ASUS has announced the XG Core, a new compact external GPU for laptops, mini PCs, NUCs and gaming handhelds
The device was shown at Computex 2026 and connects through USB4 Type-C. ASUS says it also supports Thunderbolt 3 systems. This should make it compatible with a wider range of devices than older proprietary ROG XG Mobile hardware.
First RDNA 4 laptop GPU, perhaps
The interesting part is the GPU. ASUS says the XG Core uses an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP Laptop GPU with 16GB of GDDR6 memory. This is the same GPU name we covered in December ( full specs here if you need them ) when AMD quietly added the Radeon RX 9060 XT LP to its own website. At the time, AMD listed it as a low-power desktop-class Radeon model, not as a mobile GPU.
The XG Core is a remarkably compact external GPU that increases the GPU computing power available to your PC through its AMD Radeon RX™ 9060 XT LP Laptop GPU. Its next-gen architecture and 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM boosts graphics rendering and AI capabilities. To access the full potential of the XG Core, you’ll want to connect it to one of the many devices which support USB4 Type-C connectivity, but it’s also compatible with Thunderbolt 3 PCs, notebooks, NUCs, and PC gaming handhelds like the ROG Ally X and the ROG XBOX Ally X.
— ASUS
That has not changed. AMD’s current product page still lists the RX 9060 XT LP under desktop Radeon graphics. It also labels the board type as “Desktop.” The listed specs include 32 Compute Units, 2048 Stream Processors, 16GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus and up to 140W typical board power.
Source: AMD
ASUS has not revealed the internal design of the XG Core. The company has not confirmed whether it uses a separate MXM-like board, a compact discrete graphics card, or a custom PCB with the GPU and memory placed directly on the same board.
So either ASUS is using a special version of the RX 9060 XT LP for its external GPU, or AMD has categorized this part differently on its own website. If ASUS’ wording is accurate, this would be the first and so far only RDNA 4 laptop GPU.
ASUS says the XG Core supports external displays through HDMI and DisplayPort. The company also mentions support for AMD AMUSE, ASUS Multi-LM Tuner, ComfyUI, LM Studio, Ollama and PyTorch, so the product is being promoted for gaming, content creation and local AI workloads.
| ASUS external GPU products | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | GPU | Connection |
| ASUS XG Station (2007) | GeForce 7900 GS / GeForce 8600 GT (Desktop) | ExpressCard |
| ROG XG Station 2 (2017) | User-installed desktop GeForce or Radeon GPU | Thunderbolt 3 |
| ASUS XG Station Pro (2018) | User-installed desktop GeForce or Radeon GPU | Thunderbolt 3 |
| ROG XG Mobile (2021) | GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU or GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | ROG XG Mobile |
| ROG XG Mobile (2022) | Radeon RX 6850M XT laptop GPU | ROG XG Mobile |
| ROG XG Mobile (2023) | GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU | ROG XG Mobile |
| ROG XG Mobile (2025) | GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU | Thunderbolt 5 |
| ROG XG Station 3 (2025) | User-installed desktop GeForce RTX 50 or Radeon RX 9000 GPU | Thunderbolt 5 |
| ASUS XG Core (2026) 🆕 | Radeon RX 9060 XT LP with 16GB memory (Laptop?) | USB4 |
Source: ASUS
