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Asus had already released XG Mobile external RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6850M XT GPUs to pair with its ROG Flow systems. However, with RTX 40 graphics cards now available, Asus thought it would be nice to upgrade the XG Mobile with a more modern GPU for the new ROG Flow laptops. That's where the ROG XG Mobile RTX 4090 comes in, packing today's most powerful GPU in an external dock.
First shared by Expreview (via VideoCardz), the new ROG XG Mobile includes an RTX 4090 mobile GPU with a TGP of 150W (configurable up to 175W) and 9,728 CUDA cores with a boost clock speed of 2,040MHz. This variant contains 16GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit memory bus and a 330W power supply. Weighing just 1.3kg, this external GPU was designed to be more compact than other similar solutions. The external GPU also functions as a docking station, with a 2.5G Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 connector, a DisplayPort 1.4 with GSYNC compatibility, 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (a USB-C and 3x USB-A), and an SD card reader.
Instead of the Thunderbolt 4 ports commonly used on external GPU, the ROG XG Mobile RTX 4090 connects to the ROG Flow system via a proprietary interface using a PCIE Gen3 x8 connection with 63 GB/s dedicated bandwidth. Because it uses this connector, the external GPU is only compatible with the latest ROG Flow gaming laptops: X13, Z13, and X16.
Asus already announced that the ROG XG Mobile RTX 4090 external GPU would go for $1999, but it didn't share a release date. ASUS hasn't announced any additional XG Mobile units with RTX 40 GPUs, at least for now.
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KitGuru says: Without this external GPU, the ROG Flow laptops are like any other mid-high tier gaming laptop. However, thanks to the XG Mobile GPU, ROG Flow laptop owners can opt for a lightweight laptop/tablet on the go, and transform it into a more capable gaming system while at their desk.
