RTX 4090M eGPU hits pre-sale for $1,260 — $1,000 cheaper than Asus's RTX 5090 mobile eGPU

Chinese Mini PC specialist Morefine is the latest such firm to jump on the portable eGPU bandwagon. We've seen many similar lumpen devices from brands like Ayaneo, Minisforum, One-Netbook, Aoostar, and others. However, the Morefine G1 pleasingly deviates from the all-too-common AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT powerplant to provide a trio of Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 (laptop) GPU options. It is also relatively light and compact, and it has a trick up its sleeve with a swappable OCuLink + USB4 / dual USB4 module.

If you are interested in portable eGPUs, as a mini PC or docked laptop companion, for example, the Morefine G1 looks decent. Under the hood, options include your choice of either an RTX 4060 8GB, 4080M 12GB or 4090M 16GB – at widely varying prices, of course. The cheapest RTX 4060 model is $639, the RTX 4080M device is $1,089, and the top-end RTX 4090M eGPU dock is $1,259. Discount vouchers for up to $30 are still live, though.

(Image credit: Morefine)

(Image credit: Morefine)

(Image credit: Morefine)

(Image credit: Morefine)

(Image credit: Morefine)

Looking deeper into the tech specs, we don't have data on the wattages or ranges of wattage the GPUs can run at. This is an important specification to watch when buying a laptop GPU. With this in mind, perhaps we should have concerns that the Morefine G1 with RTX 4090M might be held back without a more substantial cooler – no mention is made of any cooler design difference for this model. Still, this GPU is usually configured at between 80 and 150W. For reference, laptop makers usually configure the RTX 4080M between 60 and 150W, and the RTX 4060 ranges from 45 – 100W in portables. All can shoulder an extra 15W Dynamic Boost.

Without this data, it is all the more important to hold for independent reviews of any device like this, with unbiased assessments of performance, cooling, and noise backed by test data.

Morefine does share one comparative set of benchmarks, though. The pre-order product pages include Time Spy results for each version of the G1 eGPU offered. We've tabulated the results for your convenience:

These results are approximately what we would have expected with the eGPU connected via OCuLink. The scores are better than what a USB4-connected eGPU of the same caliber would likely muster, but as you move up the graphics card ranks, the eGPUs get left behind those in laptops due to the toll of limited bandwidth.

Let's now look at the docking functionality on offer. This tidy 140 x 100 x 54mm box of tricks, which weighs just 700g (1.54 pounds), has the following interfaces: three USB-A 5 Gbps ports, two USB-C 40 Gbps ports (one with 85W power delivery and DP-Alt), two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DP 1.4, plus a DC jack, and a power button. Thus, you can connect up to four displays to this device. Compared with some rivals, the G1 loses points for lacking Ethernet, audio, and memory card support.

Users can swap out the dock I/O section with twin USB4 ports for one that combines USB4 and an OCuLink port. If you have such a port, the latter should be favored for better eGPU bandwidth (64 vs 40 Gbps) with fewer overheads.

To put the new Morefine G1 into the context of a powerful contemporary rival, the Asus ROG XG Mobile graphics dock looks likely to beat the Morefine G1 thanks to its 150W RTX 5090 ($2,199.99) and RTX 5070 Ti laptop options and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity. However, the Asus sticker price is against it, as is the fact that PCs that can take full advantage of Thunderbolt 5 connectivity are currently quite rare. You can still hook the ROG XG Mobile eGPU up to the slower USB4 and TBT4 connector, but it has no OCuLink port.