The OCuLink interface has notably improved external graphics card setups by supporting bandwidths up to 64 Gbps. In comparison, Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 deliver up to 40 Gbps. However, Beelink is pushing these boundaries further with the release of their new EX eGPU dock.
The Beelink EX eGPU dock is specifically designed for some of the company’s newer mini PC models, including the GTi14 Ultra. These mini PCs feature a PCIe 4.0 x8 slot that can handle up to 128 Gbps bandwidth, providing significantly enhanced eGPU performance over an OCuLink setup.
Tech reviewer ETA Prime evaluated the performance of Beelink’s new eGPU dock by pairing it with the GTi14 Ultra mini PC. This mini PC is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor from the Meteor Lake series, which can be configured to a TDP of up to 65W. For the eGPU dock, ETA Prime installed an Nvidia RTX 4090 to fully showcase the dock’s capabilities.
One of the key tests involved running Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p resolution with ray tracing set to ultra settings. The game maintained a frame rate above 60 FPS. In another test, Ghost of Tsushima at 1440p with “very high” graphics settings (without frame generation) averaged around 100 FPS. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, benchmarked at 1440p with the highest preset, achieved an average of 175 FPS.
Forza Horizon 5 was also tested at 1440p with “extreme” visual settings, maintaining FPS over 160. The final benchmark involved Black Myth: Wukong at 1440p with maxed-out visual settings, where the game stayed above 60 FPS throughout testing.
ETA Prime concluded that all games tested on this setup performed better than any OCuLink solutions. Nevertheless, it was noted that the RTX 4090, although a PCIe 4.0 x16 card, experienced some performance loss due to both the eGPU dock and the mini PC operating on PCIe 4.0 x8.
