Boosting ROG Ally X with KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock – 1440P Gaming Test!

Have you ever longed to upgrade a small, handheld gaming device to a powerful gaming system that can run 1440p titles? There’s nowhere else to look! The ROG Ally X together with the KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock has been a great test subject for me. This graphics dock works with any device that has Thunderbolt 4 or USB 4 installed. It is not device-specific. Thus, you may enjoy a performance bump that enables handheld gaming on par with desktop performance, whether you’re using a Lenovo Legion Go, MSI Claw, or ROG Ally X.

The KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock

KHADAS produces a high-end device called the Mind Graphics Dock, which was first created for their Mind small portable workstation. Equipped with a powerful RTX 4060 Ti desktop graphics card (not the less powerful laptop model), it has 16 GB of VRAM, which is more than enough capability to play demanding AAA titles at 1440p. With the help of this dock, your handheld device becomes a powerful machine that can easily run the newest games. Despite not being designed with portable gaming PCs in mind, the Mind eGPU Dock functions well since it is compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4.

Setup and Connectivity

Using the ROG Ally X to set up the dock is simple. Of the two USB-C ports on the ROG Ally X, only one of them is compatible with USB 4, which is essential for attaching external GPUs like as the KHADAS Mind. When the dock is connected, it powers the Ally X and offers additional I/O, such as dual HDMI, Ethernet, and three USB 3.2 ports, making it a flexible hub for productivity and gaming.

Gaming Performance – Benchmarks and Real-World Gaming

Installing the most recent NVIDIA drivers is crucial once connected. The RTX 4060 Ti takes precedence over the ROG Ally X’s RDNA 3 iGPU, even though it is still equipped with a Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU. With a dock that can boost power to 170W, the 4060 Ti delivers full desktop-grade performance.

Synthetic Benchmarks

• 3DMark Night Raid: The ROG Ally X’s iGPU receives about 28,000 points, but an amazing 52,177 points are obtained when the KHADAS Mind dock is used.

• Time Spy: The eGPU raises the score to 12,236 from 3,518 points scored by the internal iGPU.

Although these benchmarks show a notable improvement in game performance, artificial benchmarks are still just statistics. What matters is performance in the real world!

High-Resolution Gaming Performance

It is revolutionary to run games at 1440p on the ROG Ally X with the KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock. The performance is already good at 1080p resolution and Ultra settings. However, the dock’s RTX 4060 Ti truly comes to life when you boost the resolution to 1440p, especially when you turn on features like Frame Generation and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). High frame rates are maintained even under taxing conditions thanks to these technologies.

Here are a few of the most notable gaming exams:

Black Myth: Wukong – When using Frame Generation and extremely high settings at 1440p, the frame rate almost increased when compared to when it wasn’t used. When Frame Generation is enabled, the average frame rate increases to 93 FPS, with peaks as high as 140 FPS. Without it, you should anticipate an average of about 54 FPS.

Red Dead Redemption 2 – With DLSS set to balanced and the settings mixed between Ultra and High, the game ran at a fluid 66 frames per second on average. You may increase the frame rate even further by changing the DLSS settings to Performance or reducing the resolution to 1080p, although 1440p is still plenty enjoyable.

Elden Ring – The game averaged 54 frames per second at 1440p on high settings. It did, however, stabilize at 60 frames per second (FPS) when the settings were dropped to High, providing a more fluid experience without significantly compromising the visual quality.

Fallout 4 – With 1440p Ultra settings, this game typically achieves above 60 frames per second. It operates quite smoothly most of the time, with a few sporadic drops below 120 FPS.

Forza Horizon 5 – The game ran incredibly well at 1440p Ultra settings, averaging 76 frames per second without any noticeable dropouts, therefore DLSS wasn’t needed.

Hogwarts Legacy – This difficult game required Frame Generation to achieve best performance, even with DLSS set to balanced at 1440p Ultra. The game averaged about 91 frames per second with it enabled.

Cyberpunk 2077 – one of the most demanding games available, occasionally dropped below 60 frames per second when playing at 1440p Ultra with DLSS balanced. Even with medium Ray Tracing settings enabled, the game performed smoothly at over 60 frames per second with Frame Generation turned on and DLSS optimized.

Optimizing the Performance

Performance may be managed with flexibility thanks to the KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock. For even higher performance, you can overclock the RTX 4060 Ti using third-party tweaking applications like Afterburner. You can fine-tune your experience by adjusting both the core and memory clock settings while the power restriction is locked. You may also attach a mouse, keyboard, and external display for a complete desktop experience because of the additional I/O on the dock.

The primary constraint is the bandwidth of USB 4, which has certain limitations in comparison to inserting a GPU directly into a desktop. The dock’s connection speed is still remarkable, though, coming in at one of the quickest in its class at about 3,000 MB/s. As a result, there are no noticeable bottlenecks while handling demanding titles and resolutions on the dock.

Final Thoughts

The ROG Ally X and other gaming handhelds benefit greatly from the KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock, which gives a portable device a punch much above its weight. This dock allows you to play at 1440p and higher, turning your handheld into a powerful gaming device whether you’re playing highly demanding AAA titles or demanding high frame rates in competitive games.

The speed gain that the dock and GPU offer makes them a viable investment for gamers who want to play at higher resolutions and settings without compromising portability, even though their price may cause some hesitation. Tell me in the comments if you would want to see additional devices, such as the Legion Go or MSI Claw, combined with the KHADAS Mind eGPU Dock!

Video review of we tested KHADAS Mind Graphics Dock on ROG Ally X – Here’s What Happened!