One-Netbook has written to Tom’s Hardware to share details of its upcoming OneXGPU2 eGPU and planned crowdfunding campaign. This highly portable new eGPU claims to be “the first eGPU with AMD Radeon RX 7800M,” and we have seen it surface in leaks and official teases in recent weeks. Today, we learned that the device will be priced at $899 ($839 for early birds) and that its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign will move from preview to live status on September 26 at 9 a.m. PDT.
The OneXGPU2 will probably look familiar to regular readers, as it is a lookalike update to its predecessor, which launched last year. It shares many of the same design cues, rounded shape, RGB, and docking functionality. However, with its RX 7800M 180W GPU, the new version is larger than the original model, with its RX 7600M XT 120W GPU. The OneXGPU2 measures 229.5 x 175 x 43mm and weighs 1,610g, while the first revision was a relatively nimble 196 x 120 x 32mm and weighed 869g. Both seem to come with the same 330W PSU.
On paper, the Radeon RX 7800M, with 60 CUs and 12GB of VRAM on a 192-bit bus, is also much beefier than the RX 7600M XT (32 CUs and 8GB of VRAM on a 128-bit bus). Thus, the new eGPU should deliver an easily noticeable uplift in 3D-intensive workloads for your USB4 or OCuLink-connected computer compared to the prior version.
Thanks to an earlier tease from One-Netbook, we have some idea about the performance of the new OneXGPU 2. Earlier this month, a video from One-Netbook shared evidence that the new eGPU could provide performance levels between the GeForce RTX 4070 laptop and RTX 4080 laptop GPUs. You could also say it performs very similarly to the desktop RX 7700 XT. We don't have a 7800M-powered device in the labs, so please take the (surely cherry-picked) performance figures with a modicum of skepticism. In its PR blurb, One-Netbook also boasts the OneXGPU2 will deliver a 200% to 500% increase in frame rates for modern gaming handhelds like the OneXPlayer X1 8840.
The docking functionality doesn't seem to have changed much between revisions. Both sport the aforementioned USB4 and OCuLink interfaces, offer 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, HDMI and DP ports, and Ethernet ports, and allow users to fit an M.2 2280 (PCIe Gen3 speeds) SSD. There are one or two differences, and it is interesting to see that the new model supports three additional screens rather than four, for example.
One-Netbook's crowdfunder opens its virtual doors on September 26, at 9 a.m. PDT. It says that early bird offers of $839 for a device will be live for the first 96 hours, after which the product will move up to its "Indiegogo Perk" price of $899—hinting that an MSRP will be even higher.
Please remember that crowdfunding a project does not guarantee receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed, but you are not purchasing a retail product.
