good dock works as it should no problems so far

I was sincerely impressed by the Minisforum DEG1. My desktop computer failed and needed to be sent across the country for warranty repairs, leaving me with a GMKtec NUCbox K8+ miniPC. That mini-PC is great for office work and web browsing, but its integrated GPU is pitifully inadequate. I confirmed with my desktop system's manufacturer that I could remove the RTX 4090 from my desktop before shipping it to them, and ordered the DEG1 to use with the MiniPC.Setup wasn't too bad, but could have benefited from a second pair of hands. Look closely at the instructions to see how the screws need to go to match your power supply, and to fit the GPU bracket, because it's not completely self-evident. Once the bracket is positioned correctly, however, it's just a matter of holding the GPU still enough to get screws in. Don't be careless here; if your GPU is loose and wobbles, it'll strain the PCIe connector in the dock's slot, and damage will be your own fault, since correct installation holds it in place perfectly.Once the card is physically installed, the second slightly challenging bit was cable management. The dock requires a user-supplied power supply capable of running the GPU, and the cables for such supplies are meant for desktop PCs. This can make getting the CPU power to the dock difficult, and the PCIe power can also be touchy, depending on how easily your cables will bend. Look at the photo I provided to see just how much extra cable I had. This isn't really the fault of the DEG1, though, so no points deducted.Once cables were managed, it's a simple matter of connecting the dock to the oculink port on your computer (it should go without saying, make sure it has one before buying!) and turning on the dock. With Minisforum mini-PCs, it's not necessary to press the dock's power button separately. For any other computer, you need to press the power button yourself before turning on your computer. This will cause the GPU fans to go full tilt initially as they're powered without anything controlling them, but they'll calm down as the computer boots, and will likely stop altogether when not under load.There was literally no software setup for me to handle, other than installing Nvidia drivers for the GPU. Windows detected the GPU perfectly, and installing drivers was as trouble-free as it is with the card inside the case. There is something of a performance hit when using Oculink compared to using the GPU inside the case, but if you're looking into eGPUs at all, you probably have a reason for which that's just not feasible.I found it worked great for gaming, and had absolutely zero trouble with it, but I would caution anyone with pets or small children to take care: your GPU will be out in the open, with fast spinning fans to hurt small fingers or noses, and susceptible to any spills or crumbs that fall in. Place the GPU with care, or protect it if necessary.Finally, my one minor complaint is that the power button is difficult to reach when using a large GPU. You can't even see it in my attached photo; it's underneath the portion of the GPU sticking out past the dock. It could be better placed.

Overall, this dock works great with my GEM12 mini PC. Hooked up with a nvidia 4070 super gpu and barely stuttered while running Alan Wake 2. Definitely worked better than the thunderbolt solution for now. Highly recommend this eGPU dock if you are not a gaming enthusiast who cannot accept any imperfections.

Feels solid and well-made. One issue: the bracket that mounts the video card to the power supply didn't come with a long enough thumbscrew, so it couldn't reach through the bracket to screw into the back of the power supply. This was easily solved with slightly longer screws overall.Also, since this is a Minisforum piece of hardware, I should mention an issue not related to this hardware but likely to affect other users. I am using this with the UM890 Pro. After putting everything together and setting up the Oculink daughter card in the UM890 Pro, I plugged in my two monitors. Then I realized that it would be a great idea to place the HDMI port and the Oculink port just 2mm apart. The head of the HDMI cable blocks half the port and makes it unusable. You will need to buy an HDMI cable with a very thin head to plug in both. Bad design. These two issues from the same company cause a star loss.

Excellent with GMktec.Just works out of the box. No need to set it up.