If you want the harness the power of a high-end graphics card like the RTX 5090 without a desktop setup, you generally have two options. Shop around for an RTX 5090 laptop, or go the external GPU route. If the latter is what you’re after, Gigabyte’s RTX 5090 AI Box is now on sale for $3,000 – a whopping $1,000 more than if you were to buy a conventional graphics card.

Nvidia launched its flagship RTX 5090 graphics card with a $1,999 MSRP early this year, but actually finding one for this price has been a struggle, certainly in the U.S. Recently, we did finally see popular retailer Micro Center offering an AIB card for this price (albeit for pick-up only), so it’s only becoming easier to pick up the best GPU on the market for a decent price.

Gigabyte’s RTX 5090 AI Box is 27% worse than a regular 5090 for gaming

Gigabyte advertises the RTX 5090 AI Box as a piece of kit that “revolutionizes laptop PC computing” by “transforming ultrabook laptops into ultimate gaming rigs”. Likewise, pairing one of these with your non-gaming laptop (via Thunderbolt 5) is ideal for creative workflows and, as the name suggests, AI applications. The system also boasts all-in-one water cooling with two 120mm silent fans and a 240mm radiator to keep temperatures under control.

However, according to benchmarking performed by Notebookcheck in its review of the AI Box, you can’t expect the same level of performance as you’d get from a regular desktop RTX 5090. It sits between the RTX 5090 and RTX 4090 in synthetic benchmarks, but when it comes to gaming, it actually falls behind the 4090 in native 4K benchmarks – it overtakes the last-gen flagship by 5% on average once DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation is enabled.

Notebookcheck tested a bunch of games – below are five we’ve highlighted. Some odd results seem to show that the external GPU is note as consistently optimized for gaming as its interal GPU counterparts, dropping the average to below the 4090.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.