RTX 5090 Tested with a Handheld Console — It Works, But Not Perfectly
The Verge journalist Sean Hollister conducted an experiment, hooking up NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition to the GPD Win Max 2 gaming handheld via a Minisforum DEG1 docking station. Despite hardware limitations, the setup delivered impressive gaming performance but faced several technical hurdles.
This unusual build required a powerful external power supply and a special patch to bypass NVIDIA’s driver incompatibility with the Oculink interface. Once configured, tests showed that the console, paired with the RTX 5090, could achieve over 100 FPS in 4K resolution on ultra settings in games like Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Assassin's Creed Mirage. However, performance losses compared to a full desktop PC reached up to 29%.
The biggest issues stemmed from Oculink’s shortcomings: cables don’t support hot-swapping, require separate power, and are easily damaged. Additionally, the limited bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 prevents the RTX 5090 from reaching its full potential.
Nevertheless, the experiment showcased the potential of mobile gaming devices that can significantly boost their power when connected to external GPUs. In the future, the industry may introduce more convenient and reliable solutions for such hybrid gaming systems.
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