TL;DR
An RTX 5090 Founders Edition was connected via an OCuLink eGPU dock to a Raspberry Pi 5 and two other low-cost PCs to test gaming viability. With patched NVIDIA drivers and multiple compatibility layers, some older or less CPU‑demanding games run acceptably, but PCIe bandwidth and CPU limits cause major bottlenecks for modern titles.
What happened
The author attached an NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition (32GB VRAM) to a Raspberry Pi 5, Radxa ROCK 5B, and a Beelink MINI‑S13 using an OCuLink external GPU dock and an M.2 adapter. The three hosts tested included the Pi 5 (BCM2712, 4× Cortex‑A76 @ 2.4GHz, 16GB), the ROCK 5B (RK3588, 8 cores, 16GB), and the Beelink (Intel N150, 4 cores, 16GB). ARM hosts required community driver patches (credited to @mariobalanca) and various user‑space workarounds to get NVIDIA drivers running; compatibility layers such as FEX were used to run x86 games on ARM. Games were run under Proton/WINE with DXVK disabled on ARM (falling back to WineD3D) when necessary. Results showed heavy CPU and PCIe bandwidth limitations: the Pi’s Gen2 x1 PCIe slot (~500 MB/s) contrasts with the Gen3 x4 slots (~4,000 MB/s) on the others, producing mixed gaming outcomes across titles and settings.
Why it matters
- Small single‑board computers can accept high‑end external GPUs, but platform limits — not the GPU alone — determine gaming performance.
- PCIe bandwidth and CPU architecture (ARM vs Intel) are major bottlenecks that can negate a powerful GPU's potential.
- Community driver patches and compatibility layers make experimentation possible, but they add complexity and performance overhead.
- Low power consumption of SBCs can be attractive, but energy efficiency does not compensate for reduced gaming performance on CPU‑bound titles.
Key facts
- Tested eGPU: NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition with 32GB VRAM connected via OCuLink dock and M.2 adapter.
- Devices: Beelink MINI‑S13 (Intel N150, 4c), Radxa ROCK 5B (RK3588, 8c), Raspberry Pi 5 (BCM2712, 4c); each had 16GB RAM.
- PCIe bandwidth: Pi 5 uses a Gen2 x1 slot (~500 MB/s) versus Gen3 x4 (~4,000 MB/s) on the other boards, an ~8× difference.
- ARM hosts required patches (attributed to @mariobalanca) and driver/workaround tweaks to run NVIDIA drivers.
- Compatibility layers used: FEX for x86 emulation on ARM, Proton/WINE for Windows games; DXVK caused crashes on ARM so WineD3D was used in some cases.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Raspberry Pi barely reached ~15 FPS; ROCK 5B approached ~22 FPS on low settings; Beelink performed better but remained CPU‑bound in tests.
- Portal 2: Raspberry Pi 5 was able to run at 4K above 60 FPS in this experiment.
- Power measurements (CPU only, AC outlet): Raspberry Pi 5 drew under ~9W under load; Beelink pulled almost ~30W during the Cyberpunk test.
- Some games failed to run under FEX due to anti‑cheat or other compatibility quirks (example: Doom: The Dark Ages).
What to watch next
- Driver maturity and upstream NVIDIA or ARM support for eGPUs and PCIe on SBCs — not confirmed in the source
- Performance differences using lower‑end GPUs instead of an RTX 5090 to see whether bottlenecks shift — not confirmed in the source
- Potential fixes for DXVK/Vulkan issues under FEX on ARM that currently force use of WineD3D — not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- eGPU: An external graphics processing unit connected to a host computer to provide additional GPU performance, often via a high‑speed interface.
- PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express): A high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard used for connecting components like GPUs and NVMe storage; bandwidth depends on generation and lane count (e.g., Gen2 x1 vs Gen3 x4).
- OCuLink: A high-speed external cable/interface that can carry PCIe signals to allow external device connections, used here to connect a GPU to small boards.
- FEX: A compatibility layer that translates x86 binaries to run on ARM processors, enabling software compiled for x86 to run on ARM systems at a performance cost.
- DXVK / WineD3D: Compatibility components translating Windows DirectX calls to Vulkan (DXVK) or OpenGL (WineD3D) so Windows games can run on Linux via Proton/WINE.
Reader FAQ
Can a Raspberry Pi 5 use an RTX 5090 as an external GPU?
Yes — in this experiment an RTX 5090 was connected via an OCuLink dock and M.2 adapter, with community driver patches enabling operation.
Is gaming on the Pi smooth with that setup?
It depends on the game: older or less CPU‑intensive titles (example: Portal 2) ran well (Portal 2 exceeded 60 FPS at 4K here), while modern titles like Cyberpunk 2077 were CPU‑bound and under ~15 FPS on the Pi.
Do ARM systems run NVIDIA drivers normally?
No — the ARM hosts required patched drivers and user‑space workarounds; native compatibility without these patches is not indicated in the source.
Will lowering GPU power or using a cheaper card fix the issues?
Not confirmed in the source
RTX 5090 + Raspberry Pi: Can it Game? January 8, 2026 Why add a GPU to a PC when you can add an SBC to your GPU? It turns out,…
Sources
- RTX 5090 and Raspberry Pi: Can It Game?
- Use an External GPU on Raspberry Pi 5 for 4K Gaming
- Running Pi 5 with a PC GPU
- Raspberry has only just launched its new Pi 500+ but one …
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