Gigabyte’s RTX 5060 AORUS eGPU has been taken apart
Source: eGPU
A teardown of the Gigabyte AORUS RTX 5060 Ti AI BOX suggests the compact Thunderbolt 5 eGPU is built around a more conventional internal GPU layout than many expected. Photos shared on eGPU.io show the GPU section as a separate board that plugs into a physical PCIe connector, rather than being permanently integrated into a single custom backplane.
According to the teardown, the enclosure uses a physical PCIe x8 slot for the RTX 5060 Ti board. That means the GPU PCB is socketed, at least at the connector level, which could make hardware servicing or future upgrades possible (in theory).
Source: eGPU
The AI BOX is advertised as both an eGPU and a docking station. The front I/O shown in the unboxing post includes a 10Gbps USB-C port and two 10Gbps USB-A ports, plus a power or reset button. The rear panel combines GPU display outputs with docking connectivity, including three DisplayPort 2.1b outputs and one HDMI 2.1b output, Ethernet, an upstream Thunderbolt 5 port to the host, and a downstream Thunderbolt 5 port for peripherals or daisy chaining.
Source: eGPU
Power is handled by an external 330W adapter, and Gigabyte also advertises up to 100W USB Power Delivery over the upstream Thunderbolt 5 connection for charging a laptop. In the eGPU.io measurements, the adapter is rated 20V and 16.5A, which aligns with the 330W figure, and the post notes the RTX 5060 Ti desktop card is a 180W-class GPU.
AORUS RTX 5060 Ti AI BOX has appeared at Newegg for about $699.99, putting it close to the cost of some desktop RTX 5060 Ti 16GB cards while adding the Thunderbolt 5 enclosure and docking hardware. It is now listed at €899, while the Newegg offer is gone and the lowest is now $1250.
Source: eGPU.io
