VisionTek announced a new external GPU enclosure today at CES, costing $350 for the enclosure and 240W power (cinder) block.  The dual Thunderbolt 3 controllers provide enough bandwidth for your GPU as well as a pair of USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit ethernet and a SATA III port. 

At 8.5x6x2.75" it is small enough to be easily accomodated on a desk whle still able to hold a variety of cards, up to about the size of an AMD Vega 56 8GB.   It is compatible with Windows 10 and OS X and will let you string together up to six 4K displays @ 60fps.  You can see the full PR below.

The VisionTek Thunderbolt 3 Mini eGFX Enclosure is ideal for creative professionals, IT/enterprise power users, professional users in healthcare, finance, scientific research labs, etc., and gaming enthusiasts seeking the ultimate GPU performance improvement to Thunderbolt 3 equipped laptops. Delivering up to 40Gbps of bandwidth, Thunderbolt 3 is the industry’s fastest interface that is rapidly becoming popular on new generation of laptops and mini PCs. VisionTek’s Mini eGFX combined with a graphics add-in card significantly boosts the GPU performance of a Thunderbolt 3 enabled laptop, via a plug and play connection to the enclosure.

Sleek, Portable, and Future Proof for the Most Demanding Applications

The VisionTek Thunderbolt 3 Mini eGFX Enclosure combines a sleek and portable design that easily fits discretely on a desk, or hidden away, to handle all your graphic intensive applications. VisionTek’s Mini eGFX Enclosure can be plugged into any Thunderbolt 3 enabled laptop or mini-PC to accelerate the most demanding 3D intensive software programs. Best of all, the Mini eGFX enclosure can be upgraded to perfectly match the application’s performance requirements. Consumers have the option of selecting from many mini ITX cards or standard compatible graphic card models for the Mini eGFX to optimize GPU processing requirements for each user’s specific needs.

"With the launch of the Mini eGFX external enclosure, users can turbocharge their Thunderbolt 3 enabled laptops with cutting edge discrete GPU add-in cards on the fly," said Michael Innes, President, VisionTek Products, LLC. “VisionTek embraces technology innovations from Intel that enhance the way we utilize our GPU technology to increase the efficiency, performance, and resolution of 3D visual PC applications.” “The VisionTek Thunderbolt 3 Mini eGFX enclosure is one of the most compact, yet flexible eGFX enclosures available in the market today,” said Jason Ziller, General Manager, Client Connectivity Division at Intel. “With this solution, VisionTek can broadly address the many professional graphics verticals, enterprise and consumer gaming markets as it can be easily configured to fit the needs of the customer with many inter-changeable graphic cards available.”

Expansive Selection of Laptop Compatibility
Thunderbolt 3 enabled laptops and mini-PCs connected to the new VisionTek Mini eGFX dock enclosure drives the most demanding 3D graphic intensive applications. Visiontek is proud to announce compatibility and availability with many new Thunderbolt 3 equipped laptops and mini-PCs in 2019. The speed, reliability, efficiency and compact size of VisionTek’s Mini eGFX Enclosure eliminates limitations of a laptop or mini-PC environment and opens possibilities for the perfect combination of portability and performance when required.

Select from a wide performance range of add-in graphics cards certified by VisionTek to improve 3D imaging rendering, 4K HD applications, video editing, run multi-monitor displays, improve PC gaming, and more. The VisionTek Mini eGFX is design to fit most mini ITX discrete graphics cards, as well as select reference card designs. Visit VisionTek’s product page for the most current list of graphics cards recommended. Benefits of the VisionTek Thunderbolt 3 Mini eGFX Enclosure for external GPUs include:

  • Compact Design – Form & function collide to create one of the most compact and flexible enclosure designs in the industry to accommodate a variety of graphics cards (enclosure dimensions: 8.5” x 6” x 2.75”)
  • 3D Graphics Performance – Whether you’re rendering complex 3D images or playing intense first-person shooters, the eGFX enclosure supports a wide range of mini ITX size graphics cards.
  • Power – 240W of dedicated power is provided with the VisionTek Mini eGFX Enclosure.
  • Multiple Displays – Supports up to six 4K displays @ 60fps from laptops & mini PC’s. Scalable to the needs of the user with the addition of a graphics card to fit the application’s needs.
  • Maximum 3D Resolution Control –Set limits using the GPU’s proprietary firmware controls to customize resolution settings, enhance 3D performance, and assign multi-monitor layouts.
  • Additional High-Speed USB 3.0, Ethernet Connection, and SATA III Port – The design uses a second Thunderbolt controller with PCIe-to-USB and PCIe-to-LAN controllers to provide Two (2) additional USB 3.0 ports that are conveniently accessible on the front panel of the eGFX enclosure and one (1) RJ45 ethernet Gigabit LAN connection located on the back side of the enclosure.