Do you want to do AI work but have have a laptop, NUC, or other tiny form factor computer that cannot accept a gigantic GPU? Does your system have an Oculink port? Then maybe one of this external GPU doc is for you.

Minisforum DEG1 eGPU Dock allows you to plug in an external GPU to your small form factor PC. The only trick is that you’ll need an Oculink port. A number of small form factor PC’s now come with Oculink (like this AtomMan X7 Ti).

OCuLink is short for “Optical-Copper Link” that allows you to connect PCIe devices using an external cable rather than an internal slot. OCuLink has been around in the server world for about a decade, but starting in 2024 has becoming increasingly present on tiny form factor pc’s like the Intel’s NUCs. OCuLink is gaining popularity because it’s cheaper than complex solutions like Thunderbolt and offers almost direct PCI speeds. OCuLink is virtually an extension of your device’s PCIe slot, boasting a bandwidth of up to 16 GB/s which is much faster than Thunderbolt 4 which caps out at 5 GB/s.

You can also buy desktop PC versions of Oculink (like this one) to try things out. They’re kind of unique because they come with 2 components. A shim M.2 card to plug into your PCIe slots, and then it connects via Oculink to a small connector board that your graphics card plugs into:

Here’s a review of the setup and performance. It’s extremely impressive. You can play Cyberpunk in 4K raytracing on a connected 4090 in Ultra at a steady 70fps. Even in overdrive it maintains a steady 50+ fps. Horizon Forbidden West at 4k Very High settings plays at a stable 80-100fps – even without framegen.

While it’s still too much of a Frankenstein approach right now that isn’t consumer friendly, but I think OCuLink has really raised the bar and is going to make Thunderbolt and USB have to really up their game.