Asus ROG XG Mobile (2025) eGPU will turn any laptop into a gaming laptop

Not every gamer plays on laptops, but the ones who do may not necessarily be fans of all the bells and whistles of a gaming laptop. Sometimes they just want a thin and light unit for work. The sad part about those? They are typically poor at handling graphical loads.

That’s where Asus’s new ROG XG Mobile external GPU dock comes in. You can plug this thing into any laptop with a Thunderbolt port and immediately supercharge it with Nvidia’s top-end GPUs.

Thunderbolt 5 support and more

Asus has refreshed its ROG XG Mobile lineup with its 2025 edition, and this time, it uses a Thunderbolt 5 port instead of a proprietary connector. This is a big upgrade over the proprietary connector on the previous models that limited compatibility to select Asus ROG laptops and tablets only.

The device was first announced earlier this year, and it’s now available in multiple regions, including the US and China.

While Thunderbolt 5 is encouraged for best performance, eGPU can still handle Thunderbolt 3 and 4, albeit at reduced speeds. That basically covers most modern, mid- to high-end laptops. The device is also capable of delivering up to 140W of passthrough power through USB Power Delivery 3.1, meaning it can charge your laptop as you game.

All in all, for connectivity, you get HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, two Thunderbolt 5 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, 2.5 Gb Ethernet, an SD card reader (UHS-II 312MB/s), and a DC power input.

Two variants are on offer here. You can either pick one with an RTX 5070 Ti or you can go for the pricier RTX 5090 GPU, which boasts a 40% advantage in games over the former.

These are a couple of Nvidia’s best, so you wouldn’t have to worry about obsolescence for a very long time. But when you do feel like upgrading, you can simply purchase a new GPU without upgrading your entire laptop.

Dock dimensions are listed as 208 x 155 x 30 mm (about the size of a small tablet) and weight as 932 grams, with a 330W power adapter included. A stand is also in the box.

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An Indian launch of the Asus ROG XG Mobile (2025) eGPU isn’t announced yet, but the RTX 5070 Ti model goes for $1,299.99 (~Rs 1,15,182), while the RTX 5090 model is tagged $2,499.99 (~Rs 2,21,489). Expect similar prices in the country if and when it arrives.