Any laptop with a Thunderbolt 3 port will work, as will just about any graphics card you might have laying around, including brand new RTX 20-series cards or AMD’s Radeon VII. Still, playing Battlefield V in 4K on a tiny laptop feels amazing. None of this is any different than previous versions of the Core, though. Even so, we dropped into Battlefield V and easily pushed 80 FPS (frames per second) on Ultra detail at 4K resolution. The Stealth saw a 8% decrease in performance behind the Razer Blade, most notably because of the slower U-series processor. It turned a system that could barely get by in Fortnite into a monster gaming rig. We also tried the Core X Chroma with a much smaller laptop, the Razer Blade Stealth. It’s 27% better in 3DMark’s TimeSpy benchmark than an RTX-powered laptop, while it’s actually beaten slightly by that same laptop in the older Fire Strike benchmark. In the case of our RTX 2080 Ti, the performance in the Core X Chroma was more comparable to an RTX 2080 Max-Q mobile card, though it depends on the game or benchmark. Games like World of Warcraft or Civilization VI, which tax the CPU a bit more than the GPU, see that difference cut down a bit. You can expect a similar drop no matter what card you choose. In that scenario, we saw a 31% decrease in performance compared to a desktop setup, both in 3DMark benchmarks and in gameplay. First, we slotted in an RTX 2080 Ti and hooked it up to a Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop. We tested the Core X Chroma in a couple of different scenarios. There’s a significant percentage drop in performance, which should always be accounted for when considering an external GPU. You can’t expect the same power you’d get from your RTX 2080 Ti when it’s plugged directly into a motherboard. The Razer Core X - and all external GPUs - face hurdles in performance. It makes for a clean desk setup, and connecting is wonderfully simple. You’re just one Thunderbolt 3 port away from accessing all these peripherals. You can have your monitor, mouse, keyboard, and external SSD all plugged into the Core X. These ports turn the Core X into a USB hub. This matches what you get on the Core V2 and is a big step up over the original Core X, which only has a USB-C port. Along the Thunderbolt 3 port used for connecting to your system, there are now two USB-A 3.2 ports, as well as HDMI and an additional USB-C.
EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE RAZER UPDATE
RGB lights might be the headline feature, but the more important update to the Core X Chroma is the extra USB ports on the back. Some light leaks under the bottom of the front panel, providing a nice, subtle, simple glow.
It’s the same lighting we saw on the Razer Core V2, and really shows of your GPU. You’ll find Chroma lights, meaning they can be customized and programmed with Razer’s Synapse software. It’s a smart, simple design - as long as you don’t mistake the latch as a handle and accidentally lift it right out of the enclosure.Ī Razer product without RGB just never felt quite right, but that’s been rectified. From there you have easy access to the PCIe slot. The tray still easily slides out using the handle on the back. Last year’s Core V2 was considerably smaller, but the Core X has a slightly larger 400-watt power supply, opposite the stock 120mm fan. About a foot long and a half a foot tall, it’s not unlike a small desktop tower sitting flat on your desk. Its black, machined aluminum and sturdy panels are designed with a fit and finish befitting Razer laptops. The Razer Core X Chroma looks identical to the previous Core X.