and I plan to do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro along with its drivers. Here's the link, last reply: insider.razerzone.com/index.php?threads/razer-core-dell-xps-15-9550-gtx-1080-problem.16339/
Really appreciate you doing such a test for us. Thanks a bunch.
Derek Sullivan
November 13, 2016 at 9:50 pm
Hello Alexander,
I pretty much laid out what I did to get it to work in the "support for non-Razer laptop" section. Nothing really changed since I already had it working. All the bios and driver updates I did after the fact resulted in a still working system.
It's safe to try what people on the forums are doing. My setup is a little out of date and I'm sure there is a better working solution now than when I originally wrote the article. You can always flash different bios versions to try different things. I moved on from the Core though so further testing on my end isn't possible.
Alexander
November 16, 2016 at 12:16 am
Alright sure, I'll give it a try then. But that has to wait as my unit died on me upon a few hours after I got it from Dell delivery. What a load of horse shit. It's like you bought a Ferrari and the engine died on you after a few hours the delivery guy handed the keys to you.
Joey
December 23, 2016 at 9:24 pm
Hey Derek,
I'm considering a setup consisting of an all metal ultrabook + Enclosure + GTX 1080.
Would you suggest I get the Razer Blade Stealth + Razer Core? I have asked around on Reddit and checked Amazon I haven't found any other kinds of enclosures.
If you know of any that are compatible with the GTX 1080 could you suggest some to me so I can see all my options? They don't have to be Razer brand I simply want to see what the choices are.
It would also make a pretty handy article if you guys made a comparison of all the enclosures and the type of graphics they can fix and power. I know of one enclosure that can fit a gtx 1060 but the voltage is too low to power it.
Derek Sullivan
December 23, 2016 at 10:21 pm
I honestly haven't looked into any of the other enclosures. I might start looking into them again in the future when I get my next ultrabook to review. Unfortunately I only have a 1080 though, so the options are pretty limited.
Felipe
December 24, 2016 at 3:30 pm
Hi Derek, thank you so much for your research on this.
I am about to make the plunge for an eGPU for my specced out XPS 15. Razer Core or the Akitio Node are on my radar.
However I read some new information that might interest you. The Dell XPS TB3 port is only 2x 3.0, 16GB/s bandwidth. Instead of the 4x 3.0, 40 GB/s bandwidth that is advertised.
Is this consistent with your findings? I hope you can update the information here to include this. This may be why you have a significant performance hit between the Blade and the XPS 15 in your tests. Hopefull, it can be fixed with a BIOS update and it's not physically wired that way.
I found this out from eGPU.io
Link: egpu.io/forums/pc-setup/xps-15-9550-not-able-to-reach-40gbps-over-tb3/
Derek Sullivan
December 25, 2016 at 10:47 pm
Wow, that's good to know. That certainly explains it. I'll go ahead and update the article. It really depends on how many PCI lanes they reserved for the TB3 controller. There's a chance it's wired that way and there's nothing that can be done. I can't even guess as to how to figure that out though. Thanks for the find!
Felipe
January 9, 2017 at 10:22 pm
It's been found that it is wired that way and no bios update can fix it. It is very unfortunate and a misadvertising of the XPS 15 9550.
simon
January 9, 2017 at 12:14 pm
Hi Derek,
This is quite literally the best article ever for someone like me, with an XPS with a 960m! Just the best.
I did have one question if that is ok, which is this – do you have any idea if the more up to date BIOS updates work alright with the CORE or if we still need to roll back to 1.9 versions?
Derek Sullivan
January 9, 2017 at 9:47 pm
No sorry, I have no idea if the new ones will work. You might want to consult the forums though. I know there is a thread dedicated to using hte Core with non Razer laptops and there are quite a few there with an XPS 15.
simon
January 10, 2017 at 10:23 am
That's very kind of you to reply.
I spoke to dell and the usual well meaning but unconvincing Indian assured me that updated drivers would make a difference and that their stuff is more stable/better now.
So anyways they have a new BIOS which says 'stability fixes' and a new TB controller so I will let you know what happens. I know this is utterly selfish for me to waffle on as how many people are facing the same issue?
If there is a specific forum you recommend that would be great.
I've ordered a core and a 1080 so am hoping for the best.
Derek Sullivan
January 11, 2017 at 9:58 pm
notebookreview.com has a thread with the core and the xps 15.
Phillip Roberts
January 24, 2017 at 1:47 pm
Does the razer core boost the graphics in the laptop, or does it merely replace it?
If I had a razer blade with a GTX 1060 and a razer core with a GTX 1080 would that equal 14GB of GPU VRAM?
Thanks
Phil
Derek Sullivan
January 24, 2017 at 1:54 pm
It replaces it. So there's very little benefit to having the Core with the newer Razer Blade 14" with the 1060, as it's not quite as much of a boost. Unless money is no object to you, that is. I actually sold my Core because of that.
Simon
February 8, 2017 at 3:09 pm
Hey Derek, it looks like you're still providing lots of thoughtful responses so I wanted to pick your brain a little given that I haven't had the opportunity to see the latest razers in the wild.
As an average gamer who anticipates branching out into new games in the coming year, I have a bit of a crossroad infront of me. The new stealth and a refurbished blade (970M) are roughly the same in price. Presumably at some point down the line I will need a core to fulfill my gaming desires, are you tempted to lean one way or another on which system would have better longevity? Is the quad core and worse battery something I should weight more heavily to ensure good long-term performance?
Thanks in advance for the response.
Derek Sullivan
February 9, 2017 at 10:42 am
If you're planning on playing newer games, the Stealth isn't really an option at all. It lacks a GPU so you'll NEED a Core in order to play them. On top of that, it's only a dual core so some of the more CPU intensive games will be crushed, even with the Core. Unless battery life is a major factor for you, I would go with the RB14. The battery life on the RB14 is actually pretty decent anyways – I got almost equivalent readings for both laptops. This is especially because of the price. I see Newegg has one for $1169, which is a steal. Just make sure you test it fully once you get it.
Simon
February 9, 2017 at 1:56 pm
Thanks, that's a really good price. I'm in Canada though so apparently we get to pay a premium on newegg refurbs, itll be 1949CAD vs 1369USD. I think I'll still take the plunge, looks like a good deal. All the second hand razer's are asking more than newegg's 6700HQ price but only delivering a 4720HQ model which makes the decision pretty easy before even considering the futureproof option of thunderbolt 3.
I'll likely grab the optional warranty but as far as testing goes. Are there programs you recommend I stress test it with other than just casual use? (e.g., recommended benchmark programs or memory tests etc?).
Thanks again, appreciate all your reviews and responses. I've been mining a lot of your work it appears.
Derek Sullivan
February 9, 2017 at 2:19 pm
No problem! If you want, just run some of the benchmarks and compare them with what I got in my RB14 review. I mainly mean to test all the components, connections and keys though. In general, the CPU and GPU should work as designed – running the benchmarks is mainly testing the thermal paste and the fans. As long as your scores are reasonably close to mine, you're good to go.
Simon
February 9, 2017 at 7:07 pm
perfect, will do!
Mike Jacobs
February 27, 2017 at 10:39 pm
Thank you for the excellent guide! I have a Dell XPS 15 (9550) and decided to give the Razer Core a go. I bought the Razer Core and an NVidia GTX 1080. Before they arrived, I updated my bios to the latest version, 1.2.19, and all my drivers, and installed Synapse. There seem to be some new Thunderbolt options in the Dell BIOS menu–I enabled everything. I installed the graphics card and connected the Core to my Dell. It updated Synapse. I disabled the 960M, rebooted, and the new graphics card was working! So far, it's been amazing!
Park Kang Sung
March 9, 2017 at 12:46 pm
Hey Derek, Nice review!
Can I please ask you a question? Would you recommend razer stealth (i7 6500u cpu) + razer core gtx 1070 combination for anyone who is aiming for higher or equivalent to 144 fps on overwatch, crysis 3, fallout 4, and battlefield on medium ~ high settings? I am planning to attach a BenQ 144hz 24 inch monitor to the Core. I am kinda concerned about the cpu of razer stealth since it is only a dual core cpu.
Thanks !
Derek Sullivan
March 9, 2017 at 12:57 pm
I'm honestly not sure how well the stealth will do. Most of those games are GPU dependant, so they should be fine. I don't know if they'll hit 144 but they'll definitely be above 60. Fallout 4 is more CPU dependant than the rest but it's capped at 60 anyways.
You might want to check through the Razer forum to see if anyone had any benchmarks with three 1070.
Durdali
March 20, 2017 at 8:34 pm
Thank you for the excellent guide! Can I please ask you a question?
I have a Dell XPS15(9560)-RazerCore-GTX1080-Asus PG279Q Monitör
Are test results normal?
Asus pg279q 2k monitör : Fire Strike : 13051 score
Laptop display 4k : 8746 score
When I click on thunderbolt icon Gives information but the gtx1080 works
"! External GPUs are not supported by this computer."
system features
CPU: 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Quad Core Processor(6M cache,up to3.8 GHz)
Ram : 16GB DDR4-2400MHz; up to 32GB (additional memory sold separately)
SSD : 1TB PCIe Solid State Drive
Display : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) InfinityEdge touch display
GPU : NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5
Derek Sullivan
March 21, 2017 at 8:19 am
Yes, that's normal. As Doug mentioned in his review, the Tunderbolt 3 speeds are still not full speed like they are on other laptops.
Aiden
April 25, 2017 at 12:52 am
Awesome review! But in the end would you recommend the core for the XPS 15? Aside from the slight performance drop did you get t going as easy as it would be with a Raze Blade?
Derek Sullivan
April 25, 2017 at 8:45 am
It was never as easy as with the Blade but I was able to get it to routinely work. Anytime there was a glitch, I was able to reboot and it would work fine. That was a year ago, though, and I have no idea if that's still the case. Dell still claims that the XPS 15 does not support eGPUs and they could easily have made their bios/drivers hinder the performance even more.
I can't say for certain if I would recommend it still now. If you have the 960m version, there are some pretty nice benefits to using the core, especially if you want to play games on it. It's still a very expensive solution though and the selection for eGPUs hasn't improved as well as I had originally hoped. For the 960m, if you have the money and want the convenience, but are ok with a couple quirks and bugs, then I'd say go for it. But if you have the 1050 version, it's a solid no for me – I don't think the Core would be worth it at all. Even with a 1080 paired with the Core, the performance was only a little better than having a GTX 1060. That's certainly not much of an upgrade for $1000 in parts.
It also doesn't help that Razer still hasn't fixed the bugs with the USB ports either. It's been over a year, so I'm guessing they have abandoned support or can't figure it out, which is very unfortunate considering they are still selling it. I'd be ok with an apology or an admission that this is a beta project and they'll fix it next time, but they have been completely silent about it from what I can tell. Speaking of it being a year now, there's also a chance they'll be coming out with a second gen version.
Aiden
April 25, 2017 at 9:20 am
Awesome. Good work! I think its the XPS display thats enticing everyone over the Blade.
Aledrus
July 21, 2017 at 12:38 pm
Hi Derek, I've been reading most of the replies and I also appreciate your entire article.
I couldn't figure out what you're referring to in this line in your reply above:
"It also doesn't help that Razer still hasn't fixed the bugs with the USB ports either. It's been over a year, so I'm guessing they have abandoned support or can't figure it out, which is very unfortunate considering they are still selling it."
Are you referring to USB ports on the Razer Core or the Razer Blade?
And "still selling it" – does this refer to the Core or the Blade?
The reason I am asking is, the wife & I are trying to decide if we can lose her desktop completely. Currently using desktop (i5 + GTX 1060) and a notebook (i5 10" intel HD) and thinking of replacing both with a Razer Blade Stealth + Razer Core & reuse the GTX 1060.
Hope you're still reading these replies.
Aledrus
Derek Sullivan
July 21, 2017 at 1:06 pm
The USB ports on the core were pretty unreliable. At times, anything attached would blink in and out randomly. I could recreate it when putting the Ethernet under load. Something was definitely wrong with the drivers. I honestly don't know if they fixed it but there were a couple of dedicated forum threads about the issue, on NBR and Razerinsider. You might want to check there and see.
If you can get away without the Core USB ports though, you'll be fine. I just attached a usb hub right next to the usb-c on the laptop, when I had mine.
Aledrus
July 21, 2017 at 1:17 pm
Thanks for your reply Derek.
Ahh that is indeed dealbreaking. Really liked the "plug in one cable to dock" concept. Now there's going to be 2, and who knows maybe more..
I'll search for the issue on those forums you've mentioned.
Cheers
Zadillo
July 21, 2017 at 1:29 pm
Razer never fixed the flaky USB ports issue with the Core.
Since the Razer, there have been newer eGPU's released which are not only cheaper than the Core, but also have functional USB ports/etc. if that's what you're looking for. The Mantiz Venus is one that's worth looking at in particular. Also the new Aorus Gaming Box, which for $599 comes complete with a 1070 mini GPU (making this also one of the more portable solutions out there).
Aledrus
July 21, 2017 at 2:16 pm
Thanks for the reply Zadillo.
That Aorus Gaming Box does look like everything I need. But the appeal of the Razer Core is that it can also charge the laptop (Razer Blade Stealth only). That means just one cable to go into the laptop.
But that is a great box. Thanks for showing it to me.
Zadillo
July 21, 2017 at 2:33 pm
Aledrus, the Aorus Gaming Box provides USB-C PD (see gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N1070IXEB-8GD#kf ) so it will provide charging as well.
Zadillo
July 21, 2017 at 2:39 pm
Oh yeah, the Mantiz Venus will also charge.
CookieyedGamer
August 4, 2017 at 12:54 pm
Derek I'm wondering could ya help me I have just gotten a razer core for my 9550 and I'm not getting the thunderbolt approval to pop up so razer synapse wont update either but the weird this is that the core boots up the first time when pluged in and is being dected as 'base system device' in settings and as 'Thunderbolt (TM) Controler-1575' under system devices in the device manager. The interesting thing is that when I unplug it and reconcet the core wont boot up only again when its unplugged and repluged(I'm quite sure this would be resolved if I get the approval message tho).
I'm quite sure I have all my drivers and bios upto date. Hope you Can help:)
Derek Sullivan
August 4, 2017 at 1:11 pm
The problem might be that your bios is up to date though. Officially, Dell is not supporting Thunderbolt 3 docks on their laptops and every bios(from my limited use) affected how well the port played with the Core. I haven't had it in quite some time, so I'm not up to date as to which bios is good and which isn't. Besides the bios mentioned in the post though, which is probably really old. It was old for me and that was over a year ago. Still, it might be worth a shot to try that version and rule it out.
There are a couple threads on NBR you may want to check out as well, that deal with the XPS 15. There are a lot of XPS 15 users out there that want to use an external dock and struggled to do so because of Dell's choice to use a 1/2 speed TB3 connector.
CookieyedGamer
August 4, 2017 at 2:12 pm
I was hoping not to downgrade the bios but I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation.:)
CookieyedGamer
August 4, 2017 at 2:23 pm
No luck unfortunately I have a photo on Reddit here so you can have a look at what it looks like reddit.com/r/eGPU/comments/6rkib8/any_reason_why_the_core_would_not_decect_in/
Kris
September 21, 2017 at 9:13 pm
Does anyone know why this thing is only available as a refurb from the OEM now? They aren't selling them new anymore. Signs of a new HW rev, or getting rid of it altogether?
R.G.
November 20, 2017 at 10:21 am
you can already buy razer core V2…
i guess they fixed few issues:
* USB working (two controllers now)
* it should work with any device/brand/laptop
* it has more space to accommodate oversized graphics cards
Omar
November 28, 2017 at 3:19 pm
Can I purchase the core and use it simply as a dock for my external monitor/keyboard setup (Kaby Lake Blade Stealth), and buy a graphics card further down the line, or does the core need a graphics card in order to function properly? I ask because I have not seen many satisfying reviews on other TB3 docks (either they don't charge the stealth, or aren't 100% compatible).
Derek Sullivan
November 28, 2017 at 3:32 pm
The old one I don't think so but the new one has a separate USB controller so it might work that way without a card. I haven't tested the v2 though, so you might want to consult Razer directly or visit the forums.
Brett
November 28, 2017 at 5:40 pm
Don't think it would make a very good dock without a GPU. There would be nothing to plug a monitor into. You would essentially have an expensive USB hub until you added the GPU.