Is there anyone out there who would pay $1,999.99 strictly for the laptop version of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090 GPU? That seems to be the question that ASUS ROG is asking with the XG Mobile (2023), a new version of the company’s external GPU and hub accessory that not only features NVIDIA’s flagship Ada GPU for mobile gamers, but also a $2K price tag, making it even more expensive than many of the GeForce RTX 4090 desktop graphics cards that can be found on today’s market. What’s even better is that this eGPU is exclusive to ASUS’ ROG Flow laptop family (e.g., the ROG Flow X13)—the hardware is combined via a proprietary PCIe (3.0 x8) connector that is said to offer up to 63 Gb/s of theoretical bandwidth, higher than Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gb/s).
ASUS ROG XG Mobile (2023) Specifications
- Model Name
- GC33Y
- Color
- OFF BLACK
- Connection to PC
- ROG XG Mobile interface and USB Type-C combo port
- Ethernet Connection
- Gigabit Lan 10/100/1000 Mbps/2.5Gb
- I/O Ports
- 1xHDMI2.1 FRL
- 1xDP 1.4 support G-SYNC
- 1xRJ-45 LAN port
- 1xDC input jack
- 3xUSB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
- 1xSD Card reader(Standard)/UHS-II(312MB/s)
- 1xUSB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
- Power Supply
- 330W Power Supply
- Dimensions
- 21.7 x 16.5 x 3.26 cm
- Weight
- 1.3 KG
- Graphics Card Support
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, GDDR6 16G
- Accessories
- 1x Power cord
- Model Support
- ROG Flow X13(GV301/GV302)/ROG Flow Z13(GZ301)/ROG Flow X16(GV601)
From an ASUS Shop listing:
All members of the ROG Flow laptop family have a secret weapon – the XG Mobile. ROG’s exclusive XG Mobile ecosystem of external GPUs provide amped-up horsepower and offer a built in I/O hub, allowing higher bandwidth to Flow devices with a proprietary PCIe connection. The XG Mobile features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU with a max TGP of 150W, allowing you to transform your Flow device from a mobile gaming laptop to a true battlestation.
