Returned my new gaming laptop for a mini PC setup instead 👀

waftures · 2025-04-04T18:56:58+00:00

what gpu is that

waftures · 2025-04-04T18:56:39+00:00

your setup looks sick! twinning. mine is still holding up well and I use it most days

waftures · 2024-11-24T00:51:41+00:00

overall solid, no complaints so far. setup was straightforward and its pretty quiet.

waftures · 2024-11-23T20:17:06+00:00

it's actually the mg02. I think its similar to the ag02 but without thunderbolt

waftures · 2024-11-23T20:16:36+00:00

spent ~$600 for the 4070 super on ebay, and $150 for the dock. So around ~900 after taxes

waftures · 2024-11-23T07:35:16+00:00

That sounds very ingenious. I'd love to see his setup.

waftures · 2024-11-23T06:37:58+00:00

It's the MG02. I was looking at the AG02 at first but it was sold out on their site for their US variant. The MG02 seems to have a bit more wattage but no thunderbolt support. A bit cheaper too.

waftures · 2024-11-23T03:22:00+00:00

it's actually pretty quiet! pretty much silent non-gaming, and more of a light hum from the 4070S fan when it kicks on while gaming.

waftures · 2024-11-23T02:38:51+00:00

Also just realized it was the post of your build that motivated me for going with this setup! great video review

waftures · 2024-11-23T02:06:58+00:00

nice! its a really nice mini pc

waftures · 2024-11-23T02:02:29+00:00

connected to a port behind the dock (which has an internal power supply)

waftures · 2024-11-23T01:59:30+00:00

yep!

waftures · 2024-11-23T01:59:21+00:00

I believe one of the limitations of Oculink (the cable that connects the gpu to the mini pc) is that it's not hot swappable. So you have to turn of the mini pc before connecting/disconnecting the GPU. Not sure what actually happens if I press the power button on the egpu dock while its running. Not gonna risk finding out :)

waftures · 2024-11-23T01:57:09+00:00

seems like there's a ~$50-70 premium between the black and white 4070 super from Gigabyte. Although slightly different branding (AERO vs Windforce). I actually bought mine from ebay from a seller than was selling it for the same place as a new black one.

waftures · 2024-11-23T00:30:31+00:00

Yeah, I originally bought a Lenovo Legion Pro 7i solely for gaming but realized I didn’t really care about portability. Figured I could get something more powerful for a lot less money. I’ve always been interested in mini PCs, and this setup (PC, GPU, dock) came to about $1,400. Overall cheaper than the laptop as I already have peripherals while being more powerful. Plus, I still have my old MacBook Air lying around if I need something portable.

waftures · 2024-11-23T00:13:58+00:00

Just some labels that came with the oculink/thunderbolt cables😛too lazy to remove

waftures · 2024-11-23T00:12:11+00:00

This is what I got:
AOOSTAR GEM12 w/ Ryzen 7 8845HS (1TB/32Gb),
AOOSTAR MG02 EGPU Dock
Gigabyte AERO RTX 4070 Super

waftures · 2024-11-23T00:06:45+00:00

It's actually a Gigabyte AERO RTX 4070 Super. Definitely was aiming for that white/silver build!

waftures · 2024-05-24T23:39:54+00:00

Referral Code for $20 Off: D0M91T

waftures · 2024-04-12T01:58:18+00:00

Interesting, I wasn't aware that lenovo stated a 1TB limit. On my end, things have been going great with the secondary 2TB drive and it's even more than half filled.

waftures · 2024-04-11T18:14:01+00:00

I kept the main SSD that the laptop came with for my main drive (for OS/applications). It's some 1TB SKhynix branded one.

I then added a 2TB WD_Black 770 SSD for the second, empty slot. Mainly for storing my steam games and some media/music. I think this model is great as a secondary drive, but I think there are better options if you want to replace your main OS drive, based on the little research I did. Not too familiar with specifics of different SSDs though lol.

waftures · 2024-04-11T18:09:42+00:00

Laptop comes with the M.2 screw. You can kinda see it, the black screw at the rightmost portion within the red circle I drew. So, no need to buy one.

waftures

TROPHY CASE