Alienware 13 R3 + AGA + 5700XT

[Csupati]

Hi, i've decided to go with egpu instead of MXM , because MXM is end of life unfortunetly. But the Alienware and graphics amplifier are still working in 2023. My goal was a fairly cheap setup with the possible highest perfomance that i can get with fairly cheap. So the basic machine is the 13 R3 with I7-6700HQ , 1060 mobile , 16gb 2333 mhhz ram , 2x512gb SSD , FHD display ( i missed the qhd oled 😞 ) . I have read that AGA only support 20XX and RX 4XX/5XX , some of  the retail coolers will fit , but 3 slots are not , watercooling is not and option unless you cut the AGA. So i decided to go with a reference 5700XT , someone says its not gonna work because of the pcie 4.0 support, someone says every gpu works as long as it fits. So i tryed my luck with a ref 5700xt and its works as it shoud be. From the AGA i removed the original very loud fan, still didnt replaced it so add that to the termals. The CPU got a liquid metal , the laptop has been previuosly upgraded with the 1070 3 pipe heatsink. Maybe further VGA-s will be tested as long as the budget goes. Starts right up, but untill you didnt intall the driver the card dosent give display(hdmi with a monitor ,no internal lcd was used). After driver install (no mods ,nothing needed to install) its works. The CPU goes 3.1GHZ allcore max 72C . A 3X 120mm vent modded Notepal u3 is under the 13R3 .

[Reciever]

30xx works but you have to plug in after post iirc 

 

5700xt is still a potent card though, was a great value on release and still actively use one for now. 

[ssj92]

I can confirm i have tested

rtx 3070, 3090

rx 6800

 

to work in aga

 

4000 series also works

[Csupati]

5 hours ago, Reciever said:

30xx works but you have to plug in after post iirc 

 

5700xt is still a potent card though, was a great value on release and still actively use one for now. 

Thakns, what i need to plug? AGA cable or the aga power cable?

 

4 hours ago, ssj92 said:

I can confirm i have tested

rtx 3070, 3090

rx 6800

 

to work in aga

 

4000 series also works

Thanks , thats good news! 

 

witch cooling solution cards was tested in the AGA? How easy to fit them inside?

[ssj92]

54 minutes ago, Csupati said:

Thakns, what i need to plug? AGA cable or the aga power cable?

 

Thanks , thats good news! 

 

witch cooling solution cards was tested in the AGA? How easy to fit them inside?

3070 MSI Gaming Trio (I removed the whole top cover as I like to look at my cards. 

 

3090 Kingpin & XC3. 

 

2080Ti PNY Blower

 

RX 6800 Reference 

 

These are the most recent ones I tried. 

[Csupati]

On 1/18/2023 at 10:00 PM, ssj92 said:

3070 MSI Gaming Trio (I removed the whole top cover as I like to look at my cards. 

 

3090 Kingpin & XC3. 

 

2080Ti PNY Blower

 

RX 6800 Reference 

 

These are the most recent ones I tried. 

I've had a very stupid idea. Its mind blowing! Our community forum, i've saw a GT80 titan sli. Now, we talked about it, and a guy who use an mxm pcie egpu methood sayd that with that (im gonna assume He's joking) He can use sli egpu's . My idea is that now the AGA is connected and have a TB3 slot, if i go get a TB3 egpu case i can make sli/cf ?? 

[ssj92]

You would be bottlenecked by the x4 bus speed. Not to mention you would need to hack the drivers to allow SLI support (not sure it'll work due to optimus)

[Csupati]

Yes , I realised that . Today i have traded the 5700xt for a 3060ti , at superposition 1080p extreme i gained almost +50% at the score. 5053--->7173

[Csupati]

On 1/18/2023 at 4:00 PM, Reciever said:

30xx works but you have to plug in after post iirc 

 

5700xt is still a potent card though, was a great value on release and still actively use one for now. 

I didn't see any problems with the 3060Ti , dont need to plug or unplug the cable during post. But Dell's made a wierd thing: while the AGA is connected (no matter what gpu is in) its disabling the dGPU on the laptop, i didnt apper in device managger. If i remove the AGA the 1060 works. If i press i/d gfx it shows that is not supperted while the AGA is connected.

[Reciever]

2 hours ago, Csupati said:

I didn't see any problems with the 3060Ti , dont need to plug or unplug the cable during post. But Dell's made a wierd thing: while the AGA is connected (no matter what gpu is in) its disabling the dGPU on the laptop, i didnt apper in device managger. If i remove the AGA the 1060 works. If i press i/d gfx it shows that is not supperted while the AGA is connected.

Thats normal behavior

[Csupati]

My Friend who has an M15 , he can use  the AGA card and dgpu at the same time , dont know why Dell done this ....  If i have to change the 13 r3 to a better cpu maybe im gonna go with an Area 51m R2 . As i know , the cpu has a vapor heatsink , and still have gfx  connector .