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OWC Mercury Helios 3 vs PowerColor Gaming Station: Comparison

OWC Mercury Helios 3 and PowerColor Gaming Station separate most on host power delivery: OWC Mercury Helios 3 at 85, PowerColor Gaming Station at 60, 29% in favour of OWC Mercury Helios 3. PSU Wattage splits them by another 20%, this time favouring PowerColor Gaming Station. They match on connection standard and cooling type.

OWC Mercury Helios 3 (Thunderbolt 3 eGPU Enclosure / 400W PSU / Bus-Powered Charging / Predecessor to Helios FX)
OWCOWC Mercury Helios 3
PowerColor Gaming Station (Thunderbolt 3 eGPU Enclosure / 500W PSU / Full-Length GPU / Gigabit Ethernet)
PowerColorPowerColor Gaming Station

Specs

Specification
OWC Mercury Helios 3 (Thunderbolt 3 eGPU Enclosure / 400W PSU / Bus-Powered Charging / Predecessor to Helios FX)
OWC Mercury Helios 3
PowerColor Gaming Station (Thunderbolt 3 eGPU Enclosure / 500W PSU / Full-Length GPU / Gigabit Ethernet)
PowerColor Gaming Station
Connection StandardThunderbolt 3Thunderbolt 3
BrandOWCPowerColor
Extra PortsNone onboard beyond the GPU's own outputs1x Gigabit Ethernet, 3x USB 3.0 Type-A
PSU Wattage400-20%500
Host Power Delivery8560-29%
Max GPU Length290-6%310
Cooling TypeActive FanActive Fan
ModelMercury Helios 3Gaming Station
GPU CompatibilityGTX 10-series through RTX 20-series, dual-slot cardsAMD Radeon and NVIDIA cards up to RTX 20-series / RX 6000-series, dual-slot
PriceLaunched around $299 (2018)Launched around $329 (2018)

Price comparison

RetailerOWC Mercury Helios 3PowerColor Gaming Station
AmazonView on AmazonView on Amazon
PowerColorView on PowerColor

Disclaimer: The price and specification of the given product may differ from the actual product. Please confirm on the retailer's website before buying.

Verdict

OWC Mercury Helios 3

6 / 10 Expert Rating

Solid basic Mac eGPU box, superseded by the Helios FX which OWC still actively sells.

PowerColor Gaming Station

6 / 10 Expert Rating

Competent Thunderbolt 3 box from a GPU maker, but discontinued and outpaced by newer standards.

More comparisons in External GPU Enclosures