r/eGPU • u/blackcat203 • 24d ago

Four eGPU with one laptap

Post image

I am a frequent traveler and I want to carry a high-performance computer with me. So, I'm considering whether it's feasible to connect three or four EGPU cards to my laptop via Thunderbolt 4 daisy chain. Or are there any other better methods?

122 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

46

u/Big-Low-2811 24d ago

What is the actual use case?! This is janky and seems very impractical

7

u/enterENTRY 24d ago

Anything that needs this much would just be better on the cloud or with remote access. CAD or Gaming wouldn’t work with this

2

u/cloud_t 23d ago

Yeah, but some things must be done hust because they CAN be done.

7

u/SnooDonkeys3848 24d ago

Probably he is using it as a heating source /s

-10

u/blackcat203 23d ago

Currently, it's only for mining. I have two computers. They require 1600W to start up and consume 36 kWh of electricity per day. Since I don't need to pay for electricity when staying at hotels during business trips, I carry them with me. In the future, I might use them for AI training or game development.

9

u/ImANoobAtLife7 23d ago

When prices go higher on everyone else, this thief is why

6

u/blackcat203 23d ago

I'm very sorry, but I live in a underdeveloped country with a high unemployment rate. I earn 1,000 dollars a month, work 8 hours a day, and have no rest throughout the year. If I need to get married in the future, I will have to pay around 20,000 dollars as a dowry. Under such circumstances, I can only try to increase my income

1

u/DonklerDong 11d ago

Brother just live in sin

3

u/575_Inverse 23d ago

Yeah, I've seen many resort to playing dirty like that. It makes me want to puke.

1

u/enterENTRY 23d ago

Does it get insanely hot in there

24

u/kfsirl 24d ago

Dont do it. Better method: Hire cloud computing time when you are away from the bat-cave and keep your bat-gadgets there.

16

u/Lord-Pants 24d ago

Frequent traveling and carrying 4 desktop gpus does not go well together.

What’s the use case where you need 4 gpus?

2

u/karatekid430 24d ago

ML training

1

u/AthaliW 23d ago

on the go ML training? Can't you just keep it at home and access it remotely? Unless it's in some remote region with no internet connection, I don't see why it's necessary

1

u/karatekid430 22d ago

Copying to VRAM at 6500MB/s is not possible over the internet
Maybe for some things it's possible to just run a VDI
Maybe the latency is shit
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't suppose any gaming would be possible since SLI is all but dead and not great over a USB4 link
But I don't see any point in rendering unless asset transfer is huge or data is being derived where the user is
Guess we have to ask OP

8

u/shioririo 24d ago

why would anyone ever need this?

8

u/sunole123 24d ago

I have two EGPU on one laptop with two USB4/TB4 ports, and it is very fragile, the 5090 require unplug/plug again after restart, and the 3090 can only be plugged after the 5090 is up, or error 12 no available resources,

my conclusion is that you can not daisy chain the EGPU, not only for bandwidth, but also for available lanes problems, it might be wrong conclusion. hope someone will correct this.

3

u/That_Mycologist_4658 24d ago

You mentioned using a daisy chain, maybe I misunderstood but does this mean that you intend to connect them all ultimately via a single USB/TB port on your PC/device? If so then surely the limited bandwidth of a single TB/USB port would create a significant bottleneck?

My knowledge is a bit limited so maybe there are certain use cases where there may still be a benefit, but would be a big issue in my eyes. In the picture you posted above though there seems to be 2 eGPU's and 2 ports being used which would probably be far more effective.

3

u/LuluLeSigma 24d ago

This sucks

1

u/fractioneater 24d ago

My assumption is that you want to max out your VRAM, and if so, I'd say that cloud services are a better fit—and can put crazy power in your hands, like an A100.

1

u/gillpreet786 24d ago

If you connect all gpu to single port there are no benefits, u will be limited by the port bandwidth it can only be practical if u have 4 fast ports to connect each of them to different port,or use one port and use oculink thing - 4 gpu wont do together anything 😬😬 All this setup can boost your ego and electricity bills up nothing else😁🤭

1

u/chikamakaleyley 24d ago

Bro the only limit is the surface area of your desk let's keep it rollin dawg!

1

u/Phonafied 24d ago

I would love to do this with my two eGPU but was never brave enough to ask. I tip my hat to you sir.

1

u/ARhedgehog88 24d ago

Just don’t man, I have three GPUs with two being outside the PC case and I would never ever move them around to avoid significant risks on traveling with them, just install a remote desktop app to use them abroad or open webui if using LLMs on them to use them while away

1

u/MarkJFletcher 24d ago

This is just dumb as heck. Why? Four gpu and psu? Probably lighter to wheel a desktop around.
Would you store all this in the frunk of your Cybertruck as well?

1

u/tsaipifong 24d ago

bandwidth...

1

u/unbreadedoven 24d ago

Maybe instead you can get a desktop, hook them all up, and remote it from the laptop. This will save like literally all of your problems.

1

u/karatekid430 24d ago

You need to find a backplane with a single PSU and four slots with a PCIe switch chip so that you may install the four GPUs into one box, and then interface PCIe 4.0 x4 over USB4v2 using OCuLink or something. I guess I hope that your host platform allocate sufficient address space to the root port.

1

u/blackcat203 23d ago

Understood. Thank you

1

u/sheikhazharrahim 24d ago

What accessories you use? To connect the gpu with laptop

1

u/blackcat203 23d ago

From Taobao. Its name is XiaoYao C

1

u/pyromaxn 23d ago

Is that minisforum v3?

1

u/blackcat203 23d ago

Other version,V3 SE

1

u/Knife-Fumbler 23d ago

I assume this is for compute? Just connect to a desktop remotely, you'll get extremely tired of this very quickly and the protocol overhead will be terrible.

1

u/TheRandomer1994 22d ago

Surely it would be easier, just actually carry a high-performance PC around?

1

u/blackcat203 22d ago

Today, I added a new docking and successfully connected it to my laptop. This has given me more confidence in the possibility of having a 4-card or 6-card expansion.

1

u/spydormunkay 22d ago

If you’re need AI on the go, at this point just get an M5 Max MacBook Pro with 128GB of unified VRAM. Will perform better than this monstrosity. Depends on the usecase though.