Gigabyte launches Aorus RTX 5060 Ti AI Box eGPU with TB5 connector, only 5% slower than the desktop model

Among the multitude of new products revealed today during the Beyond Edge online event held by Gigabyte, the Aorus sub-brand revealed its latest mainstream external GPU based on the desktop-grade RTX 5060 Ti model from Nvidia. It will most likely see availability in the coming weeks together with the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box eGPU announced at Computex.

Up until now, the few OEMs that offered eGPUs mostly focused on the more affordable AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT based on the laptop-grade RDNA 3 dGPU. Aorus now offers an Nvidia mainstream alternative that is actually based on a desktop-grade GPU since it features similar Windforce cooling system and 16 GB VRAM instead of 8 GB. Of course, this means the Aorus RTX 5060 Ti AI Box will probably cost more than the desktop GPU model currently selling for $460.

The price could be worth it, however, given that the eGPU can connect through Thunderbolt 5 to compatible devices. According to Gigabyte, the TB5 (PCIe 4.0 X4) connection is only 5% slower than a desktop GPU running on a PCIe 4.0 X16 slot. Now, TB5 is not really a mainstream solution at the moment, so it is only available on high-end laptops and mini PCs. Good thing the Aorus RTX 5060 Ti AI Box offers USB4 backwards compatibility, in which case users can utilize it as a game renderer, while the less powerful dGPU on a laptop may balance the workload with Project G-Assist.

Besides the eGPU part, this device can also be used as a docking station that adds 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery 3.0 and an Ethernet NIC. The Aorus logo and the interior is lit with RGB LEDs. The box itself is considerably more portable than the RTX 5090 model, as it measures 117 x 243 x 45 mm.