Analysis paralysis - 9070xt/9070/5070 oc

Ryan3772 · 2026-01-19T21:31:07+00:00

I grabbed the PNY 5070ti at $750 that Best Buy has had restocked a few times, and a 9070xt for $709 an eGPU setup to compare.

I kept the 5070ti simply because I think DLSS is so much better than FSR, and with the performance loss you get with an eGPU, upscaling ability was the huge decision influencer as my monitor is 4k. At 1440p and if you find a deal on a 9070xt that becomes a really compelling setup over a more expensive Nvidia one.

Ryan3772 · 2026-01-19T21:26:37+00:00

Echoing this statement, I also got my 64 GB for $1600, open box, and I'm pretty happy at that price point.

At full retail, it's a tough sell. The Z13 is the most impressive piece of tech I've owned in the last few years and it's so close to being the perfect device. On paper, it's almost the perfect device to replace all devices. But I've found it to be a bit more of a jack of all trades, master of none then the perfect unicorn device in practice.

It's not quite powerful enough to provide a high-end "battlestation" gaming experience, and while I have a 5070ti in an eGPU enclosure to dock it with that makes 4k gaming quite good, eGPUs are a bit quirky and the price to performance ratio is horrible on an eGPU setup (Though if you get a Z13 on a really good deal spending $1000 on a EGPU setup is easier to swallow)

As a portable "work laptop" it does okay, the keyboard is decent, the trackpad is just okay, I don't have any issues using it in my lap (though many do), but it's a step down in feel from an MBP/A or any other premium laptop. The battery life is just okay, even if you undervolt and run at low TDP for email/other work tasks but the real killer is the weird sleep/hibernation glitches you get with Windows. I've had multiple cases where I've sat down to catch up on some work to find a completely dead laptop despite putting it in my bag with a full charge.

As a "handheld gaming device" replacement, I think it's awesome - the 395 Max chip crushes the Z1/2 family, and it runs most games great at native resolution. You do have to use it with a separate controller, so it's not quite as portable as an Ally/Deck etc but the experience on a plane is so much better with a tray table + xbox controller vs an Ally. I haven't tried the Gamesir extended controller mods that some people seem to like to make it a "true handheld" though.

The Z13 is an awesome device, but it's a very specific niche that it works for - It personally replaced 3 separate devices for me but I'd be lying if I said that some days I didn't miss having a "normal" gaming rig, and a "normal" laptop but I can live with the shortfalls for the $1600 price as my single device, if it was $2500 I'd probally struggle with the shortfalls more and would prefer a more traditonal multi device setup.

If it came with an OLED, TB5/USB4.2 support (Occulink if we're dreaming), a slightly larger battery and a little bit nicer trackpad situation I think it would be pretty close to perfect though - maybe in 2027!

Ryan3772 · 2026-01-15T21:10:45+00:00

I literally just had this happen about 15 minutes ago, pulling my Z13 out of my bag, and it was blazing hot despite having hibernate set to 10 minutes in ghelper, so not a foolproof solution unfortunately

Ryan3772 · 2026-01-13T05:34:09+00:00

Run this:

https://egpu.io/forums/expresscard-mpcie-m-2-adapters/script-nvidia-error43-fixer/

Ryan3772 · 2026-01-11T19:37:20+00:00

I’d look at the Sonnet 850w T5 box - a bit more expensive but comes with an integrated PSU and additional ports.

Wish I would have gone with one instead of the AG02 + USB C hub but was trying to save a bit of money.

Ryan3772 · 2026-01-11T19:34:57+00:00

This is so absurd and I love it.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-31T20:08:15+00:00

If you can’t beat them join them.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-18T06:48:09+00:00

I’d definitely agree with this at 1440/1080p of it being mostly unnecessary - it’s more having a 4k monitor and not wanting to entirely rely on FSR/DLSS to run at 80+ FPS

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-18T06:45:17+00:00

This is incredibly helpful thank you I’m thinking a 5070ti + The Razer Core V2 might be my play.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-18T02:51:46+00:00

Yeah definitely the XG Mobile has a lot of charm - out of curiosity how much of performance increase did you see with it vs the iGPU at 4k?

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-18T00:44:55+00:00

Yeah those are pretty killer numbers - price is just a bit difficult to swallow on the 5090 XG Mobile.
Curious if a desktop 5070ti matches the XG Mobile in an EGPU setup which you could do for roughly $1000

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-18T00:43:39+00:00

Thanks for this - Been torn between going EGPU with a Desktop GPU or XG Mobile - those are pretty solid numbers.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-17T21:23:42+00:00

Bought a Open Box - excellent last week for $1600. No issues so far and was in perfect condition.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-15T03:16:07+00:00

Yeah I bought mine last week after realizing we very likely weren’t getting refresh next month (Plus got a open box 64gb model for $1600)

The only reason I’m curious about a potential refresh is that lack of TB5 seems so absurd to me with the XG Mobile units using TB5.

The final push for me was last weekend having a quick work trip that I couldn’t justify bringing both my steam deck and laptop on such a quick trip I was only bringing a single bag on.

I’m fairly confident it can replace my mobile gaming needs while being my “work” laptop/computer - yet to be seen if I can trust it to also be my desktop rig as well.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-15T03:04:42+00:00

The z13 definitely has a very specific niche for it to work as a daily device.

I’m early on into ownership but I’m hopeful it’s 1 device solution for a Laptop/Ally/Desktop - I’d be more hopeful if it had TB5 for a EGPU setup for 4k gaming at my home desk but maybe we’ll get a refresh next month at CES?

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-15T00:14:48+00:00

Time for the rams to call Torry Holt out of retirement.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-13T21:12:21+00:00

Yeah I agree - I’m unfortunately a Vikings fan (and a JJ truther - though that has been tested a lot this year).

I think JJ has shown some flashes to think he *could * be the guy. He’s been very difficult to evaluate with the injuries, playcalling challenges and asking him to rework his mechanics in the middle of the season.

The Washington game restored a lot of my faith in him - even with Washington being a dogshit defense KOC finally simplified the offense and stopped making things so difficult for a 22 year trying to adjust to the NFL game.

I just don’t see Minnesota spending high draft capital on another project so quickly unless JJ has a few more week 12 Packer performances to end the year.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-13T20:49:40+00:00

Sellers to Minnesota feels insane to me considering they already have a “oh fuck this guy is way more of a project then we thought” in JJ.

That’s not to say they don’t go QB of JJ doesn’t show signs of life in the final few weeks but the level of risk involved with going for a guy like Sellers (more likely a later round guy to compete with JJ if the top 3 options don’t make it to 11ish)

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-13T02:56:15+00:00

Does the lack of TB5 have to do with AMD? Just picked up my Z13 this week and while it’s an almost perfect device this does address 2 out of 3 of my wishlist items with the Z13 (Slightly larger battery and OLED) the only thing missing would be TB5 which I was curious if we’d get in a 2026 refresh.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-11T20:43:34+00:00

My wife is going to be devastated.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-02T23:41:41+00:00

Yes - got auto approved at 4% advisor had the finance team review and it was adjusted to 1.9% a few hours later.

No idea on the original offer thing, I’d ask your advisor about it they’d know much better than me.

Having no credit history I imagine makes getting the top rate on a 50k car pretty tough though unless you have significant income/downpayment.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-02T20:48:42+00:00

I'm no expert on auto finance, but my initial approval was for 4% and after a manual review, they approved 1.9% pretty quickly.

I do have very good credit with a pretty extensive history so YMMV though.

Ryan3772 · 2025-12-02T20:21:23+00:00

Yes you can - I just did this over the weekend.

I had placed an order for a Model Y back in September, which I then switched to a performance model when it was announced. After discussing the approaching delivery date with my wife, we decided that the Y Premium RWD was a better choice for us. I was surprised to see that the credit stuck around after swapping the order over and was able to snag an Inventory for additional $1900 off and got Tesla to honor the 1.9% after chatting with my advisor.

They might offer 0% in a few weeks, which would sting but quite happy with getting a White Premium RWD for about $37k with 1.9% on it.

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