According to the small installation booklet, setup requires (1) connecting the Gaming Box to an AC outlet, (2) connecting the unit to a running laptop through Thunderbolt 3, (3) approving the Thunderbolt 3 device as "Always Connect", (4) connecting an external monitor via DP, HDMI, or DVI-D from the eGPU, and then finally (5) installing the necessary GPU drivers from the disc or website. The drivers consist of a generic Thunderbolt 3 firmware and a standard Nvidia firmware used for all desktop GeForce graphics cards. Thus, gamers will be familiar with the usual features from GeForce Experience and the Nvidia control panel.



Setup is quite straightforward to our surprise even with the new Kaby Lake-G platform, although it is definitely not perfect. Steps (1) to (4) above must be done sequentially whenever the eGPU is physically disconnected from the laptop or AC outlet. Otherwise, the laptop will not always recognize the eGPU no matter how many reboots or permutations we try. The actual recognition process could also be faster; when booting up, the system will sit for a few seconds on desktop while the Aorus software loads before finally outputting to the external display. Getting the eGPU to sync is finicky, but it fortunately remains synced until system shutdown.

Another very important note is that Windows Driver Signature Enforcement ought to be disabled or else the Aorus Graphics Engine software will give an error and not boot correctly. The software offers detailed overclocking, recording, and fan speed features, but it is disappointingly rudimentary in its UI and its features can sometimes be unresponsive. It's definitely a work in progress at the time of review.



The display can be extended to the internal laptop display for dual-screen use. Because our laptop display is 4K UHD, however, scaling issues will inevitably arise if the external monitor is of a lower resolution than 4K. We are unsuccessful at getting the internal display to run on the eGPU despite Aorus' claims as the system would always default to the integrated Radeon RX Vega M GL GPU instead. If attempting to "trick" the system by extending the screen to an external display and then running gaming apps on the internal display, a system crash will occur. As with the Razer Core, however, performance would be significantly reduced if running on an internal laptop display and so an external display is always recommended.

The Gaming Box is intended for Windows 10 laptops with Thunderbolt 3, but Aorus puts the onus on users to "please confirm the Thunderbolt 3 compatibility with your PC manufacturer" as a system requirement. After all, not all laptops with USB Type-C will support Thunderbolt 3. The eGPU dock should technically work with Windows 7/8 laptops as well. MacOS is not supported at all since it is incompatible with current Nvidia drivers.