Nvidia’s missing out while AMD quietly dominates the eGPU market with repackaged RDNA3 and fancy ports

OnexGPU Lite reuses the same chip but adds Thunderbolt 5 to stay relevant
The RX 7600M XT continues to show up while RDNA4 remains nowhere in sight
AMD keeps winning eGPU slots while Nvidia remains largely absent from this niche segment

The external GPU market has been quietly evolving in recent years, and AMD appears to be securing a rather strange lead in this niche.

The debut of OnexGPU Lite makes it the 11th known eGPU powered by an AMD Radeon RX 7000 series chip, and it’s now clear vendors are consistently choosing AMD over Nvidia for their modular graphics solutions.

However, the reason(s) behind this momentum remains unclear, especially when broader market trends still favor Nvidia for desktop and mobile gaming.

Thunderbolt 5 takes the spotlight

The OnexGPU Lite is the latest entry in a growing list of eGPUs using the Radeon RX 7600M XT, a mobile RDNA3 GPU with a known 120W power ceiling.

Although not the best GPU in AMD’s lineup, it has become a go-to for modular setups.

According to Onexplayer, the Lite version is currently undergoing beta testing and will launch “soon,” but there is no confirmed price, release date, or detailed spec sheet.

Unlike the higher-end OnexGPU 2 that features the Radeon RX 7800M, the Lite version isn’t targeting raw power.

Instead, it seems designed to balance portability and futureproofing, with one key upgrade: support for Thunderbolt 5.

This is a notable development, as it marks one of the first eGPUs to adopt the new interface.

Onexplayer claims Thunderbolt 5 will mean “PCIe bandwidth will be doubled,” although the actual PCIe tunneling remains at 64Gbps, the same as OCuLink.

What sets Thunderbolt 5 apart is its ability to support both power delivery and display output over a single cable, features that OCuLink lacks.

This emphasis on all-in-one connectivity is likely to appeal to creators using a laptop for video editing or for Photoshop.

For them, fewer cables and more streamlined setups can make a real difference.

Still, the reliance on the RX 7600M XT, with no sign of RDNA4 hardware on the horizon, does raise questions about performance ceilings.

That said, it appears that the selling point of this device will be the inclusion of Thunderbolt 5, but whether this will justify its place in a market still searching for a truly compelling external graphics solution remains to be seen.

Without more powerful mobile chips available, vendors are essentially repackaging the same core GPU in new chassis with slightly upgraded ports.

The AMD-centric trend in the eGPU space might seem surprising, but it could reflect pricing, power efficiency, or driver integration preferences.

Via Videocardz

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