As technology advances more and more, the distance between laptops and desktops is getting closer and closer. However, because the two have different basic starting points for different user groups, each has its own advantages that cannot be replaced. If you are thinking about whether you should buy a gaming laptop or a desktop computer for your home, this time we will compare the two products with each other in five main directions. You only need to focus on the points that matter most to you. I believe you will have the answer soon.
Should I buy a gaming laptop or a gaming desktop for home use? Compare the five major directions
Maybe in your perception, giving up a desktop gaming computer and choosing a gaming laptop means accepting slightly lower performance, but how big is the gap between the two? The answer may not be as disparate as you think, or you can even ignore it.
Absolute performance
IfThe performance gap between the absolute highest-end laptop and the highest-end desktop you can build can be significant.. For example, while the MSI Titan GT77 with the mobile 3080 Ti inside it scored just under 30,000 points in 3DMark Fire Strike, a 3090 Ti desktop system (which you can build with a similar budget) would fall in the mid-50,000 range on the same test. Clearly, the best desktops beat the best laptops time and time again, at least in theory when it comes to performance.
Practical performance
While the above speaks of absolute performance, comparing the top of the line from two different products can be a bit misleading, as most PC gamers won’t buy them. Or you need such high performance to be able to play games at full settings with good effects. For mainstream gaming laptops such as the Razer Blade 15, it can easily catch up with mid-range gaming desktops. The 3070 Ti can provide very similar performance to the desktop RTX 3060 Ti in a small body. This changes the framework between gaming laptops and gaming desktops, as most PC gamers are actually using desktops that are no better than modern new gaming laptops.
Stacking various top star products (such as RTX 4090) does not represent the typical gaming experience of any type of device. If you buy a decent gaming laptop today, then you are not at the low end of gaming desktop performance, but between the mid-range and mid-to-high end. Even among gaming laptops, the more reasonably priced models offer affordable performance. For example, a gaming laptop with a 1080p screen and a mobile GTX 1660 Ti may be equal to or exceed the budget of an Xbox Series S console, but it will provide a satisfying next-gen gaming experience, so there is no reason to look down on gaming laptops.
generation characteristics
One of the biggest changes in the world of gaming laptops is the parity between the two types of gaming computers. In other words, the CPU in a gaming laptop is the same generation as the GPU in gaming desktops, the actual architecture is the same, but it runs at lower clock speeds and power levels. RTX 30 series GPUs in gaming laptops have the same ray tracing, AI amplification, and image rendering technologies as in gaming desktops, which means the difference is in raw performance rather than generational issues.
CP value
For a gaming laptop and a gaming desktop at the same price, you’ll get more performance on the latter, but you’ll get some extra benefits on the former. Specifically, you get a computer that is portable, thin, power-efficient, and delivers a great PC gaming experience. It’s all a matter of perspective, and depending on your personal needs and priorities, sometimes choosing a gaming laptop may be more valuable to you than a similarly priced gaming desktop.
Another topic surrounding the cost discussion around eSports laptops is the need for gaming components, such as high-speed CPUs and GPUs. Although the demand for these components has greatly increased the price, most serious gamers are relatively less interested in e-sports laptops, which keeps its price within a reasonable range. This creates a situation where you can buy an entire 3070 Ti gaming laptop with the same budget as purchasing a desktop RTX 3060 Ti GPU and CPU. Of course, the exact price will vary at any time, but the most important thing is to clearly understand what you are actually getting for the money you pay, and also remember that a gaming desktop is not necessarily better value for money than a gaming laptop.
Upgradeability
Barring rare exceptions and a few failed experiments, the only upgrades a typical gaming laptop can get are RAM and storage, and if you want a better CPU or GPU, you’ll almost certainly have to buy a new laptop. This may never change, as modular laptops are currently not practical and each brand has its own highly customized laptop cases and motherboards.
On a desktop computer, you can replace any components you need at any time. Therefore, if you just want to upgrade or replace a new CPU or GPU, it will be relatively easier. However, the actual practice is not that simple. After upgrading to a new GPU, you will also want to upgrade the CPU; the new CPU may require a new motherboard, and the new motherboard may also need to be replaced with new RAM. After you finish one round of replacement, you want to replace the old SSD again, or the power supply cannot keep up with the newly replaced components and you need to replace it. In most cases, upgrading a single component can have a cascading cascading effect that could lead to the purchase of a new gaming desk in installments.
Therefore, for some people, buying a new gaming laptop every three to five years may be no different than upgrading a gaming desktop after the same period of time.
The hardware gap between new laptops and desktops is narrowing
While gaming desktops continue to lead in terms of performance, and that won’t change anytime soon, each new generation of gaming laptops is narrowing the gap with gaming desktops due to their cooling and power budgets. NowThe already launched Nvidia RTX4090 series laptop GPUs may pose a threat to the desktop RTX 3090. Of course, the actual performance of real laptops may vary due to decisions about TDP, but the results are still impressive, and it also means that even entry-level next-generation gaming laptops will firmly leave gaming consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in the dust, and are expected to represent better value when playing cross-platform games.
Source: KOCPC Chinese