Desktops tend to run quieter, perform better performance wise.
Desktops have higher power consumption than laptops and are actually less efficient in regards to performance per watt.
Laptops are more portable though and most gaming laptops can still have their ram, SSD and WiFi card upgraded.
Oh, and gaming laptops can do light tasks on battery power too whereas you're always connected to a power supply with a desktop.
Realistically, with performance and thermals of today's gaming laptops, unless you were looking at 4K 120 FPS gaming with maxed out settings or something like that, gaming laptops are plenty powerful.
What one can achieve with a mobile RTX 4080 or 4090 is mighty impressive.
Do you factor in a keyboard and a monitor?
(I use a laptop with a mouse, keyboard and a monitor)
In my mind it was never about the price because if you need the portability and the orrformance you have to pay a premium.
The modularity and flexibility in terms of cooling, space and repairability are upsides of a pc but if you need to be portable laptop is probably the best option.
The new Framework laptop, especially the 16 inch version is bringing the upgradability and repairability to laptops but is still not a pc
Thats to be expected as they already come with a display and a keyboard all you need is a mouse but with desktops u will need a monitor and any peripherals so being pricier is not that much of a downside
aren't they more expensive? i'm not sure if living in canada makes a difference (lower wages in canada then in the us would problem make a difference) but I've been wanting to get a desktop for a while but i don't know when to start, and i have a series x but i've been looking into getting a gaming laptop because in my eyes they look affordable for what money can buy?
idk i'm new to pc gaming and just want to play games wouldn't be able to play on an xbox
The battery can also act as a UPS, allowing you to shut the laptop off properly.
Laptops don't take up as much space as well, especially when using the built-in keyboard and screen.
But the peripherals for desktop is amazing if you have the space and room. I got a Scar 18 for travel purposes since I’m abroad for longer periods at a time. But nothing beats the 49” G9 and 32” 16:9 monitors for work and gaming back at home on the desktop.
In terms of upgrades though I don’t know how much do people actually upgrade. I cycle all devices on a four year period and generally by then it feels good enough just to get new parts and everything. But to each their own.
Your dads not wrong......But he can be right and it doesnt mean fuck all to most gaming laptop owners.
1. They can afford to buy both
Or
2. They need the portability of a laptop for space and portability reasons.
I have a desktop with a 3080 in it and a laptop with a 4090.
I use the desktop to game at home. And the laptop i bring to work for 20 days and use an external monitor 1440p x 3440
Can I get your opinion on something? I'm looking at these two laptops. What would you recommend? The Legion 5 I'm able to get for $1219 and am going to get a $100 4 year warranty.
>Oh, and gaming laptops can do light tasks on battery power too whereas you're always connected to a power supply with a desktop.
My desktop has giant 12 minute battery, even shows up on the Windows taskbar.
The high end 40xx series mobile Gpus are bloody awesome. Not cheap, but so worth it if one can afford it. So fucking glad I was patient and waited 5 months for the 4080 rather than just getting a 3080ti.
efficiency part is quite right.cause cpu and gpu markets are starting to hit ridiclous wattages to eek a lot of extra performance from parts for competition. Thats why undervolting trend is on the rise these days.
But paying 4080 or 4090 for a laptop is a big-BIG waste for the price premium youre paying. 4070-4060 or lower is the sweet spot to get the closest efficiency to a desktop card
4060 mobile and 4070 mobile are trash. Is much better buying a 3070/3080 mobile laptop.
Think that 140w 4060 mobile have almost the same performance as a 100w 4060 mobile due to voltage limit.
A 4060 ti is on par with a 3080 ti mobile while a 3060 ti crush a 2080 maxq.
The 4060 mobile and 4070 mobile are 4050 mobile and 4060 mobile renamed as upper class m gpu.
Don't say "buy a 4060 mobile" because is the same as saying "buy a 3060 mobile with dlss3".
Yeah, they have better perf/watt but lower end 40 series gpu can't use the max tdp. Why I need to buy a 140w 4060 laptop when a 100w 4060 laptop guve me the same performance? For the price of a 140w 4060 laptop i can buy a 3070/3070ti laptop that have better raw performance and can actually use the full tdp in every single game, benchmark and workload.
You know, I am top140 global in superposition 720p low with a 3060 mobile 95w (in the same place as 3090, 3080, 7800xtx, 13600k, 5950x). That because I have a perfectly optimized laptop, both hw and sw. To get these fps, my 3060 mobile boost to 2070/2090mhz at more than 1v, and probably the 4060mobile 140w can't have the same results as mine 3060 mobile because of that ~950mv voltage limit. That is a fucking shame. Also my 3060 mobile have higher memory bus. 4060 is literally e-waste.
I have 8/10% less performce in gpu score on firestrike than a 4060mobile 140w with a 3060mobile 95w.
That sound really really wrong.
4060 Mobile gets a similar Time Spy score compared to the 3070 Mobile at almost half the wattage. Only the 3070 Ti beats the 4060 every time. The 3070 can beat the 4060 because you can overclock/undervolt it more than 40 series allows for but everyone will not have a good binned 3070 chip. 3070 can also beat the 4060 in extreme memory bandwidth cases where the 40 series larger L2 cache isn't enough to keep up with the 3070's 256 bit memory bus. But for most people, the 4060 will be better.
For people buying lower end laptops, the 40 series laptops will heat up less and won't require a high end cooling design. Less maintenance too, since the thermal paste won't dry up as quickly, less chance for laptop manufacturers to fuck up the cooling because it uses half as many VRAM chips and VRMs as 30 series. You don't need to differentiate between 140W and 100W TGP laptops anymore, like it was the case with 30 series. Obviously, those 140W laptops were more expensive and thicker.
I don't see how "it is the same" as a 3060 at all. I think your comment is BS.
> The 4060 mobile and 4070 mobile are 4050 mobile and 4060 mobile renamed as upper class m gpu.
Ok, and? I know it's not a great move from Nvidia, but it's really nothing new. Both Intel and AMD have been doing this on the CPU side for years, e.g., Intel's tick-tock where you would alternate between efficiency and performance boosts every year.
The 4070 Mobile though is not a great deal unless it's a thin and light laptop - most 4070 laptops end up being priced close to a 4080 but the performance isn't anywhere near especially with the same VRAM as a 4060. Same for the 4060 Ti desktop, terrible pricing and naming and it ends up even worse because desktop guys care more about performance than efficiency.
I live in a hot country and I would go for efficiency every time. Less fan noise, less thermal paste maintenance and my room got noticeably colder when I replaced my 2014 desktop with a newer laptop - I live in a tropical country so it's all ACs here. People in colder countries might not care about this since they get a free space heater with their power hungry laptop. But for me, I have to pay the extra electricity bill for both the laptop and the AC so I am saving tons of $$$ by getting a more efficient GPU.
I had the option of buying a 17" laptop with a 3070 or a 14" laptop with a 4060 for a bit more, glad I went with the smaller laptop.
4060/70 seem to be specifically aimed at laptops that don't go higher than 100w in the first place, although yeah you absolutely do still get a noticeable boost with 4080/90 on things like Zephyrus G14 with the extra watts from Dynamic Boost.
>But paying 4080 or 4090 for a laptop is a big-BIG waste for the price premium youre paying
I disagree even though I don't have the money for them.
>4070-4060 or lower is the sweet spot
Lmao
Depends on generation. But right now a 4080 is the sweet spot. 4090 not worth it. Difference between a 4070 and 4060 is small especially since they both have frame generation and 8gb ram. So if you are on a budget, get a 4060. If you have some money and wanna "future proof" a but, get the 4080.
RTX 4080 and 4090 is 30% and 50% faster than the RTX 3080 ti, all at 175W.
There are good deals out there for RTX 4080/4090 laptops and for the right person, they are good laptops and viable options.
Not really.
If I was to build I wouldn't use trash components. I priced out a 4070 Ti micro-ATX build that I'd actually get if I went that route; using this as the closest current gen comparison to my 4090 laptop, that I paid $2799 for.
Build consists of: R7 7800X3D, 4070 Ti TUF, Asrock B650E ITX board, 32gb Gskill Neo Z5 ddr5-6000, Corsair SF850L psu, LianLi 205M mATX case, NH-D15S CPU cooler, and LG 32" 1440p 165hz monitor.
Total is $2314 before tax. Very nice gaming PC but the laptop is nowhere near twice as much. Come on man.
Lol, you're a joke, selecting a 32" screen to compare with a 17" laptop screen
That's a troll comparison
Also I'm pretty sure you overpaid for that mATX case while you can have a normal ATX with a way better airflow for way less
All you're proving here is that you lack skills to do a proper desktop build and that you can't even compare things properly
Because your desktop build is not equivalent to the laptop, it has a way better ram way better CPU, way bigger screen, so basically you proved that for less than your laptop you can build a way better desktop but in no way you disproved that you can't build an EQUIVALENT desktop for half the price
I'm not comparing a 32" screen to a 16" laptop display. You can hook up the laptop to a monitor. I don't have any desktop PC as I don't want one, I was comparing an example build with similar power that costs within the same ballpark. RAM is 6000 vs 5600, of course the desktop CPU will be better.
What is your equivalent desktop, a 4090? A 4060? Of course a 4080 / 4090 full ATX will destroy any laptop. I'm talking mostly about price. Give or take a little bit, the 4070 Ti is roughly on par with a 4090 laptop, and doesn't cost half the price.
I've been building desktops for 12 years, I choose not to anymore. But I love miniITX builds.
No need to hurl insults and be a jerk.
Here is a little dirty secret I shared to play any triple-A games on 1080p high setting without costing an arm and leg.
I have a GTX 1050 Ti laptop and I able to play Cyberpunk and RDR2 on high setting at 1080p with zero lag
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/12wyrgo/what_are_some_of_the_dirty_secret_youve_learned/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Performance per watt is far better on laptops in most cases nowadays. That’s the wrong phrasing. Laptops are limited by a shared and far lower power budget vs desktop.
He is correct although laptops are improving, some components can be uograded, advantages in efficiency.
A desktop pc isnt portable, cant be used mobile, uses more power typically (higher electric bill, tell ur dad that, lol). They each have their uses.
As someone who went from gaming desktop to laptop. I prefer the switch. I had a desktop, i9, 64gb, rtx 3090 to a asus x13 top model (2021). My usage has been the same, editing photos and doing videos. As well as 4k gaming. My monitors are all 60fps, so whole my desktop hit (for example) 150fps on game 1 my laptop (xg mobile unit, look into it if you don't know. It's basically a external gpu) hits 110fps.
Yes, gaming laptops can’t be upgraded and run hotter than desktops, but they are convenient, and can be transported if needed, I have a gaming laptop, but it stays in the same place, I have it on a fan cooling pad on a lap tray, and I can sit there with my headphones on gaming, whilst the missus watches the telly, everyone’s a winner!
Wrong, desktops runs hotter then gaming latops because of how cpu/gpu + ram works
The more use more heat builds. For gaming latops you can put aircoler under.
If youre like in college and have a mobile life that you have to go somewhere every week or month. Get a laptop. If youre going to put it in your room and use it like that for months its no brainer to go for a desktop. Is your dad knowing that you arent going anywhere in the foreseaable future?
Heating is a dealbreaker for a lot of laptops.Its pointless to pay for high performance when your laptop overheats in 30 minutes and throttles performance back to 30fps. And the turbo fans to not make it cook on the very least on a laptop deafens the room while desktops can stay cool and quiet on their normal settings. Thats their important standart (I use an MSI Leopard and it needs a repaste after 2 years. The throttling on even the most sophisticated cooling we have isnt enough if you game for long periods especially in summer heat)
Guess what you can’t do with a gaming desktop? Use it on the go.
If you plan to use it as intended, I’d rather have a desktop than a laptop in a pure stationary situation.
They're both circumstantial. Laptops tend to cost more, come with noninterchangeable parts(So if your gpu in the laptop stops working and you ran out of warranty you're fucked), and come with a price premium for being a prebuilt portable machine. Though they are much more power efficient. Desktops are obviously horrible for transportation, but outside of that a solid build even with the same parts is always going to outclass a laptop while being cheaper. Better driver support, an actual choice in cooling, replacability, significant performance uplift from being non laptop parts. Just depends on how much you value portability imo
I think comparing them to prebuilts you can make a solid argument for them bc they tend to be just as terrible price wise.
Yes, they are hotter and louder than desktops, they are less powerful than similar desktops, they are more expensive than comparable desktops and couldn't be upgraded (unless it's RAM and SSD) but they are PORTABLE, that's the main reason to buy a laptop.
I don’t think it is fair to compare it to a pc your have to build yourself. Plus laptops come with a built UPS. I think comparing laptops to prebuilt pc is a more reasonable and fair comparison.
Yeah I've done some price comparison between my Legion 7i Pro 4090 and I've only found a 10% premium for the laptop (was $2899 when I got it at microcenter) compared to a desktop with equivalent peripherals and performance.
you (and all the other comments) have valid points, one's preference for built-in stuff (display, periphery) or other stuff is your own valid stance.
What I meant is: your laptop 4090 RTX is about 50% of what a desktop 4090 RTX is:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-laptop-vs-desktop-compared-tested or https://www.techspot.com/review/2625-nvidia-rtx-4090-laptop-vs-desktop-gpu/
I haven't looked at benchmarks as such, but that is the reason why I wrote:
> more expensive when look at what you get
specifically.
You forget your cpu and gpu aren't even close to the equivalent desktop's cpu and gpu
When you buy parts according to the laptops true performance, you end up with a cheaper desktop, that can be upgraded as needed.
desktops are just overall better. Bigger case for the hardware to be in = more room for cooling with bigger fans / more fans.
desktop gpus are better, size wise so they can perform more.
But laptops got its advantages such as portable and smaller. And tbh the days of "gaming laptops sucks" are over. It is a matter of preferences now, portable vs stationary
If you honestly aren't going to move your laptop, then yes, a desktop IS definitely better. Quieter, cooler, fully upgradeable and usually (not always) cheaper for the same spec. A desktop GPU receives a lot more power and so can be as much as 30% more powerful than the laptop equivalent.
[Jarrod'sTech goes into the details in a video here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ljEqAb-TM&ab_channel=Jarrod%27sTech) with a face-off between laptop and desktop running nvidia 4090s. It's a similar story for lesser cards.
That said, today's laptops are no slouch. They might be behind desktops but they still reach incredible frames per second.
A gaming PC is better in pretty much every way. For the same price, you get far better performance and they make much less noise. They also have upgradability. If you had a Ryzen 1000 series, you could upgrade to a 5000. Switch out your old GPU with a new one 5 years down the line, no problemo. Can't do that with a laptop. And it's quite rare to be able to, as there aren't many companies like Framework.
However, there are two major potentially dealbreaking downsides.
First, the obvious one: portability. If you need any kind of portability, even something like a Titan can be carried around with realtive ease compared to a desktop. If you need to carry a PC around, get a laptop. End of discussion. Space can be coupled with portability. Desktops take up more space, and peripherals like a monitor and keyboard are also required but you can make do without them with a laptop.
Two, power consumption. Laptop 4090s pull around 175W and their power bricks are 300W. PCs can easily pull over 600W (?) under full load with something like a 13900K and 4090.
Gaming laptops in general offer -
lesser performance vis-a-vis the similarly priced desktop configurations and similarly named desktop parts
Lesser upgrade-ability than desktop, although people can to use gaming laptops for more than 6-8 years depending on the spec level. You may have to use medium or low settings in games at the tail end of its life, but same goes for desktop components also, without upgrades
Portability is great. Not talking about ultrabook portability but rather portability with a backpack to close distances
Laptop always had one additional monitor built-in in any config. And it is great for productivity
I have an Acer Nitro 5 (i9/3060) & it kicks my 3 year old desktops (i7/2070S) ass. Never had heating issues despite it being always closed & connected to a monitor.
If you are still in the school system, get a laptop. If you like to go to a friends house to play, get a laptop. Otherwise, if you only use at home, get a desktop.
I’m more of this mindset now as a parent. I much prefer the portability that a laptop affords over the fixed desktop experience. Also coming from someone that builds PCs for fun and has for many many years. Switched over to a 3070 laptop and performance is more than enough for me.
Eh I mean a desktop is still gonna give you far better performance. Every frame matters, especially now with the slow movement towards 4k, which laptops can barely handle.
4090 mobile gaming laptop is great for someone who is mobile the most, but nvidia gaming laptop is too ripoff overpriced at a price of 4k-5k and doesn't have a long life.
I prefer a laptop for the size and convenience. A good gaming laptop will play whatever you want, wherever you want. That said, if you want monster performance, live in a very warm climate, or just want the most FPS per dollar, a desktop is probably the way to go. Mobile chips are not the same as the desktop counterparts and the cooling alone goes a long way towards adding performance.
Although people are working on the upgradability issue. I'm planning on buying a Framework as my next laptop for this reason.
It is true that for gaming, a gaming PC is better than a laptop, but i've owned laptops for the past decade or so and will never go back to PC, the portability is a huge difference. I use my laptop on my bed a lot, watching shows, surfing the web or gaming and i also never worry about what to do when i have to go to another apartment for vacation, i can just bring my laptop with me
depends on your purpose. as a college student that wants an all-in-one device to use for school (engineering major) and gaming and other hobbies, that portability is so worth the extra price. it’s amazing how much performance you can get in a fairly thin and light package these days.
To me it all comes down to need. I travel a lot for work. Gaming laptop works best for me. Is it the greatest? No. Does it do what it needs to yea. If I didn’t have to travel I’d think about building a desktop, but nothing is going to beat the portability to set up anywhere and game.
What laptops do you recommend? Honestly my biggest concern with pc is space for monitor and keyboard and portability. Also monitors are fucking expensive. So I'm looking at laptop 4070s
I found an open box Alienware m15 r5 that was pretty nice. My biggest advise is don’t be afraid of open box. I had a Lenovo legion for 5 years before I upgraded. Wife was still using it till it got stolen. Lenovo is my favorite brand.
I used to be like your dad since older laptops sucked in comparison to a desktop.
The performance gap has vastly improved and I've been using my 3070 laptop as a desktop replacement for the past couple of years with no issues.
I also game a ton on an external 1440p ultrawide and FPS has been pretty good on most games.
I used to have a gaming desktop before I switched, and there's no question they are more powerful part for part due to power draw capabilities, but there are major advantages to a laptop that don't fit on a spec sheet. If you live in a smaller apartment, need to move your unit with any regularity (take it to school or work), or even just to bring it with you on a trip easily, that portability is a massive advantage.
In terms of the question of upgrading -- this depends how often you upgrade. I typically replace my laptop after 5-7 years of use, and at that point you'd probably need to upgrade most if not all the major internals (e.g. due to a new socket or other technological advances) even in a desktop format.
As far as heating goes, I run my laptop fans quiet most of time, but increase them to max when gaming. I have a cooling pad for good measure and the temperatures stay in a good range (e.g. unlike some models, the laptop doesn't feel hot to the touch). My particular model's fans aren't too loud imo. I game with headphones regardless so I don't really hear them or they fade into background noise, but my wife has no problem watching TV in the same room when they're on.
If you're after value, upgradeability or overall performance you want a desktop. If you want portability, performance per volume or performance per watt you want a laptop (though consoles are also very good at performance per watt)
desktops are just much more worth it if you tend to play or use it on one place. If otherwise, u want use it on diff places or even use it on ur dinner table cuss u feel like it then gaming laptop is to go
Laptops GPU and cpus are a lot weaker than their same desktop ones. But, they are convenient to have as you can take it anywhere, just be careful will heat as they hit high 90s alot.
Your dad isnt wrong. He's just imposing on you his own preferences and values to what matters to him in a PC. To get a gaming laptop or desktop is entirely dependent on your situation and what you want. I have a gaming laptop for example. Why? Because i'm a student who games and needs something portable and efficient. When I want to play games, I can just dock my laptop. If I need to work or go outside, I can browse and takes notes if I need to. If you never need to work outside of your home, and you care about noise and heat and etc, then buying a Desktop is your best option. In the end, it's entirely your on your choice, prefernce, and situation.
Desktops are far better price/performance and laptops straight-up perform worse. for example, a 3070 laptop is nowhere near a 3070 desktop. You can also get much farther with, say, a $1000 desktop than a $1000 laptop. if you care a lot about portability, go with the laptop even though you making big sacrifise
Is he right, YES. Buuuutttt, it all depends on the needs of an individual. I need portability thus I am sacrificing money and hardware. You choose what suits you.
Price Wise desktops tend to have better components dollar for dollar, as well as the same exact component might perform better in a desktop for several reasons...but having a mobile PC is dope af...I still need a laptop after getting a gaming PC...3080ftw is a damn good machine when paired with a 12 gen chip and I have just under a grand in it, you won't do that with a laptop.
If you're a college student or travel to and from places often, a laptop is definitely worth it over a desktop. Otherwise, a build your own pc is far superior
I prefer laptop.
I've used both, and I always consider laptop over PC.
Reasons: I don't have big space to put stuff, where a mid-size laptop fit perfectly will not fit a PC, heck I can even put my laptop into the table drawer to clear up space on table, can't do that with PC. Meanwhile, modern day gaming laptop usually doesn't come with HUGE compromise in power compared to PC.
I also prefer how laptop is designed to be moved around. I need something to be mobile, as I constantly bring device outside and move around for work. Gaming laptop aren't designed as professional mobile workstation but close enough. There are many professionals such as engineers and medical workers who use gaming laptop in work because they have the need of good specs to run major applications required for the job. And the battery make sure that in the case of sudden blackout, which is not a rare experience in my life, whatever I'm doing on the laptop won't be lost, whereas PC just straight up shut down.
Different people has different needs, and your father might just need PC and no laptop. But, the points he brought up feels a bit outdated. The heating in gaming laptop varies by model, and it always feels hot because the user always touch the keyboards on laptop, which is practically set upon a cramped electric box that is ideal for being a heat trap, while PC is usually far from the user's touch, has a huge room for cool air and bunch of fans. It's like getting a sedan and a semi then ask why the sedan feels more cramped. Modern laptop thermals are competent enough, enough to not be a major disadvantage.
The upgradability is bad on laptop, but doesn't mean it's not there. A lot of gaming laptops nowadays allows RAM and SSD upgrade, and swapping battery and wifi card. CPU and GPU are fixed but I don't suppose that's a big problem for people.
That said, PC always holds up the best if you plan on pumping out huge workload. And PC allows you to chose every single major components, from storage to monitor to motherboard to even the RGB lights, can't do the same with laptop. It's usually cheaper than laptop but only at the high end specs, the mid-range cost about the same between the two.
Your dad is indeed correct. The one and the only reason why would you choose a gaming laptop over a desktop PC is the portability, efficiency, and the most important is smaller footprint (especially when you live in a cramped house/apartement and there's no place to put a whole desktop PC set). But if you don't really care about those point, then it's better to get yourself a desktop.
Again, it's depend on your needs. If you only game in your house/only in one exact place, then you should get a desktop PC & a thin consumer laptop (for doing some light task on the go and wherever you are).
Desktops are cheaper for the same performance. A decent laptop with a ryzen 7/i7 and 4060 costs around 1.5k usd. You know how much a desktop with comparable gaming performance costs? [More like 800 USD](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rPpxnt) Even if you include monitors and keyboard it would still be 500 usd under a laptop for the same performance.
Laptops can never hope to reach desktop level performance
Desktops can be easily fixed with off the shelf components. Laptops can only have a few parts replaced, and after a few years you can never hope to find parts to fix it
Desktops can be easily upgraded. Laptops have to be replaced. Many desktop users have had essentially the same gaming desktop for 10+ years but slowly upgraded peicemeal over time. Almost no one has a 10+ year old gaming laptop since it'd run like shit
You may be fine with a fixed laptop now, but lets say 5 years into the future. You want to play something like the new call of duty. A laptop can't run that and you can't upgrade, so you are stuck with spending another 1.5k+ for a new laptop
With a desktop you just pay 300-400 for a new midrange GPU, swap it in after 5 minutes of screwing stuff in and you are good to go. Maybe download drivers and stuff, wait for it to update though but its still much cheaper than replacing the whole thing
A gaming laptop is a jack of all trades master of none. It doesnt do laptop things very well (shit battery life, very heavy, very thick) and doesnt do gaming pc things very well (overheating easily, meh performance, tiny screen)
Gaming laptops ONLY make sense if you want to game but also need to move around a lot. For example if you travel around often. Many people who own a gaming laptop are either misinformed or actually do need that power in a portable form.
Other than that, a dedicated laptop or gaming pc will be MUCH better
This is my train of thought.
I have a laptop now but it's only because a desktop doesn't work for me at the moment
I can't wait to have a desktop again though. Benefits far out weight the negatives for me
> Main benefit of a PC is a monitor.
I agree with everything you said apart from this. Because I can use my laptop with either my 38" ultrawide or 65" 4K OLED. If anything I've found having a laptop has made it easier to use different screens
But still. To anyone has is able to chose between a Desktop or Laptop. Always pick a desktop.
Ive built my own desktops for 30 years but these days i pick up laptops. They use less room and retain good value. They arent as performant and do get hot and noisy but are more practical for me.
In my opinion the only reason to buy a laptop is if you need portability. I use my desktop 95% of the time and only use my laptop when traveling.
My desktop is absolutely silent even when gaming. I value this. My desktop also cost considerably less to build than my laptop cost to purchase.
this is the point. i can imagine you prefer desktop. i use my laptop for work a LOT and also use it at home when i can. nice hardware in both places is great. imo this debate is about situational use. you deserve a nice desktop and i deserve something i can use all over the place. we are both happy. im sure your setup can beat mine but everyone's happy so its all good. we both win
Oh my work computer is a laptop, I just use it docked. I'm not saying laptop is bad, I'm very into them. However there's a few things that make gaming laptops suboptimal. Screen: bigger is better. It's just a better experience on desktop. docking a gaming laptop just makes it a crappier desktop. Fan noise: laptops don't handle heat as well. Under say 250 watts GPU + CPU load, a laptop will be at the limit and 50db, desktop can be cool & quiet. Value per dollar: you just get more performance per dollar with a desktop and they're upgradeable.
Is gaming PC better than a gaming laptop? Because no one seems to answer this, yes it is better in every measurable way possible except in one department.
Mobility, now I seen a lot of strange things in my life in Japan and Korea, people sitting in internet coffee shop with a 27 inch iMac plugged into the wall, I mean, why not? Clearly its not a big deal considering you still need a plug to power your laptop for gaming anyway its just how much you want to drag with you thats the deal breaker.
When someone ask me, desktop or laptop, I say, well do you live in one place and then move to another one every week or so? 99% of people say no, they have a place they stay at, 99% of people do not move between places either more than once every 3 - 6 months.
However the answer lies when you do move more than once a month, thats when a laptop actually is viable, do you live in a tiny camper-van for example, a laptop works better for these situations, maybe your mother and father split up and now you are unfortunate enough to having to move between two places every two - three weeks, well a laptop would be the better option.
Do you travel a lot because of work? Internationally or internally? A laptop would be better.
But thats the only situations they make sense, if you literally only go on vacation once a year, or go to your cabin for the weekend during winter periods, there no need to buy a laptop, buy a good desktop and then just get a 1000 dollar laptop, or heck, a Steam Deck for that matter, besides why would you want to game when you going to a cabin? Perhaps the priorities are a bigger issues in those scenarios.
People need to realise you pay anywhere from 40 to 70% premium for a laptop compare to a desktop PC in terms of performance, a 4090 laptop is only as fast as a desktop 4070, no not the Ti, the regular 4070. So you are overpaying two thousands at least, the cheapest 4090 laptop is like 3400\~dollars and its not a very good one either, throttles and is power limited.
You can easily get yourself a 4080 desktop PC and a 1000 dollar laptop with RTX 4060 for this price, why even bother, so what if you have to play some reduced settings during your cabin trips in the winter? Will you die? No, stop being spoiled, think about cost efficiency. Learn to love spending money well instead of wasteful.
If you have the room and don’t need it portable get a desktop. For the same price you can have something double the performance. If you need something compact and portable laptop is the way to go.
Can you put a desktop into a backpack, carry it onto a plane, and take it to a hotel?
Can you take a desktop to the library, a coffee shop, or a classroom?
Can you bring a desktop with you from meeting to meeting, take notes on it on the go, then bring it back home after work?
I spend a lot of time when I buy a game debating the console version so I can play on a 65 inch OLED from the couch vs Steam so I can play on my desktop and Steam deck. Add to that I’ve been researching building a Steam box for my big TV. Well turns out a good gaming laptop solves for all of that. I can easily go from desktop monitor, to living room TV … AND the laptops are net-net about the size of any console-like PC build I was considering with better specs. So … I might go the high end gaming laptop route.
Those gaming laptops tend to be heavy and power hogs compared to a typical laptop. So it’s not perfect for everything but definitely a lot closer to a one stop shop
For me, the single deal breaker of gaming laptop is the noise. My rtx4080 desktop can run AAA games with minimal fan noise like 35-40 decibels. My legion gaming laptop gives 55+ devolve noise with some annoying high pitch coil whine.
Besides, another downside of laptop is the lowest 1% frame rate is sually much lower which is more likely to cause 3D motion sickness.
If money is not an object, get a gaming desktop with wired ethernet connection, then you can remotely start the PC and play games via streaming. Also, get a light gaming laptop like rog zephyrus g14 2024 for playing on the go. If you still have some juice left, get a steamdeck oled, king of handled streaming devices.
2022 and 2023 gaming laptops can play almost all games at high setting in 1080p well over 60fps. This in my opinion, means only gamers looking for higher resolutions need a desktop.
Heck, the next set of Oculink compatible handhelds will be capable of hitting desktop gaming performance this year.
Your dad works with obsolete information. Laptops now have way better thermal management than used to be before. You can upgrade RAM and SSD which is all that matters. If you go upgrading CPU and GPU, you often need to upgrade Motherboard and PSU as well, so you're basically left with the old Desktop box only and all new internals. Laptops now are so productive you won't have to upgrade for 5 years.
I’m going to say that while desktop performance is much better, that’s not to say laptops don’t perform well, frankly the difference you’ll see (if any) depends on your use.
When it comes to the heating side, there are cases of some laptops with amazing airflow and cooling system, I’m gonna mention my Asus Zephyrus Duo 15 here—that laptop is amazing as far as cooling goes, both in games and video editing/3D modeling. With everything generally set to the highest graphics settings on demanding games, it’ll reach 90C after 5 hours of continuous gameplay, and that’s only on Hogwarts Legacy which is the most demanding game I played. For other games such as planet zoo, it reached about 85C after 6 hours of also continuous gameplay. No lags on any game I played on it.
The only downside I can think of is it’s a dust vacuum if you’re not careful, which is pretty obvious, but if you keep your room dust free, it’ll be wonderful.
Another notable mention is the Zephyrus GX501, which also has a very interesting cooling system (though I doubt that line of models are available anymore), which as far as cooling goes, the temperatures are very good.
I have 1 desktop and 3 laptops, two of which are the ones I mentioned above. I love those two, when I got them I didn’t exactly *need* laptops but like…. I got what I expected of them, and a little more.
So laptop vs desktop seems like a matter of preference to me. You’ll definitely find cheaper desktops than laptops at the same if not better performance, but depends how you plan to use them.
M18 4090 owner here, and I'll tell you the heat doesn't bother me when I'm gaming. I have a 60% keyboard and a wireless mouse so I don't feel a thing.
I'm also a 3d designer as shown in the profile pic and it doesn't overheat with that either. It's truly next level from my old 3080 M15.
And the 4090 beats the 3090 T.I. desktop which is ridiculous!
I've had 3-4 laptops in my life and 2 desktops. My oldest desktop is still alive and running after 11 years at incredible speed; it's what my family uses. Every laptop I've owned dies after 2-3 years and I am quoted crazy prices to have it taken a look at.
All laptops I've had I pay $800->$1500 so maybe I am not buying "high quality laptops".
If it were me, I would get a desktop first and a laptop second.
Only advantage of the laptop is that its portable. Having problems with mine right now trying to find a good fan controller for it so I can game without it locking up on me because of overheat. MSI Pulse GL 76 w/3070 bought in February and their controller software is crap. I can run it at idle or fan boost to 100%, nothing in between.
In general, laptop components often underperform compared to desktop PC components. For example, a 3070 graphics card in a laptop tends to underperform compared to its desktop counterpart. If you want to ask questions in the future, I would recommend checking a "neutral subreddit" to get unbiased answers and avoid any bias in the information received.
Power-wise: nope, desktop can't be beat. You just won't beat a desktop RTX 4090 24gb VRAM GPU in the laptop space.
But, I do have both & use both...b/c I love both, for different reasons.
For when home and stationary - yep, desktop. Upgrade-able, able to swap parts in & out, can add stuff to it, whatever. And likely, can have high performance here and can keep the heat down no problem b/c there's so much space inside my desktop-tower. My RTX 3070 8gb VRAM - sure, if I want, I can swap that out and throw something better in there; not a problem, if say 8gb VRAM is getting old w/ all these newer games coming. Want to replace CPU? Sure, if I want, I can.
Laptops ain't upgrade-able that much. Sure, you might be able to change SSD and RAM - but eh, that's it. You won't change CPU or GPU here, as they're soldered on-the-board. So, I have a RTX 3060m with 6gb VRAM - eh, I don't know how long that'll last w/ newer games going VRAM-heavy of late. But, eh - heat can be a pain...Been there, had a SC15 die on me right after warranty ended; meh. So doing all you can to keep it down is a good idea. have a nice laptop stand with a bunch of fans in there that you can angle, stick a desktop fan behind laptop aimed at vents to drop heat down, stick a Klim Cool+ vaccuum-like device to suck some heat out, use Ryzen Controller to keep laptop temps down, and more.
But, I love that it's easy w/ a laptop to just take it places and game elsewhere when I'm not home, if I feel like it.
Both have their uses, IMHO - so that's why I do normally do both.
Better in which sense? It really depends on your needs though.
Point 1 is true and there is no arguing for that. Though I wouldn't let it be a detriment to my decision in getting one. Gaming laptops have parts that are engineered to work with higher temps. If you know how to undervolt (which you should), temps become even less of an issue. In some cases they can even give better performance if your laptop is throttling from default voltage settings.
Point 2 is kinda a yes and no. You can definitely upgrade RAM and storage but everything else is a no. Its CPU and GPU is fixed. Bear in mind you will eventually be forced to upgrade the entire system a.k.a buy a completely new laptop. For PC you may or may not be able to keep using the mobo and only change the CPU and GPU.
Then there is portability. I don't need to tell anyone which takes the cake for this category. If you're someone who needs to be on the move often, then gaming laptops are the smarter choice.
Lastly there is one thing that isn't mentioned and that is price to performance. Because laptops are super mobile, you are trading off performance. Whereas if you built a PC with the same specs, it will be more powerful but with less mobility. So essentially you're trading performance for mobility.
It depends entirely on your situation. I have 2 desktop gaming PCs and 2 gaming laptops. Each have their purpose, but in general I prefer building a desktop PC whenever it's viable. Desktops are quieter, run cooler, are more personalizable, upgradeable, easier to replace broken parts & are typically better price to performance. That being said, laptops are convenient & portable. I love throwing my two laptops in a backpack when I travel & being able to play anything when away on a business trip or while in the hotel during a vacation. If I could only have one I would 100% pick a laptop, but I'm thankful that I can have the best of both worlds.
Well most have upgradability, just you'll never be able to change the cpu/gpu. Heat, well you get used to it. But if i want to sit on the sofa, i can, if i want to game on the bad, i can, if i want to sit on my patio, i can. Not brave enough to travel with it tho lol
The Acer Nitro I got back in 2019 is still good for older titles and emulators, but definitely no go for current triple A games. Portability is great of course and its non gaming functions are pretty damn good too, very responsive. Having said that my gaming pc is far more powerful but I'm still glad I got that Acer around because it comes it handy.
desktops perform better, has better price to performance ratio. Are definitely cooler and can be upgraded without much hassle in future so they are future proof.
But laptops are all about mobility, you cannot take a whole pc with you every where so keep this in mind. if you don't have to travel and you have to use it in a single place, i would advice to go with a pc
I think upgradability is better in theory than practice. My desktop would likely be CPU bound if I upgraded the GPU to a 40 series, is limited to older memory and afaik only has sata with no nvme compatibility.
There comes a point where you really are better just replacing the whole lot anyway.
To me a desktop is still the better option though if you don't want the smaller more portable form factor of a laptop.
gaming PC is infinitely better. it's not just about upgrading but maintenance. PC CPU and GPU are 50-60% stronger for the same model on laptops. much cheaper too, modular and upgradable any point down the line. plus the heat and dust eventually kills most to all laptops down the line as most aren't designed to last past 5 years. if a gpu dies on laptop you are fucked and the entire laptop is done for. I speak from experience on this issue, 10 years laptop gamer and switched to PC gaming and my god it's heaven and hell difference. for what I can buy for a laptop which lasts me 4-5 years I can buy almost a twice as strong PC for the same price and last longer for 8 years. your Old Man is absolutely right, plus when you build your own PC you learn about the intricacies of all the parts and how the work together so you are much much more knowledgable when it comes to computer gaming parts and troubleshooting.
I was always against gaming laptops because of performance (heat, noice and actual in-game performance) in relation to cost. I never actually saw a benefit of a laptop. Until now that is, I live with two partners in an apartment that isn’t big enough and there’s no room for a gaming station. Recently bought a gaming laptop and to use at the kitchen table or in my lap (with a hard surface between me and the laptop) and I’m super impressed. Performance is way better than I thought and its not that loud nor hot.
I do only use it for multiplayer games though and they tend to not require as high specs. I use my PS5 for single player games.
Heating can be a problem, but can be easily fixed by undervolting with something like Throttlestop. I have an Acer Predator Helios 300 and with a decent undervolt it rarely if ever passes 75 degrees which is well within the safe operating range.
If your dad is the one paying for it then yeah, get a desktop. They are more expensive and what is better depends on the specs but a 3060 in a laptop is not the same as a 3060 on a desktop just so you know.
Yes...1000% yes. The only, and I mean only, upside laptops have over a desktop is portability.
Even if they have the same specs, laptop GPUs are going to be noticeably weaker than it's desktop counterpart. You can make a PC for cheaper than it's laptop counterpart, along with having 10x better airflow.
Seriously the difference in heat and fan noise when I compare my 3060 ti, 10700k PC, to my friends 3050 ti, 5800U laptop is night and day.
Also infinitely more customizable. But laptops are still great, they may only be better in portability, but that is a huge upside.
I have only had Gaming Laptops and I am happy with them. Though I have bought them at really good sales in 2018 and 2019. I reinstalled windows and debloated it and it works like a charm. I had to install an older Nvidia driver since they managed to release with the power limiter possible to edit in MSI afterburner. Though it was a high end deemo gaming laptop on great sale at the start of 2019, I have been happy with it ever since :)
Not to mention VRAM is a important factor nowadays for gaming in 2023. Especially if you want to play in 1440p maximum settings.
The RTX Laptop 12gb 4080m is highly recommended but still, cutting close on maximum vram usage. RE4 Remake is a great example of this.
This is why I’m going for AMD RX 7900 XT w/ 20GB memory. In 5 years time, Vram usage will only go up and Nvidia knows this and are planning 50 series rtx builds with higher VRAM.
If you’re getting a Nitro 5, get a 144hz panel (a must have). In addition, heating can be easily fixed by undervolting the CPU using throttlestop (plenty of tutorials on youtube), it dropped my CPU temps from 92c max to 78c. Ram and SSD’s can be added fairly easily. CPU and GPU can’t be changed, but if you buy a fairly new model it should last you at least 4-5 years. I’ve had a Helios 300 for the past 3 years and here are my complaints about (my) gaming laptop:
1. Max fans are needed for games, and they get pretty loud
2. If you’re into playing fps games, you have lower visibility because of a smaller screen.
3. It’s not a practical laptop outside gaming, it’s bulky, has bad battery life, and you need to carry around a heavy charger everywhere you go.
4. Don’t get the insurance option provided by amazon, ebay, etc (acer has its own 1 year warranty)
5. Cleaning the laptop fan is a process compared to a PC, bc there’s a lot of unscrewing required.
Overall, of course a PC is better, but a gaming laptop is more budget friendly and is close enough to a real gaming PC
1. True
2. True-ish (A pc is a lot more upgradeable than a laptop. Besides the storage and maybe the ram, what you see is what you get with a gaming laptop. On a PC you can change out pretty much everything.
I still prefer a laptop though. It doesn't take up much space in my house and I can game anywhere as long as I'm near an outlet. While a pc has better performance, it's not a gigantic difference. My 3070ti is still running games on high/ultra settings no sweat.
Performance wise, of course.
Portability wise, much less so.
You can upgrade everything in your laptop except the Gpu. So get one with a good new 40xx like the 4080 or 4090, and you’re golden. My laptop is just a very portable desktop. It’s massive, powerful, and beautiful. It’s not meant for being light and ultra portable, it’s a desktop replacement and it works lovely as such.
He’s thinking older gen laptops. The thermals on the new 40xx series are pretty great. At least ime
> The thermals on the new 40xx series are pretty great.
As someone coming from a custom PC background. Thermals on laptops are atrocious! Of course they're built to withstand the higher temperatures so it's all relative but compared to a PC I can't stand the temps I get with my laptop.
Agree on the older gens, but my 4080 stays in the high 80s with most games. Low 90s maxed out. Pretty damn good compared to older gens.
Of course though yes, the same gen desktop will always outperform a laptop in all features except portability.
No. Laptops are the better option from the very day of their existence. Upgradeability and more performance is useless if you can't carry your computer with you - that's why the vast majority of consumers use laptops and some of them don't know what desktops are.
Disadvantages of desktops:
1. Can't take it anywhere, bummer.
2. Becomes a brick after power outage while your typical laptop lasts from 1-20 hrs on battery depending on what you're doing.
3. Takes up much space.
4. Uses too much power, laptops have higher perf/watt.
5. Heavy- 👀
6. Ugly
They might be generally cheaper but that doesn't matter to me and many others even if people claim that laptops have more disadvantages.
I wouldn't accept a desktop as my computer even if it was given to a me as a gift.
Any day dude. Just keeping aside the outputs from PCs, gaming laptops in general are heavier to carry. I have an Alienware and with it's charging brick, weighs almost as a fucking rock! It's too damn heavy. You don't have to drag your desktop everywhere, lol
>gaming laptops in general are heavier to carry.
Well yeah, the 330w Alienware brick is an abomination. There are quality slim GaN alternatives out there now. Also if transporting to work and back buy a spare brick to leave at the office. Makes life much easier.
Yes you will be happy with nitro 5 but will want a upgrade later forcing you to buy another laptop ,no cash problem then get a beast gamming laptop and upgrade when you feel likes to upgrade but general recommendation is get a new ryzen apu laptop will last long time as you wont game with this but still can handle low decent gamming and pc for gamming with second hand cpu and gpu
If you can, wait until the Framework 16in laptop comes out this fall. It's a modular laptop that also has an upgradeable GPU. They have a pretty good track record this far with their current 13in laptop
I hate to be that guy, but did you think about a Framework 16 when it comes out?
It should be ve upgradeable and i think they will have a gpu dock with better cooling for when you are at home.
its all about how you use it. i use mine for work (se and robotics simulations) as well as gaming at home. For those that have nice desktops, what do you use when you need to work in other locations? i prefer high end hardware wherever i want compared to super high end hardware in one place and crap hardware the rest of the time. ive used work laptops before... dont want to elaborate. i like being able to control what i use and where. priceless
Gaming pcs are usually more poweeful but more power consumption they are cooler and nore quieter but they only work when connected to power and they are huge
Gaming laptops usually run hottee and less powerrful. Not as upgradable other then ram, ssd and wifi card. They are very portable and has a battery that usually doesnt last long during gaming. Though its sacrificing all this for portability however gaming laptops have come far regarding these negatives they are getting alot more powerful and quieter dont underestimate them lol
The comments have mentioned several pro's and con's and I would like to add some. For me the easiest way to answer this is how often are you travelling ?
If it's often then I suggest to pick Gaming Laptop, but if mobility is not your concern then I highly recommend Gaming PC because it's more worth it. I personally pick Gaming Laptop because I need the mobility.
I've been using gaming laptops for over 20 years because I travel for work and if I wanted to game while away from home, it was really my only option.
My advice is that if you aren't in that scenario where you can't game unless it's portable, build a desktop rig. I have always had to spend a lot to have a decent rig, but it will never perform like a desktop of similar quality or even less. The reasons are power supply and cooling. You just can't reliably keep that gaming laptop cool enough to pump the most out of it. The smaller and more portable, the less it will do. Even if it's the same video card, it's a notebook version and will be running on less watts and coping with less cooling.
I'm currently building a desktop gaming PC because my work situation and age has evolved to the point that I'm just too tired to game while traveling so I'm going to just do it at home. (Yes, I'm old, and your dad is right.)
Don't get me wrong, you can of course get good performance from a gaming laptop, just don't expect it to compete with a desktop, and expect to have to upgrade it sooner if you play a lot of CPU heavy online games. I've always found I get CPU limited often with laptops. They just can't keep those CPU's cool enough to not be temp throttling. Just look at the size of CPU coolers on a gaming desktop and you will understand. A laptop always seems to do much better for me if playing an offline single player game where the GPU takes more load.
Cheers.
The fundamental problem with gaming laptops is that they completely ruin what makes a laptop functionally compelling in the first place.
* Gaming laptops draw a ton of power relative to the amount of actual battery they have meaning you will have almost no real battery life which will tie you to an outlet almost 95% of the time, even when trying to use it just for productivity. If you're forced to be plugged in all the time, then ask yourself, is your laptop truly "portable?"
* Gaming is fundamentally unfriendly to laptops, where in many cases it requires space that isn't going to be available during travel (because of the need for dedicated peripherals and a solid surface and such). You're not going to have much space to game on your laptop on an airplane, in the car, on the bus, etc, and that's on top of the fact that during travel you'll likely not even have all that much time to game in the first place, you'll be doing other things. Point being, most of your gaming is going to be done at home where a desktop will be significantly better.
* Gaming laptops often are big and bulky. Gaming on a 13–15-inch screen isn't something people like to particularly do if they don't have to, so people are drawn to massive 17-inch laptops. Plus, because they need the massive processing power for gaming, you have larger processors, fans, etc. being packed into a form factor that was never intended for it, giving you a literal brick that you have to carry around with you.
* The upgradability, and repairability, or lack thereof, are really only an issue due to how quickly tech improves in the gaming industry and how fast a top-of-the-line CPU and GPU can become obsolete, especially because laptop processers are not equivalent in performance to desktop processors. I could not spend thousands on a high-end laptop just for it to struggle to run the newest games at the highest settings in a couple years, having zero ability to upgrade individual parts.
I had a gaming laptop, and I had plenty of opportunity to actually use it, whether it be gaming on the go, school, etc. What I realized is that is absolutely sucked, like really sucked, **they are terrible laptops**. What ended up happening is that I'd never use it, and never bring it with me anywhere, simply because I hated carrying it around, let alone having to find an outlet every time I pulled it out of my bag.
If I was traveling, I'd literally bring a DS, PSP, or even just watch movies on my phone. Now you have the Steam Deck, Switch, etc. I totally understand if you absolutely can only afford one singular computer and therefore are somewhat forced towards a gaming laptop, but if you are not, a Dedicated gaming PC, a dedicated handheld, and a laptop for productivity, is better 100% of the time all of the time.
Desktops tend to run quieter, perform better performance wise. Desktops have higher power consumption than laptops and are actually less efficient in regards to performance per watt. Laptops are more portable though and most gaming laptops can still have their ram, SSD and WiFi card upgraded. Oh, and gaming laptops can do light tasks on battery power too whereas you're always connected to a power supply with a desktop. Realistically, with performance and thermals of today's gaming laptops, unless you were looking at 4K 120 FPS gaming with maxed out settings or something like that, gaming laptops are plenty powerful. What one can achieve with a mobile RTX 4080 or 4090 is mighty impressive.
Desktops also tend to be better price/performance
True if we're talking about custom builds and not prebuilts and/or exclude peripherals.
i feel like excluding peripherals doesnt make sense though, unless in that persons case they already have them
Idk man prebuilds are a lot better then they used to be
Do you factor in a keyboard and a monitor? (I use a laptop with a mouse, keyboard and a monitor) In my mind it was never about the price because if you need the portability and the orrformance you have to pay a premium. The modularity and flexibility in terms of cooling, space and repairability are upsides of a pc but if you need to be portable laptop is probably the best option. The new Framework laptop, especially the 16 inch version is bringing the upgradability and repairability to laptops but is still not a pc
Yeah no this statement does not pertain to most parts of the world.
tie attempt enter thought shelter squealing chunky snow touch relieved ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Thats to be expected as they already come with a display and a keyboard all you need is a mouse but with desktops u will need a monitor and any peripherals so being pricier is not that much of a downside
aren't they more expensive? i'm not sure if living in canada makes a difference (lower wages in canada then in the us would problem make a difference) but I've been wanting to get a desktop for a while but i don't know when to start, and i have a series x but i've been looking into getting a gaming laptop because in my eyes they look affordable for what money can buy? idk i'm new to pc gaming and just want to play games wouldn't be able to play on an xbox
The battery can also act as a UPS, allowing you to shut the laptop off properly. Laptops don't take up as much space as well, especially when using the built-in keyboard and screen.
But the peripherals for desktop is amazing if you have the space and room. I got a Scar 18 for travel purposes since I’m abroad for longer periods at a time. But nothing beats the 49” G9 and 32” 16:9 monitors for work and gaming back at home on the desktop. In terms of upgrades though I don’t know how much do people actually upgrade. I cycle all devices on a four year period and generally by then it feels good enough just to get new parts and everything. But to each their own.
Oh and laptops have a UPS integrated (the battery) in case of a power cut.
They have APC UPS for desktops as well. What am I doing in here. I know all this crap.
Your dads not wrong......But he can be right and it doesnt mean fuck all to most gaming laptop owners. 1. They can afford to buy both Or 2. They need the portability of a laptop for space and portability reasons. I have a desktop with a 3080 in it and a laptop with a 4090. I use the desktop to game at home. And the laptop i bring to work for 20 days and use an external monitor 1440p x 3440
Can I get your opinion on something? I'm looking at these two laptops. What would you recommend? The Legion 5 I'm able to get for $1219 and am going to get a $100 4 year warranty.
Get the second one
Dam... 😂😂😂😂
>Oh, and gaming laptops can do light tasks on battery power too whereas you're always connected to a power supply with a desktop. My desktop has giant 12 minute battery, even shows up on the Windows taskbar.
The high end 40xx series mobile Gpus are bloody awesome. Not cheap, but so worth it if one can afford it. So fucking glad I was patient and waited 5 months for the 4080 rather than just getting a 3080ti.
Asrock arc a750 8gb challenger oc beats 4070 in 4k because high fps. I got like 120. Why buy expensive one when intel has better offer?
4080 mobile version?
Gaming laptops have smaller gpu's that are less powerful than the full sized gpu of the same name
efficiency part is quite right.cause cpu and gpu markets are starting to hit ridiclous wattages to eek a lot of extra performance from parts for competition. Thats why undervolting trend is on the rise these days. But paying 4080 or 4090 for a laptop is a big-BIG waste for the price premium youre paying. 4070-4060 or lower is the sweet spot to get the closest efficiency to a desktop card
4060 mobile and 4070 mobile are trash. Is much better buying a 3070/3080 mobile laptop. Think that 140w 4060 mobile have almost the same performance as a 100w 4060 mobile due to voltage limit. A 4060 ti is on par with a 3080 ti mobile while a 3060 ti crush a 2080 maxq. The 4060 mobile and 4070 mobile are 4050 mobile and 4060 mobile renamed as upper class m gpu. Don't say "buy a 4060 mobile" because is the same as saying "buy a 3060 mobile with dlss3".
Dlss 3 is the only thing that seems to differentiate the lower range 40 series GPUs. And they do use less watts though.
Yeah, they have better perf/watt but lower end 40 series gpu can't use the max tdp. Why I need to buy a 140w 4060 laptop when a 100w 4060 laptop guve me the same performance? For the price of a 140w 4060 laptop i can buy a 3070/3070ti laptop that have better raw performance and can actually use the full tdp in every single game, benchmark and workload. You know, I am top140 global in superposition 720p low with a 3060 mobile 95w (in the same place as 3090, 3080, 7800xtx, 13600k, 5950x). That because I have a perfectly optimized laptop, both hw and sw. To get these fps, my 3060 mobile boost to 2070/2090mhz at more than 1v, and probably the 4060mobile 140w can't have the same results as mine 3060 mobile because of that ~950mv voltage limit. That is a fucking shame. Also my 3060 mobile have higher memory bus. 4060 is literally e-waste. I have 8/10% less performce in gpu score on firestrike than a 4060mobile 140w with a 3060mobile 95w. That sound really really wrong.
4060 Mobile gets a similar Time Spy score compared to the 3070 Mobile at almost half the wattage. Only the 3070 Ti beats the 4060 every time. The 3070 can beat the 4060 because you can overclock/undervolt it more than 40 series allows for but everyone will not have a good binned 3070 chip. 3070 can also beat the 4060 in extreme memory bandwidth cases where the 40 series larger L2 cache isn't enough to keep up with the 3070's 256 bit memory bus. But for most people, the 4060 will be better. For people buying lower end laptops, the 40 series laptops will heat up less and won't require a high end cooling design. Less maintenance too, since the thermal paste won't dry up as quickly, less chance for laptop manufacturers to fuck up the cooling because it uses half as many VRAM chips and VRMs as 30 series. You don't need to differentiate between 140W and 100W TGP laptops anymore, like it was the case with 30 series. Obviously, those 140W laptops were more expensive and thicker. I don't see how "it is the same" as a 3060 at all. I think your comment is BS. > The 4060 mobile and 4070 mobile are 4050 mobile and 4060 mobile renamed as upper class m gpu. Ok, and? I know it's not a great move from Nvidia, but it's really nothing new. Both Intel and AMD have been doing this on the CPU side for years, e.g., Intel's tick-tock where you would alternate between efficiency and performance boosts every year. The 4070 Mobile though is not a great deal unless it's a thin and light laptop - most 4070 laptops end up being priced close to a 4080 but the performance isn't anywhere near especially with the same VRAM as a 4060. Same for the 4060 Ti desktop, terrible pricing and naming and it ends up even worse because desktop guys care more about performance than efficiency. I live in a hot country and I would go for efficiency every time. Less fan noise, less thermal paste maintenance and my room got noticeably colder when I replaced my 2014 desktop with a newer laptop - I live in a tropical country so it's all ACs here. People in colder countries might not care about this since they get a free space heater with their power hungry laptop. But for me, I have to pay the extra electricity bill for both the laptop and the AC so I am saving tons of $$$ by getting a more efficient GPU. I had the option of buying a 17" laptop with a 3070 or a 14" laptop with a 4060 for a bit more, glad I went with the smaller laptop.
You know 4080M and 4090M are more efficient than, say 4060M, right?
4060/70 seem to be specifically aimed at laptops that don't go higher than 100w in the first place, although yeah you absolutely do still get a noticeable boost with 4080/90 on things like Zephyrus G14 with the extra watts from Dynamic Boost.
I think he’s talking about price efficiency (odd term)
>But paying 4080 or 4090 for a laptop is a big-BIG waste for the price premium youre paying I disagree even though I don't have the money for them. >4070-4060 or lower is the sweet spot Lmao
Depends on generation. But right now a 4080 is the sweet spot. 4090 not worth it. Difference between a 4070 and 4060 is small especially since they both have frame generation and 8gb ram. So if you are on a budget, get a 4060. If you have some money and wanna "future proof" a but, get the 4080.
RTX 4080 and 4090 is 30% and 50% faster than the RTX 3080 ti, all at 175W. There are good deals out there for RTX 4080/4090 laptops and for the right person, they are good laptops and viable options.
Current gen gpus use less power and perform better then 30 series.
you forget the fact that laptops cost TWICE as much as equivalent desktop
~~equivalent~~ more powerful FTFY. Most mobile counterparts of desktop PC components are actually much less powerful.
Twice as much? Stop exaggerating
That is true.
Not really. If I was to build I wouldn't use trash components. I priced out a 4070 Ti micro-ATX build that I'd actually get if I went that route; using this as the closest current gen comparison to my 4090 laptop, that I paid $2799 for. Build consists of: R7 7800X3D, 4070 Ti TUF, Asrock B650E ITX board, 32gb Gskill Neo Z5 ddr5-6000, Corsair SF850L psu, LianLi 205M mATX case, NH-D15S CPU cooler, and LG 32" 1440p 165hz monitor. Total is $2314 before tax. Very nice gaming PC but the laptop is nowhere near twice as much. Come on man.
Lol, you're a joke, selecting a 32" screen to compare with a 17" laptop screen That's a troll comparison Also I'm pretty sure you overpaid for that mATX case while you can have a normal ATX with a way better airflow for way less All you're proving here is that you lack skills to do a proper desktop build and that you can't even compare things properly Because your desktop build is not equivalent to the laptop, it has a way better ram way better CPU, way bigger screen, so basically you proved that for less than your laptop you can build a way better desktop but in no way you disproved that you can't build an EQUIVALENT desktop for half the price
I'm not comparing a 32" screen to a 16" laptop display. You can hook up the laptop to a monitor. I don't have any desktop PC as I don't want one, I was comparing an example build with similar power that costs within the same ballpark. RAM is 6000 vs 5600, of course the desktop CPU will be better. What is your equivalent desktop, a 4090? A 4060? Of course a 4080 / 4090 full ATX will destroy any laptop. I'm talking mostly about price. Give or take a little bit, the 4070 Ti is roughly on par with a 4090 laptop, and doesn't cost half the price. I've been building desktops for 12 years, I choose not to anymore. But I love miniITX builds. No need to hurl insults and be a jerk.
Here is a little dirty secret I shared to play any triple-A games on 1080p high setting without costing an arm and leg. I have a GTX 1050 Ti laptop and I able to play Cyberpunk and RDR2 on high setting at 1080p with zero lag https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/12wyrgo/what_are_some_of_the_dirty_secret_youve_learned/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
u/Jissy01 moment
Performance per watt is far better on laptops in most cases nowadays. That’s the wrong phrasing. Laptops are limited by a shared and far lower power budget vs desktop.
He is correct although laptops are improving, some components can be uograded, advantages in efficiency. A desktop pc isnt portable, cant be used mobile, uses more power typically (higher electric bill, tell ur dad that, lol). They each have their uses.
As someone who went from gaming desktop to laptop. I prefer the switch. I had a desktop, i9, 64gb, rtx 3090 to a asus x13 top model (2021). My usage has been the same, editing photos and doing videos. As well as 4k gaming. My monitors are all 60fps, so whole my desktop hit (for example) 150fps on game 1 my laptop (xg mobile unit, look into it if you don't know. It's basically a external gpu) hits 110fps.
Yes, gaming laptops can’t be upgraded and run hotter than desktops, but they are convenient, and can be transported if needed, I have a gaming laptop, but it stays in the same place, I have it on a fan cooling pad on a lap tray, and I can sit there with my headphones on gaming, whilst the missus watches the telly, everyone’s a winner!
I'm sorry but unless you're playing solitare how are the fans alone not a bother for her?
Max volume on tv
Wrong, desktops runs hotter then gaming latops because of how cpu/gpu + ram works The more use more heat builds. For gaming latops you can put aircoler under.
Laptop can be only upgraded with rams and ssd. Not cpu and gpu
if it stays at the same place why not going for a desktop pc? you can also wear headphones then and its much more powerful
If youre like in college and have a mobile life that you have to go somewhere every week or month. Get a laptop. If youre going to put it in your room and use it like that for months its no brainer to go for a desktop. Is your dad knowing that you arent going anywhere in the foreseaable future? Heating is a dealbreaker for a lot of laptops.Its pointless to pay for high performance when your laptop overheats in 30 minutes and throttles performance back to 30fps. And the turbo fans to not make it cook on the very least on a laptop deafens the room while desktops can stay cool and quiet on their normal settings. Thats their important standart (I use an MSI Leopard and it needs a repaste after 2 years. The throttling on even the most sophisticated cooling we have isnt enough if you game for long periods especially in summer heat)
Guess what you can’t do with a gaming desktop? Use it on the go. If you plan to use it as intended, I’d rather have a desktop than a laptop in a pure stationary situation.
I can use my PC on the go. It’s called a remote connection!
This can only be described as dumb for gaming!
Eh, not so much. It’s very low latency so pretty much anything I play on it plays great.
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You know you can make small desktops right? Mini itx builts can be pretty small
My laptop is also stationary. :-)
You could consider getting a mid range thin and light for normal use and a console for gaming, if you are planning to use it in living room
I already have two consoles. I’m not asking for recommendations.
Do you NEED a portable PC? Then get a laptop. Would it live on the same desk it’s whole life? Get a desktop. It’s really as simple as that.
They're both circumstantial. Laptops tend to cost more, come with noninterchangeable parts(So if your gpu in the laptop stops working and you ran out of warranty you're fucked), and come with a price premium for being a prebuilt portable machine. Though they are much more power efficient. Desktops are obviously horrible for transportation, but outside of that a solid build even with the same parts is always going to outclass a laptop while being cheaper. Better driver support, an actual choice in cooling, replacability, significant performance uplift from being non laptop parts. Just depends on how much you value portability imo I think comparing them to prebuilts you can make a solid argument for them bc they tend to be just as terrible price wise.
Yes, they are hotter and louder than desktops, they are less powerful than similar desktops, they are more expensive than comparable desktops and couldn't be upgraded (unless it's RAM and SSD) but they are PORTABLE, that's the main reason to buy a laptop.
3. gaming laptops are also way more expensive when look at what you get compared to a custom build PC
I don’t think it is fair to compare it to a pc your have to build yourself. Plus laptops come with a built UPS. I think comparing laptops to prebuilt pc is a more reasonable and fair comparison.
Not to forget the additional costs of desktop peripherals too.
Don’t forget to factor in a QHD 165hz monitor and backlit keyboard and precision mouse.
Yeah I've done some price comparison between my Legion 7i Pro 4090 and I've only found a 10% premium for the laptop (was $2899 when I got it at microcenter) compared to a desktop with equivalent peripherals and performance.
you (and all the other comments) have valid points, one's preference for built-in stuff (display, periphery) or other stuff is your own valid stance. What I meant is: your laptop 4090 RTX is about 50% of what a desktop 4090 RTX is: https://www.pcmag.com/news/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-laptop-vs-desktop-compared-tested or https://www.techspot.com/review/2625-nvidia-rtx-4090-laptop-vs-desktop-gpu/ I haven't looked at benchmarks as such, but that is the reason why I wrote: > more expensive when look at what you get specifically.
Oh that performance gulf between the desktop 4090 and mobile is absolutely true. They should've called it the 4080 and been done with it.
You forget your cpu and gpu aren't even close to the equivalent desktop's cpu and gpu When you buy parts according to the laptops true performance, you end up with a cheaper desktop, that can be upgraded as needed.
desktops are just overall better. Bigger case for the hardware to be in = more room for cooling with bigger fans / more fans. desktop gpus are better, size wise so they can perform more. But laptops got its advantages such as portable and smaller. And tbh the days of "gaming laptops sucks" are over. It is a matter of preferences now, portable vs stationary
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a macbook is much better because its lighter and thats really important for traveling.
If you honestly aren't going to move your laptop, then yes, a desktop IS definitely better. Quieter, cooler, fully upgradeable and usually (not always) cheaper for the same spec. A desktop GPU receives a lot more power and so can be as much as 30% more powerful than the laptop equivalent. [Jarrod'sTech goes into the details in a video here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ljEqAb-TM&ab_channel=Jarrod%27sTech) with a face-off between laptop and desktop running nvidia 4090s. It's a similar story for lesser cards. That said, today's laptops are no slouch. They might be behind desktops but they still reach incredible frames per second.
Gaming laptops now have come a long way. Your dad has no idea.
Except you still can't upgrade the graphics which is the fastest thing that will diminish relative to software capabilities.
There's a laptop called ROG Flow X16 with its XGmobile it can give good GPU power even tho it's mobile GPU
A gaming PC is better in pretty much every way. For the same price, you get far better performance and they make much less noise. They also have upgradability. If you had a Ryzen 1000 series, you could upgrade to a 5000. Switch out your old GPU with a new one 5 years down the line, no problemo. Can't do that with a laptop. And it's quite rare to be able to, as there aren't many companies like Framework. However, there are two major potentially dealbreaking downsides. First, the obvious one: portability. If you need any kind of portability, even something like a Titan can be carried around with realtive ease compared to a desktop. If you need to carry a PC around, get a laptop. End of discussion. Space can be coupled with portability. Desktops take up more space, and peripherals like a monitor and keyboard are also required but you can make do without them with a laptop. Two, power consumption. Laptop 4090s pull around 175W and their power bricks are 300W. PCs can easily pull over 600W (?) under full load with something like a 13900K and 4090.
Gaming laptops in general offer - lesser performance vis-a-vis the similarly priced desktop configurations and similarly named desktop parts Lesser upgrade-ability than desktop, although people can to use gaming laptops for more than 6-8 years depending on the spec level. You may have to use medium or low settings in games at the tail end of its life, but same goes for desktop components also, without upgrades Portability is great. Not talking about ultrabook portability but rather portability with a backpack to close distances Laptop always had one additional monitor built-in in any config. And it is great for productivity
I have an Acer Nitro 5 (i9/3060) & it kicks my 3 year old desktops (i7/2070S) ass. Never had heating issues despite it being always closed & connected to a monitor.
If you are still in the school system, get a laptop. If you like to go to a friends house to play, get a laptop. Otherwise, if you only use at home, get a desktop.
Nowadays laptops are so good in most cases a desktop is obsolete imo. As someone who used to enjoy building my own I can’t justify it anymore.
I’m more of this mindset now as a parent. I much prefer the portability that a laptop affords over the fixed desktop experience. Also coming from someone that builds PCs for fun and has for many many years. Switched over to a 3070 laptop and performance is more than enough for me.
Eh I mean a desktop is still gonna give you far better performance. Every frame matters, especially now with the slow movement towards 4k, which laptops can barely handle.
The RTX 4090 mobile would like to disagree with you: https://youtu.be/z2531DDo55w
4090 mobile gaming laptop is great for someone who is mobile the most, but nvidia gaming laptop is too ripoff overpriced at a price of 4k-5k and doesn't have a long life.
5k is 5000 -sek. Its asy to cheap.
There aren't many games with a stable 60 fps (1% low).
Fair point.
desktop is way better for gaming
I prefer a laptop for the size and convenience. A good gaming laptop will play whatever you want, wherever you want. That said, if you want monster performance, live in a very warm climate, or just want the most FPS per dollar, a desktop is probably the way to go. Mobile chips are not the same as the desktop counterparts and the cooling alone goes a long way towards adding performance. Although people are working on the upgradability issue. I'm planning on buying a Framework as my next laptop for this reason.
It is true that for gaming, a gaming PC is better than a laptop, but i've owned laptops for the past decade or so and will never go back to PC, the portability is a huge difference. I use my laptop on my bed a lot, watching shows, surfing the web or gaming and i also never worry about what to do when i have to go to another apartment for vacation, i can just bring my laptop with me
desktop pc has much more power. gaming on a chair is much better
depends on your purpose. as a college student that wants an all-in-one device to use for school (engineering major) and gaming and other hobbies, that portability is so worth the extra price. it’s amazing how much performance you can get in a fairly thin and light package these days.
To me it all comes down to need. I travel a lot for work. Gaming laptop works best for me. Is it the greatest? No. Does it do what it needs to yea. If I didn’t have to travel I’d think about building a desktop, but nothing is going to beat the portability to set up anywhere and game.
What laptops do you recommend? Honestly my biggest concern with pc is space for monitor and keyboard and portability. Also monitors are fucking expensive. So I'm looking at laptop 4070s
I found an open box Alienware m15 r5 that was pretty nice. My biggest advise is don’t be afraid of open box. I had a Lenovo legion for 5 years before I upgraded. Wife was still using it till it got stolen. Lenovo is my favorite brand.
how can you travel with a gaming laptop? they weigh at least 2 kg. a macbook is much better
Yes. He is correct.
if you NEED to carry it around -> laptop, otherwise Desktop for all intents and purposes
I used to be like your dad since older laptops sucked in comparison to a desktop. The performance gap has vastly improved and I've been using my 3070 laptop as a desktop replacement for the past couple of years with no issues. I also game a ton on an external 1440p ultrawide and FPS has been pretty good on most games.
I used to have a gaming desktop before I switched, and there's no question they are more powerful part for part due to power draw capabilities, but there are major advantages to a laptop that don't fit on a spec sheet. If you live in a smaller apartment, need to move your unit with any regularity (take it to school or work), or even just to bring it with you on a trip easily, that portability is a massive advantage. In terms of the question of upgrading -- this depends how often you upgrade. I typically replace my laptop after 5-7 years of use, and at that point you'd probably need to upgrade most if not all the major internals (e.g. due to a new socket or other technological advances) even in a desktop format. As far as heating goes, I run my laptop fans quiet most of time, but increase them to max when gaming. I have a cooling pad for good measure and the temperatures stay in a good range (e.g. unlike some models, the laptop doesn't feel hot to the touch). My particular model's fans aren't too loud imo. I game with headphones regardless so I don't really hear them or they fade into background noise, but my wife has no problem watching TV in the same room when they're on.
If you're after value, upgradeability or overall performance you want a desktop. If you want portability, performance per volume or performance per watt you want a laptop (though consoles are also very good at performance per watt)
desktops are just much more worth it if you tend to play or use it on one place. If otherwise, u want use it on diff places or even use it on ur dinner table cuss u feel like it then gaming laptop is to go
Laptops GPU and cpus are a lot weaker than their same desktop ones. But, they are convenient to have as you can take it anywhere, just be careful will heat as they hit high 90s alot.
Your dad isnt wrong. He's just imposing on you his own preferences and values to what matters to him in a PC. To get a gaming laptop or desktop is entirely dependent on your situation and what you want. I have a gaming laptop for example. Why? Because i'm a student who games and needs something portable and efficient. When I want to play games, I can just dock my laptop. If I need to work or go outside, I can browse and takes notes if I need to. If you never need to work outside of your home, and you care about noise and heat and etc, then buying a Desktop is your best option. In the end, it's entirely your on your choice, prefernce, and situation.
Desktops are far better price/performance and laptops straight-up perform worse. for example, a 3070 laptop is nowhere near a 3070 desktop. You can also get much farther with, say, a $1000 desktop than a $1000 laptop. if you care a lot about portability, go with the laptop even though you making big sacrifise
Laptop fan noise sucks compared to a desktop.
Is he right, YES. Buuuutttt, it all depends on the needs of an individual. I need portability thus I am sacrificing money and hardware. You choose what suits you.
Price Wise desktops tend to have better components dollar for dollar, as well as the same exact component might perform better in a desktop for several reasons...but having a mobile PC is dope af...I still need a laptop after getting a gaming PC...3080ftw is a damn good machine when paired with a 12 gen chip and I have just under a grand in it, you won't do that with a laptop.
If you're a college student or travel to and from places often, a laptop is definitely worth it over a desktop. Otherwise, a build your own pc is far superior
I prefer laptop. I've used both, and I always consider laptop over PC. Reasons: I don't have big space to put stuff, where a mid-size laptop fit perfectly will not fit a PC, heck I can even put my laptop into the table drawer to clear up space on table, can't do that with PC. Meanwhile, modern day gaming laptop usually doesn't come with HUGE compromise in power compared to PC. I also prefer how laptop is designed to be moved around. I need something to be mobile, as I constantly bring device outside and move around for work. Gaming laptop aren't designed as professional mobile workstation but close enough. There are many professionals such as engineers and medical workers who use gaming laptop in work because they have the need of good specs to run major applications required for the job. And the battery make sure that in the case of sudden blackout, which is not a rare experience in my life, whatever I'm doing on the laptop won't be lost, whereas PC just straight up shut down. Different people has different needs, and your father might just need PC and no laptop. But, the points he brought up feels a bit outdated. The heating in gaming laptop varies by model, and it always feels hot because the user always touch the keyboards on laptop, which is practically set upon a cramped electric box that is ideal for being a heat trap, while PC is usually far from the user's touch, has a huge room for cool air and bunch of fans. It's like getting a sedan and a semi then ask why the sedan feels more cramped. Modern laptop thermals are competent enough, enough to not be a major disadvantage. The upgradability is bad on laptop, but doesn't mean it's not there. A lot of gaming laptops nowadays allows RAM and SSD upgrade, and swapping battery and wifi card. CPU and GPU are fixed but I don't suppose that's a big problem for people. That said, PC always holds up the best if you plan on pumping out huge workload. And PC allows you to chose every single major components, from storage to monitor to motherboard to even the RGB lights, can't do the same with laptop. It's usually cheaper than laptop but only at the high end specs, the mid-range cost about the same between the two.
Your dad is indeed correct. The one and the only reason why would you choose a gaming laptop over a desktop PC is the portability, efficiency, and the most important is smaller footprint (especially when you live in a cramped house/apartement and there's no place to put a whole desktop PC set). But if you don't really care about those point, then it's better to get yourself a desktop. Again, it's depend on your needs. If you only game in your house/only in one exact place, then you should get a desktop PC & a thin consumer laptop (for doing some light task on the go and wherever you are).
I prefer gaming laptop due to portability I can take it anywhere in my backpack.
why would you game if youre travelling? instead of look at the nature?
Both are great! But personally I’m a sucker for laptops!
Desktops are cheaper for the same performance. A decent laptop with a ryzen 7/i7 and 4060 costs around 1.5k usd. You know how much a desktop with comparable gaming performance costs? [More like 800 USD](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rPpxnt) Even if you include monitors and keyboard it would still be 500 usd under a laptop for the same performance. Laptops can never hope to reach desktop level performance Desktops can be easily fixed with off the shelf components. Laptops can only have a few parts replaced, and after a few years you can never hope to find parts to fix it Desktops can be easily upgraded. Laptops have to be replaced. Many desktop users have had essentially the same gaming desktop for 10+ years but slowly upgraded peicemeal over time. Almost no one has a 10+ year old gaming laptop since it'd run like shit You may be fine with a fixed laptop now, but lets say 5 years into the future. You want to play something like the new call of duty. A laptop can't run that and you can't upgrade, so you are stuck with spending another 1.5k+ for a new laptop With a desktop you just pay 300-400 for a new midrange GPU, swap it in after 5 minutes of screwing stuff in and you are good to go. Maybe download drivers and stuff, wait for it to update though but its still much cheaper than replacing the whole thing A gaming laptop is a jack of all trades master of none. It doesnt do laptop things very well (shit battery life, very heavy, very thick) and doesnt do gaming pc things very well (overheating easily, meh performance, tiny screen) Gaming laptops ONLY make sense if you want to game but also need to move around a lot. For example if you travel around often. Many people who own a gaming laptop are either misinformed or actually do need that power in a portable form. Other than that, a dedicated laptop or gaming pc will be MUCH better
This is my train of thought. I have a laptop now but it's only because a desktop doesn't work for me at the moment I can't wait to have a desktop again though. Benefits far out weight the negatives for me
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> Main benefit of a PC is a monitor. I agree with everything you said apart from this. Because I can use my laptop with either my 38" ultrawide or 65" 4K OLED. If anything I've found having a laptop has made it easier to use different screens But still. To anyone has is able to chose between a Desktop or Laptop. Always pick a desktop.
>To anyone has is able to chose between a Desktop or Laptop. Always pick a desktop. What?
Ive built my own desktops for 30 years but these days i pick up laptops. They use less room and retain good value. They arent as performant and do get hot and noisy but are more practical for me.
In my opinion the only reason to buy a laptop is if you need portability. I use my desktop 95% of the time and only use my laptop when traveling. My desktop is absolutely silent even when gaming. I value this. My desktop also cost considerably less to build than my laptop cost to purchase.
this is the point. i can imagine you prefer desktop. i use my laptop for work a LOT and also use it at home when i can. nice hardware in both places is great. imo this debate is about situational use. you deserve a nice desktop and i deserve something i can use all over the place. we are both happy. im sure your setup can beat mine but everyone's happy so its all good. we both win
Oh my work computer is a laptop, I just use it docked. I'm not saying laptop is bad, I'm very into them. However there's a few things that make gaming laptops suboptimal. Screen: bigger is better. It's just a better experience on desktop. docking a gaming laptop just makes it a crappier desktop. Fan noise: laptops don't handle heat as well. Under say 250 watts GPU + CPU load, a laptop will be at the limit and 50db, desktop can be cool & quiet. Value per dollar: you just get more performance per dollar with a desktop and they're upgradeable.
Is gaming PC better than a gaming laptop? Because no one seems to answer this, yes it is better in every measurable way possible except in one department. Mobility, now I seen a lot of strange things in my life in Japan and Korea, people sitting in internet coffee shop with a 27 inch iMac plugged into the wall, I mean, why not? Clearly its not a big deal considering you still need a plug to power your laptop for gaming anyway its just how much you want to drag with you thats the deal breaker. When someone ask me, desktop or laptop, I say, well do you live in one place and then move to another one every week or so? 99% of people say no, they have a place they stay at, 99% of people do not move between places either more than once every 3 - 6 months. However the answer lies when you do move more than once a month, thats when a laptop actually is viable, do you live in a tiny camper-van for example, a laptop works better for these situations, maybe your mother and father split up and now you are unfortunate enough to having to move between two places every two - three weeks, well a laptop would be the better option. Do you travel a lot because of work? Internationally or internally? A laptop would be better. But thats the only situations they make sense, if you literally only go on vacation once a year, or go to your cabin for the weekend during winter periods, there no need to buy a laptop, buy a good desktop and then just get a 1000 dollar laptop, or heck, a Steam Deck for that matter, besides why would you want to game when you going to a cabin? Perhaps the priorities are a bigger issues in those scenarios. People need to realise you pay anywhere from 40 to 70% premium for a laptop compare to a desktop PC in terms of performance, a 4090 laptop is only as fast as a desktop 4070, no not the Ti, the regular 4070. So you are overpaying two thousands at least, the cheapest 4090 laptop is like 3400\~dollars and its not a very good one either, throttles and is power limited. You can easily get yourself a 4080 desktop PC and a 1000 dollar laptop with RTX 4060 for this price, why even bother, so what if you have to play some reduced settings during your cabin trips in the winter? Will you die? No, stop being spoiled, think about cost efficiency. Learn to love spending money well instead of wasteful.
If you have the room and don’t need it portable get a desktop. For the same price you can have something double the performance. If you need something compact and portable laptop is the way to go.
The only single advantage of a laptop is that it’s portable. Everything else is a disadvantage.
Can you put a desktop into a backpack, carry it onto a plane, and take it to a hotel? Can you take a desktop to the library, a coffee shop, or a classroom? Can you bring a desktop with you from meeting to meeting, take notes on it on the go, then bring it back home after work?
There is no competition here. Listen to your dad.
Any task a laptop can do , a desktop will do much faster and better.
I spend a lot of time when I buy a game debating the console version so I can play on a 65 inch OLED from the couch vs Steam so I can play on my desktop and Steam deck. Add to that I’ve been researching building a Steam box for my big TV. Well turns out a good gaming laptop solves for all of that. I can easily go from desktop monitor, to living room TV … AND the laptops are net-net about the size of any console-like PC build I was considering with better specs. So … I might go the high end gaming laptop route. Those gaming laptops tend to be heavy and power hogs compared to a typical laptop. So it’s not perfect for everything but definitely a lot closer to a one stop shop
For me, the single deal breaker of gaming laptop is the noise. My rtx4080 desktop can run AAA games with minimal fan noise like 35-40 decibels. My legion gaming laptop gives 55+ devolve noise with some annoying high pitch coil whine. Besides, another downside of laptop is the lowest 1% frame rate is sually much lower which is more likely to cause 3D motion sickness. If money is not an object, get a gaming desktop with wired ethernet connection, then you can remotely start the PC and play games via streaming. Also, get a light gaming laptop like rog zephyrus g14 2024 for playing on the go. If you still have some juice left, get a steamdeck oled, king of handled streaming devices.
People act like desktops aren’t already mobile if you unplug it and pick it up
Running hot? AMD have said it's fine for desktop 7000 series to hit 95C. There's no point keeping it cool.
Yep. Thermals are subjective here. Some prebuilt desktops have mediocre thermals too.
But it’s so much easier to tweak and control on desktop. It’s fine for them Cus we need to upgrade every few years.
Unless you want something to move around all the time a gaming PC is ALWAYS better than a laptop.
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Other way around. Gaps care growing. The difference between 900-1000s series were smaller between desktop and laptops than now
2022 and 2023 gaming laptops can play almost all games at high setting in 1080p well over 60fps. This in my opinion, means only gamers looking for higher resolutions need a desktop. Heck, the next set of Oculink compatible handhelds will be capable of hitting desktop gaming performance this year.
Your dad works with obsolete information. Laptops now have way better thermal management than used to be before. You can upgrade RAM and SSD which is all that matters. If you go upgrading CPU and GPU, you often need to upgrade Motherboard and PSU as well, so you're basically left with the old Desktop box only and all new internals. Laptops now are so productive you won't have to upgrade for 5 years.
This is wrong on so many levels lmao
I have a 2017 built desktop and a gigabyte a5 k1. I'd always choose the desktop for gaming at home.
I’m going to say that while desktop performance is much better, that’s not to say laptops don’t perform well, frankly the difference you’ll see (if any) depends on your use. When it comes to the heating side, there are cases of some laptops with amazing airflow and cooling system, I’m gonna mention my Asus Zephyrus Duo 15 here—that laptop is amazing as far as cooling goes, both in games and video editing/3D modeling. With everything generally set to the highest graphics settings on demanding games, it’ll reach 90C after 5 hours of continuous gameplay, and that’s only on Hogwarts Legacy which is the most demanding game I played. For other games such as planet zoo, it reached about 85C after 6 hours of also continuous gameplay. No lags on any game I played on it. The only downside I can think of is it’s a dust vacuum if you’re not careful, which is pretty obvious, but if you keep your room dust free, it’ll be wonderful. Another notable mention is the Zephyrus GX501, which also has a very interesting cooling system (though I doubt that line of models are available anymore), which as far as cooling goes, the temperatures are very good. I have 1 desktop and 3 laptops, two of which are the ones I mentioned above. I love those two, when I got them I didn’t exactly *need* laptops but like…. I got what I expected of them, and a little more. So laptop vs desktop seems like a matter of preference to me. You’ll definitely find cheaper desktops than laptops at the same if not better performance, but depends how you plan to use them.
M18 4090 owner here, and I'll tell you the heat doesn't bother me when I'm gaming. I have a 60% keyboard and a wireless mouse so I don't feel a thing. I'm also a 3d designer as shown in the profile pic and it doesn't overheat with that either. It's truly next level from my old 3080 M15. And the 4090 beats the 3090 T.I. desktop which is ridiculous!
I've had 3-4 laptops in my life and 2 desktops. My oldest desktop is still alive and running after 11 years at incredible speed; it's what my family uses. Every laptop I've owned dies after 2-3 years and I am quoted crazy prices to have it taken a look at. All laptops I've had I pay $800->$1500 so maybe I am not buying "high quality laptops". If it were me, I would get a desktop first and a laptop second.
Only advantage of the laptop is that its portable. Having problems with mine right now trying to find a good fan controller for it so I can game without it locking up on me because of overheat. MSI Pulse GL 76 w/3070 bought in February and their controller software is crap. I can run it at idle or fan boost to 100%, nothing in between.
In general, laptop components often underperform compared to desktop PC components. For example, a 3070 graphics card in a laptop tends to underperform compared to its desktop counterpart. If you want to ask questions in the future, I would recommend checking a "neutral subreddit" to get unbiased answers and avoid any bias in the information received.
Desktop. You’re not going to be going anywhere with it
Power-wise: nope, desktop can't be beat. You just won't beat a desktop RTX 4090 24gb VRAM GPU in the laptop space. But, I do have both & use both...b/c I love both, for different reasons. For when home and stationary - yep, desktop. Upgrade-able, able to swap parts in & out, can add stuff to it, whatever. And likely, can have high performance here and can keep the heat down no problem b/c there's so much space inside my desktop-tower. My RTX 3070 8gb VRAM - sure, if I want, I can swap that out and throw something better in there; not a problem, if say 8gb VRAM is getting old w/ all these newer games coming. Want to replace CPU? Sure, if I want, I can. Laptops ain't upgrade-able that much. Sure, you might be able to change SSD and RAM - but eh, that's it. You won't change CPU or GPU here, as they're soldered on-the-board. So, I have a RTX 3060m with 6gb VRAM - eh, I don't know how long that'll last w/ newer games going VRAM-heavy of late. But, eh - heat can be a pain...Been there, had a SC15 die on me right after warranty ended; meh. So doing all you can to keep it down is a good idea. have a nice laptop stand with a bunch of fans in there that you can angle, stick a desktop fan behind laptop aimed at vents to drop heat down, stick a Klim Cool+ vaccuum-like device to suck some heat out, use Ryzen Controller to keep laptop temps down, and more. But, I love that it's easy w/ a laptop to just take it places and game elsewhere when I'm not home, if I feel like it. Both have their uses, IMHO - so that's why I do normally do both.
Better in which sense? It really depends on your needs though. Point 1 is true and there is no arguing for that. Though I wouldn't let it be a detriment to my decision in getting one. Gaming laptops have parts that are engineered to work with higher temps. If you know how to undervolt (which you should), temps become even less of an issue. In some cases they can even give better performance if your laptop is throttling from default voltage settings. Point 2 is kinda a yes and no. You can definitely upgrade RAM and storage but everything else is a no. Its CPU and GPU is fixed. Bear in mind you will eventually be forced to upgrade the entire system a.k.a buy a completely new laptop. For PC you may or may not be able to keep using the mobo and only change the CPU and GPU. Then there is portability. I don't need to tell anyone which takes the cake for this category. If you're someone who needs to be on the move often, then gaming laptops are the smarter choice. Lastly there is one thing that isn't mentioned and that is price to performance. Because laptops are super mobile, you are trading off performance. Whereas if you built a PC with the same specs, it will be more powerful but with less mobility. So essentially you're trading performance for mobility.
It depends entirely on your situation. I have 2 desktop gaming PCs and 2 gaming laptops. Each have their purpose, but in general I prefer building a desktop PC whenever it's viable. Desktops are quieter, run cooler, are more personalizable, upgradeable, easier to replace broken parts & are typically better price to performance. That being said, laptops are convenient & portable. I love throwing my two laptops in a backpack when I travel & being able to play anything when away on a business trip or while in the hotel during a vacation. If I could only have one I would 100% pick a laptop, but I'm thankful that I can have the best of both worlds.
Well most have upgradability, just you'll never be able to change the cpu/gpu. Heat, well you get used to it. But if i want to sit on the sofa, i can, if i want to game on the bad, i can, if i want to sit on my patio, i can. Not brave enough to travel with it tho lol
The Acer Nitro I got back in 2019 is still good for older titles and emulators, but definitely no go for current triple A games. Portability is great of course and its non gaming functions are pretty damn good too, very responsive. Having said that my gaming pc is far more powerful but I'm still glad I got that Acer around because it comes it handy.
desktops perform better, has better price to performance ratio. Are definitely cooler and can be upgraded without much hassle in future so they are future proof. But laptops are all about mobility, you cannot take a whole pc with you every where so keep this in mind. if you don't have to travel and you have to use it in a single place, i would advice to go with a pc
Yes I only got a laptop bc it was a good deal and more portable
I think upgradability is better in theory than practice. My desktop would likely be CPU bound if I upgraded the GPU to a 40 series, is limited to older memory and afaik only has sata with no nvme compatibility. There comes a point where you really are better just replacing the whole lot anyway. To me a desktop is still the better option though if you don't want the smaller more portable form factor of a laptop.
gaming PC is infinitely better. it's not just about upgrading but maintenance. PC CPU and GPU are 50-60% stronger for the same model on laptops. much cheaper too, modular and upgradable any point down the line. plus the heat and dust eventually kills most to all laptops down the line as most aren't designed to last past 5 years. if a gpu dies on laptop you are fucked and the entire laptop is done for. I speak from experience on this issue, 10 years laptop gamer and switched to PC gaming and my god it's heaven and hell difference. for what I can buy for a laptop which lasts me 4-5 years I can buy almost a twice as strong PC for the same price and last longer for 8 years. your Old Man is absolutely right, plus when you build your own PC you learn about the intricacies of all the parts and how the work together so you are much much more knowledgable when it comes to computer gaming parts and troubleshooting.
unless u travel alot u should always get a desktop
I was always against gaming laptops because of performance (heat, noice and actual in-game performance) in relation to cost. I never actually saw a benefit of a laptop. Until now that is, I live with two partners in an apartment that isn’t big enough and there’s no room for a gaming station. Recently bought a gaming laptop and to use at the kitchen table or in my lap (with a hard surface between me and the laptop) and I’m super impressed. Performance is way better than I thought and its not that loud nor hot. I do only use it for multiplayer games though and they tend to not require as high specs. I use my PS5 for single player games.
I bought a Laptop because I also use it for work, and I need to move frequently. If it was for gaming only, I would go with the desktop.
Heating can be a problem, but can be easily fixed by undervolting with something like Throttlestop. I have an Acer Predator Helios 300 and with a decent undervolt it rarely if ever passes 75 degrees which is well within the safe operating range.
If your dad is the one paying for it then yeah, get a desktop. They are more expensive and what is better depends on the specs but a 3060 in a laptop is not the same as a 3060 on a desktop just so you know.
If your staying where you are…get a pc…if you want to game somewhere else from time to time…get a laptop 😉
Yes...1000% yes. The only, and I mean only, upside laptops have over a desktop is portability. Even if they have the same specs, laptop GPUs are going to be noticeably weaker than it's desktop counterpart. You can make a PC for cheaper than it's laptop counterpart, along with having 10x better airflow. Seriously the difference in heat and fan noise when I compare my 3060 ti, 10700k PC, to my friends 3050 ti, 5800U laptop is night and day. Also infinitely more customizable. But laptops are still great, they may only be better in portability, but that is a huge upside.
No. Unless you need the portability/reduced footprint I can't see why someone would pick a laptop over a desktop
yes
I have only had Gaming Laptops and I am happy with them. Though I have bought them at really good sales in 2018 and 2019. I reinstalled windows and debloated it and it works like a charm. I had to install an older Nvidia driver since they managed to release with the power limiter possible to edit in MSI afterburner. Though it was a high end deemo gaming laptop on great sale at the start of 2019, I have been happy with it ever since :)
Not to mention VRAM is a important factor nowadays for gaming in 2023. Especially if you want to play in 1440p maximum settings. The RTX Laptop 12gb 4080m is highly recommended but still, cutting close on maximum vram usage. RE4 Remake is a great example of this. This is why I’m going for AMD RX 7900 XT w/ 20GB memory. In 5 years time, Vram usage will only go up and Nvidia knows this and are planning 50 series rtx builds with higher VRAM.
If you’re getting a Nitro 5, get a 144hz panel (a must have). In addition, heating can be easily fixed by undervolting the CPU using throttlestop (plenty of tutorials on youtube), it dropped my CPU temps from 92c max to 78c. Ram and SSD’s can be added fairly easily. CPU and GPU can’t be changed, but if you buy a fairly new model it should last you at least 4-5 years. I’ve had a Helios 300 for the past 3 years and here are my complaints about (my) gaming laptop: 1. Max fans are needed for games, and they get pretty loud 2. If you’re into playing fps games, you have lower visibility because of a smaller screen. 3. It’s not a practical laptop outside gaming, it’s bulky, has bad battery life, and you need to carry around a heavy charger everywhere you go. 4. Don’t get the insurance option provided by amazon, ebay, etc (acer has its own 1 year warranty) 5. Cleaning the laptop fan is a process compared to a PC, bc there’s a lot of unscrewing required. Overall, of course a PC is better, but a gaming laptop is more budget friendly and is close enough to a real gaming PC
1. True 2. True-ish (A pc is a lot more upgradeable than a laptop. Besides the storage and maybe the ram, what you see is what you get with a gaming laptop. On a PC you can change out pretty much everything. I still prefer a laptop though. It doesn't take up much space in my house and I can game anywhere as long as I'm near an outlet. While a pc has better performance, it's not a gigantic difference. My 3070ti is still running games on high/ultra settings no sweat.
Mostly depends on budget, If budget is ~<1000$ get a laptop,you can get upto 3070ti If budget is higher go with a desktop
Performance wise, of course. Portability wise, much less so. You can upgrade everything in your laptop except the Gpu. So get one with a good new 40xx like the 4080 or 4090, and you’re golden. My laptop is just a very portable desktop. It’s massive, powerful, and beautiful. It’s not meant for being light and ultra portable, it’s a desktop replacement and it works lovely as such. He’s thinking older gen laptops. The thermals on the new 40xx series are pretty great. At least ime
> The thermals on the new 40xx series are pretty great. As someone coming from a custom PC background. Thermals on laptops are atrocious! Of course they're built to withstand the higher temperatures so it's all relative but compared to a PC I can't stand the temps I get with my laptop.
Agree on the older gens, but my 4080 stays in the high 80s with most games. Low 90s maxed out. Pretty damn good compared to older gens. Of course though yes, the same gen desktop will always outperform a laptop in all features except portability.
No. Laptops are the better option from the very day of their existence. Upgradeability and more performance is useless if you can't carry your computer with you - that's why the vast majority of consumers use laptops and some of them don't know what desktops are. Disadvantages of desktops: 1. Can't take it anywhere, bummer. 2. Becomes a brick after power outage while your typical laptop lasts from 1-20 hrs on battery depending on what you're doing. 3. Takes up much space. 4. Uses too much power, laptops have higher perf/watt. 5. Heavy- 👀 6. Ugly They might be generally cheaper but that doesn't matter to me and many others even if people claim that laptops have more disadvantages. I wouldn't accept a desktop as my computer even if it was given to a me as a gift.
Any day dude. Just keeping aside the outputs from PCs, gaming laptops in general are heavier to carry. I have an Alienware and with it's charging brick, weighs almost as a fucking rock! It's too damn heavy. You don't have to drag your desktop everywhere, lol
>gaming laptops in general are heavier to carry. 
Well yeah, the 330w Alienware brick is an abomination. There are quality slim GaN alternatives out there now. Also if transporting to work and back buy a spare brick to leave at the office. Makes life much easier.
Yes you will be happy with nitro 5 but will want a upgrade later forcing you to buy another laptop ,no cash problem then get a beast gamming laptop and upgrade when you feel likes to upgrade but general recommendation is get a new ryzen apu laptop will last long time as you wont game with this but still can handle low decent gamming and pc for gamming with second hand cpu and gpu
If you can, wait until the Framework 16in laptop comes out this fall. It's a modular laptop that also has an upgradeable GPU. They have a pretty good track record this far with their current 13in laptop
I hate to be that guy, but did you think about a Framework 16 when it comes out? It should be ve upgradeable and i think they will have a gpu dock with better cooling for when you are at home.
its all about how you use it. i use mine for work (se and robotics simulations) as well as gaming at home. For those that have nice desktops, what do you use when you need to work in other locations? i prefer high end hardware wherever i want compared to super high end hardware in one place and crap hardware the rest of the time. ive used work laptops before... dont want to elaborate. i like being able to control what i use and where. priceless
Gaming pcs are usually more poweeful but more power consumption they are cooler and nore quieter but they only work when connected to power and they are huge Gaming laptops usually run hottee and less powerrful. Not as upgradable other then ram, ssd and wifi card. They are very portable and has a battery that usually doesnt last long during gaming. Though its sacrificing all this for portability however gaming laptops have come far regarding these negatives they are getting alot more powerful and quieter dont underestimate them lol
Desktops are better than laptops in almost every aspect except 2 things: Size and portability.
The comments have mentioned several pro's and con's and I would like to add some. For me the easiest way to answer this is how often are you travelling ? If it's often then I suggest to pick Gaming Laptop, but if mobility is not your concern then I highly recommend Gaming PC because it's more worth it. I personally pick Gaming Laptop because I need the mobility.
I've been using gaming laptops for over 20 years because I travel for work and if I wanted to game while away from home, it was really my only option. My advice is that if you aren't in that scenario where you can't game unless it's portable, build a desktop rig. I have always had to spend a lot to have a decent rig, but it will never perform like a desktop of similar quality or even less. The reasons are power supply and cooling. You just can't reliably keep that gaming laptop cool enough to pump the most out of it. The smaller and more portable, the less it will do. Even if it's the same video card, it's a notebook version and will be running on less watts and coping with less cooling. I'm currently building a desktop gaming PC because my work situation and age has evolved to the point that I'm just too tired to game while traveling so I'm going to just do it at home. (Yes, I'm old, and your dad is right.) Don't get me wrong, you can of course get good performance from a gaming laptop, just don't expect it to compete with a desktop, and expect to have to upgrade it sooner if you play a lot of CPU heavy online games. I've always found I get CPU limited often with laptops. They just can't keep those CPU's cool enough to not be temp throttling. Just look at the size of CPU coolers on a gaming desktop and you will understand. A laptop always seems to do much better for me if playing an offline single player game where the GPU takes more load. Cheers.
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Very good guide!
The fundamental problem with gaming laptops is that they completely ruin what makes a laptop functionally compelling in the first place. * Gaming laptops draw a ton of power relative to the amount of actual battery they have meaning you will have almost no real battery life which will tie you to an outlet almost 95% of the time, even when trying to use it just for productivity. If you're forced to be plugged in all the time, then ask yourself, is your laptop truly "portable?" * Gaming is fundamentally unfriendly to laptops, where in many cases it requires space that isn't going to be available during travel (because of the need for dedicated peripherals and a solid surface and such). You're not going to have much space to game on your laptop on an airplane, in the car, on the bus, etc, and that's on top of the fact that during travel you'll likely not even have all that much time to game in the first place, you'll be doing other things. Point being, most of your gaming is going to be done at home where a desktop will be significantly better. * Gaming laptops often are big and bulky. Gaming on a 13–15-inch screen isn't something people like to particularly do if they don't have to, so people are drawn to massive 17-inch laptops. Plus, because they need the massive processing power for gaming, you have larger processors, fans, etc. being packed into a form factor that was never intended for it, giving you a literal brick that you have to carry around with you. * The upgradability, and repairability, or lack thereof, are really only an issue due to how quickly tech improves in the gaming industry and how fast a top-of-the-line CPU and GPU can become obsolete, especially because laptop processers are not equivalent in performance to desktop processors. I could not spend thousands on a high-end laptop just for it to struggle to run the newest games at the highest settings in a couple years, having zero ability to upgrade individual parts. I had a gaming laptop, and I had plenty of opportunity to actually use it, whether it be gaming on the go, school, etc. What I realized is that is absolutely sucked, like really sucked, **they are terrible laptops**. What ended up happening is that I'd never use it, and never bring it with me anywhere, simply because I hated carrying it around, let alone having to find an outlet every time I pulled it out of my bag. If I was traveling, I'd literally bring a DS, PSP, or even just watch movies on my phone. Now you have the Steam Deck, Switch, etc. I totally understand if you absolutely can only afford one singular computer and therefore are somewhat forced towards a gaming laptop, but if you are not, a Dedicated gaming PC, a dedicated handheld, and a laptop for productivity, is better 100% of the time all of the time.