Does a PCIe to Thunderbolt 3 standalone adapter/cable exist?
New to this and currently looking to buy a new laptop (specifically Lenovo T470/s or X1 Carbon or Dell XPS 15). What attracts me to the XPS 15 is the dedicated nvidia 1050. However, if I can figure out an eGPU solution I wouldn't bother with a dGPU and just buy the T470/s or X1 Carbon which both have a Thunderbolt 3 port.
My question is this. Since I already have a GPU (Radeon HD7950) and a power supply from my current desktop computer, can I just buy some sort of adapter and not bother with a $300+ enclosure? It would be sitting on my desk and I don't need it to be in a pretty box.
Thanks.
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Short answer: technically yes (sort of), but not quite since it is still very expensive and ineffective
Long answer: the only way to have a PCIe connection to a Thunderbolt port would be using the Sonnet Echo ExpressCard Pro combine with an ExpressCard eGPU adapter (pe4c / exp gdc), but due to the insane price of the Sonnet Echo ExpressCard Pro this is no longer a viable option, plus you are limit your own bandwidth with this method
My personal advice: you save up a bit and get the T470/s or X1 Carbon along with a TB3 adapter (wait for now since there are multiple upcoming of them) since the TB3 enclosure market is start to heating up right now and you'll have an easy time upgrading in the future instead of stucking with the 1050
Hi i dont know why people give wrong information when they dont know. What thunderbolt 3 does, simply provides a PCI-e slot over USB-C connection. Is there a way to mimick it? yes add a TB3 adapter card to any PCI-e slot. Cost (Aliexpress 10 Usd). Is there any other way to mimick it? Add a TB3 adapter to M.2 slot. No I dont like TB3 can just plug and play some otherway? Yes take out your wifi card. Buy A PCI-e extender, install it in wifi card slot (which is a PCI-e slot normally). Stick other end cable to any 1x to 16x convertor. Install card and power supply, thats it. All three options cost arond 40 usd. Your laptop will remain portable still and wont look like a freinkinstein version.