external graphics card mac for video editing

Design: If youre looking to supersize your external graphics enclosure, the Core X is for you.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Or are they If you have a laptop with a Thunderbolt 3 port, theres a good chance that you can attach an external GPU (eGPU), providing all the benefits of an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, without carrying around a bulky notebook.

To help you find the best eGPU, we tested the most popular models and ranked them from best to worst.

Stay tuned for our RTX testing and our upcoming review of the latest Razer Core X Chroma.

And in case youre in the market for a new system, check out our best laptops, best gaming laptops and best sub-1,000 gaming laptops roundups.

Asus ROG XG Station 2 Big size, big price tag 571.79 View at Amazon 628 View at Amazon 1,114.46 View at Amazon The only thing bigger than the Asus ROG XG Station 2s size and outlandish design is its price tag.

However, once you get past the initial sticker shock and the boxs out-of-this-world looks, you get an eGPU thats easy to open with enough ports to support a sizable gaming battle station.

It gives the box a funky, futuristic chic that I cant get enough of.

But the show really begins once a GPU is added and the box is connected to a laptop.

The front-mounted red Tesla coil springs to life, while the interior backlighting illuminates the box with pulsating red light.

At 8.3 x 6.3 x 3.7 inches and 5.2 pounds, its one of the bigger eGPUs weve seen, so youll want to have enough space to fit it on your desk.

Ports: Ports include four USB 3.0 ports, one USB 3.0 Type-B port, a Gigabit Ethernet, a Thunderbolt 3 and a power port all mounted in the rear.

Throw in a powerful-enough GPU and you can support either an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.

Accessibility: The ROG XG Station 2 is one of the easiest eGPUs to open.

Slide the long button on the top right toward the back of the box, and both sides fall away, opening like some techno-fauna.

From there, you just pop the card in, close the box and youre ready to rock.

Compatibility: The Lenovo ThinkPad T470 recognized the Asus immediately.

It was also one of the only systems to work with the Razer Blade Stealth, and was able to charge both systems.

Value: At 549.99, the Asus ROG XG Station 2 is one of the most expensive eGPUs, second to the 589.99 Aorus GTX 1070 Gaming Box.

However, the Aorus comes with a built-in GTX 1070 GPU; supplying the same card for the ROG XG Station 2 cost us 419.99, which brings the total price of the Asus to 969.98.

Razer Core X Bigger, more streamlined and affordable 299.99 View at Amazon 299.99 View at Best Buy 299.99 View at Razer Never one to rest on its laurels, Razer went back to the lab with the Core and came back with something bigger, more streamlined and affordable.

The 299 Razer Core X offers a bigger chassis, perfect for installing massive GPUs like the Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan V while eliminating the USB and Ethernet ports.

The Core X will be one of Razers first eGPUs to play nice with Macs.

However, fans of Razers Chroma lighting will be disappointed as the Core X lacks the colorful customization feature.

External Graphics Card Mac For Video Editing