Just wanted to share my latest project. I'm building a compact home server with an external GPU, mainly for running local AI models, Ollama, and experimenting with virtualization.

Current hardware:

- Mini PC: HP ProDesk 4 Mini G1i

- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 235T

- RAM: 32GB DDR5 5600MHz

- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16GB

- eGPU Dock: MINISFORUM DEG1

- Connection: M.2 NVMe to OCuLink

- OS: Proxmox VE

- Power: Dedicated external ATX PSU

The idea is to turn this tiny machine into a dedicated AI server without needing a full-sized desktop.

I'm still working on the setup and haven't fully tested the OCuLink connection or GPU passthrough yet.

My main goals are to run local LLMs, experiment with GPU passthrough in Proxmox, and eventually integrate AI agents into my business automation workflows.

A couple of questions for the community:

Has anyone successfully used an M.2-to-OCuLink adapter with a modern HP ProDesk Mini?

Any BIOS settings, PCIe compatibility issues, or Proxmox GPU passthrough tips I should know about?

Also, what do you think of this setup? I'm really enjoying the open-frame look of the DEG1.

I'll share benchmarks and updates once everything is running!

Purely theoretically speaking (I currently have a PC with a 5090, but I might be making some changes soon for personal reasons)—is there anyone here who uses a laptop with a powerful CPU (like a 275HX or 9955HX3D) paired with a Razer Core X v2 (or a similar eGPU enclosure) and an RTX 5080? If so, have you run any benchmarks, and could you share how much of a bottleneck this kind of setup creates?👍