Laptop power boost: Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box - External Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU via Thunderbolt 5 review

The basic approach of using an external GPU to give compact systems more performance and flexibility still makes sense - especially regarding AI workflows, GPU rendering, or gaming on the go. The selection of corresponding solutions is still limited, which shows the limited demand on the one hand but also offers potential for innovation on the other. With its new Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box, Gigabyte is one of the few manufacturers to consistently serve this market with an all-around carefree package.

Instead of relying on a modular eGPU housing, Gigabyte delivers a complete solution here: the compact box houses a fully fledged Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, including efficient AiO cooling. In addition to several display outputs, various USB ports and a LAN socket are also available - ideal for users who want to expand their setup on the go or in the office.

The data connection is made via Thunderbolt 5 - which corresponds to the latest technical progress. Despite all the hardware power, the RTX 5090 cannot develop its full potential via this interface. Nevertheless, the performance of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop can often be significantly outperformed.

In terms of build quality, the box is impressive as usual: the materials look high-quality, the cooling remains quiet and the included software package offers useful setting options without any major weaknesses. If you can live with the limitations, the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box is a strong overall package.

The manufacturer's MSRP and information on availability are not currently known.

The Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box is an external GPU solution from Gigabyte and is based on the fastest consumer desktop GPU from Nvidia. With the GeForce RTX 5090, the graphics performance of notebooks can be raised to another level. It is aimed at users who want to use AI workloads, creative projects, or demanding gaming flexibly without having to resort to a large desktop PC. With the latest Thunderbolt 5 interface, the AORUS RTX 5090 AI Box can be easily connected to notebooks or compact systems. Older Thunderbolt versions are also supported, although there may be a noticeable reduction in performance.

Gigabyte integrates the GeForce RTX 5090 in the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box together with a powerful AiO cooling system and an 850-watt power supply unit in a particularly compact, stable housing. This is predominantly made of metal, which ensures a high level of robustness and a high-quality appearance. The lid and side panels can be removed without tools, and the latter are also equipped with dust filters that can be easily pulled out to the rear even when closed. The housing and the installed components can be further disassembled if required. In terms of workmanship, there is hardly any criticism. Visually, the box is discreetly highlighted by an illuminated AORUS logo on the front, the effects of which can be adjusted via the Gigabyte Control Center or completely deactivated if required. The only disadvantage is that the metal surfaces quickly show fingerprints.

The Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box is designed to provide maximum performance with a laptop. Thanks to the new Thunderbolt 5 interface, more bandwidth is available, which is an important step forward. Nevertheless, it is still disadvantaged compared to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 permanently installed in a desktop PC.

A Thunderbolt 5 interface is required to make optimum use of the performance of the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box. As a basis, we use the Aorus Master 18 AM8H with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop, which we have already reviewed. The difference from the previous test device is the RAM configuration, which at 4,800 MT/s is slightly slower than in our previous review. All comparative values for the graphics cards were measured on our GPU test system with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D as the basis.

The synthetic benchmarks clearly show that the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box is not on a par with an internally installed GeForce RTX 5090 in a desktop PC in terms of performance. In the overall comparison of the results, it is noticeably behind in some cases, which is primarily due to the limitations of the Thunderbolt interface. Under high GPU load, however, the gap to comparable desktop cards can be reduced somewhat. Depending on the application and bandwidth utilization, the results sometimes fluctuate significantly: in certain tests, such as LuxMark or ComputeMark, the box achieves top values and places itself in the front field, while in other scenarios, such as Geekbench AI, it clearly lags desktop models. It is therefore difficult to make a uniform statement on overall performance, which means that the actual performance for users depends heavily on the area of application.

If you want to use your laptop or mini PC with the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box for professional 3D calculations, you can expect a noticeable performance boost. Nevertheless, it is advisable to check in advance which GPU models are optimally supported. Both Nvidia and AMD offer special variants that may be better suited for certain applications thanks to customized drivers.

Games benefit from the eGPU to varying degrees depending on the title, which is probably related to the available PCIe bandwidth. In most tests, however, the combination of notebook and Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box provides a significant performance boost. Compared to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU, an average increase of around 40 percent can be observed at 2160p. With DLSS and MFG activated, the performance advantage increases even further. If we compare the results with a conventional desktop PC, it becomes clear that the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box falls far short of expectations. In fact, the eGPU solution competes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090.