Razer is lifting the curtain on the new Core X Chroma, its latest external graphics enclosure (eGPU), which allows you to increase the gaming graphics power of your Windows or macOS laptop by using the included Thunderbolt 3 cable. The Core X Chroma improves on last year’s Core X by offering customizable Chroma backlighting, a more powerful 700-watt power supply, and USB-A and Gigabit Ethernet ports.

On the back, you’ll immediately notice the four USB Type-A ports, which can be used to power and utilize desktop accessories with your laptop or charge your other devices. The Core X’s main Thunderbolt 3 cable also charges USB-C laptops up to 100 watts and is located just beneath the Gigabit Ethernet port, which you can use for faster downloads than those you’d get over Wi-Fi. For those of you keeping score, Ethernet support is a returning feature from the company’s first eGPU, the Core, which launched in 2016.

The Core X Chroma supports a wide range of PCIe graphics cards, including Nvidia’s RTX, GTX, and Quadro series as well as AMD’s Radeon and Radeon Pro GPUs for Windows PCs. Unfortunately, Macs connected to the Core X Chroma will only have support for AMD’s GPUs due to limitations within macOS itself, which is a bit of a letdown.

On paper, it looks as if Razer designed the Core X Chroma to be easily serviceable (by being tool-less) and usable by gamers and non-gamers alike since a single pull-out handle exposes the GPU inside. In the coming weeks, we’ll be reviewing the Core X Chroma to see if it plays nicely with a wide range of Windows and MacBook laptops when connected to Radeon or RTX graphics cards (or Radeon-only, in the MacBook’s case).

The new Razer Core X Chroma will be available starting on April 16th from Razer.com and select retailers in the US and Canada. It will be “available soon” in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Nordic countries, China, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Photography by Stefan Etienne / The Verge

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