Until a few years ago, gaming laptops had been met with mockery and derision. The logic for this was along the lines of “Why would you get a gaming laptop instead of buying a gaming PC that, for the same price, would have much more powerful specs?”
But things can greatly change in the tech world in a few years, and it’s safe to say that some game-changing things have happened to make gaming laptops more viable than ever (even if the best ones are still something of a luxury). This guide takes a look at whether a gaming laptop is worth it in 2023.
Also helpful: whether you’re buying a laptop or desktop, you should prioritize these considerations for buying a gaming PC before you add anything to your cart.
Price
Gaming laptops have really plummeted in price in recent years. While you’d previously have had to spend upward of $1200 to play the latest games at high settings, you can easily find ones for cheaper than that today.
For example, you can grab an Acer Predator Helios 300 for just over $1000. This would include an RTX 3060 6GB, 11th Gen Intel i7, 16GB RAM, and 512GB PCIe SSD. This 144 Hz display laptop will give you access to entry-level raytracing at Full HD resolution. (Don’t know what raytracing is? See our guide on the topic.) At the $1000 price point, this provides stiff competition to any desktop machine.
If you’re on a tighter budget, you can still find a laptop with a GTX 1650 4GB (the cheapest GPU that will still render most games playable), 16GB RAM, and a 144Hz IPS display for around $700. You can get decent gaming performance from such machines with low to medium in-game settings. Considering that it’s relatively challenging to build a similar gaming PC – with a display and peripherals included – at that price, the price of gaming laptops starts to look pretty good in comparison.
Beyond that, you can expect to pay upward of $1500 for the latest and greatest gaming laptops, but the entry-level has become more affordable in recent years.
Good to know: if you like playing in different rooms in your house, remember that devices like the Steam Deck deliver a solid gaming experience.
Performance
On paper, gaming laptops come pretty close to matching their desktop counterparts. For example, look at the laptop version of the NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU and the desktop edition, and you’ll see that their benchmarks aren’t too far apart.
However, that doesn’t tell the whole story, as laptops tend to have their components underclocked to ensure the laptops don’t overheat. Laptop OEMs have a lot of leeway with limiting clock speeds on GPUs, and they can sometimes be clocked 30 to 50 percent lower than their desktop counterparts.
Even with the latest generation of NVIDIA’s mobile GPUs, there’s much difference between the desktop and laptop versions of the same GPU. Consider the following comparison between the desktop and mobile variants of the RTX 4080.
The desktop RTX 4080 has a clear performance advantage over the laptop variant due to the higher clock speeds, TGP (Total Graphics Power), memory speed, and memory bandwidth of the desktop version of the card.
The lesson here is to always check the clock speeds of the GPU (and CPU) when getting a new laptop, as it could vary greatly, even if it’s technically the same model, and it will most certainly clock in quite a bit lower than its desktop equivalent.
Also, bear in mind that the more graphics power, the louder your GPU will likely be, as the thermal setup has to work much harder to push all that heat out. That remains a widespread issue.
Tip: to get the most out of your PC, try overclocking the graphics card.
Design & Customization
The design of your gaming rig and the freedom to customize it are essential considerations. Gaming desktops provide endless customization in terms of aesthetics and form factor of your machine. Yet, at least until recently, many gaming laptops were just irredeemably ugly. Even now, glowing red keys, bulky designs, and aggressive key fonts are the order of the day. But things are slowly changing on this front too.
For the most part, top-end gaming laptops will still contain powerful GPUs and a degree of ventilation that will give them a significant form factor. But there are exceptions. The latest Asus TUF DASH laptops squeeze RTX 3060 and 3070 graphics into incredibly small bodies. However, you’ll be sacrificing a bit of power.
Until the TUF DASH series came along, you’d have been hard-pressed to find solid, slim gaming laptops. The slimmest laptops tend to have integrated graphics, which are poor for gaming. For example, the MSI Prestige 13 EVO series is costly and not that powerful in terms of gaming. However, gaming laptops still can’t match the degree of design options seen in gaming PCs.
Also helpful: if you’re looking to buy a used laptop, be sure to check out this guide on what to look for.
Portability
If you often travel or enjoy the idea of taking your whole gaming collection to a friend’s house for a game night, the case to getting a gaming laptop becomes stronger. Dragging along your gaming desktop, however small it may be, is still a chore, as you need to take your monitor, keyboard, and mouse along, too.
If you have a decently-specced laptop, you’ll have no reason to miss a gaming PC while gaming on the go, whether you wish to squeeze in a few gaming sessions during work trips or want to show off your rig to a friend.
The all-in-one nature of gaming laptops combined with the multiple scenarios where they can be used gives them an advantage over gaming desktops.
Tip: if you’re traveling with your computer, consider investing in a power bank that can charge your laptop.
Upgradability
Just as portability is firmly in favor of gaming laptops, the ability to upgrade your gaming rig lies squarely in favor of gaming desktops. In the majority of cases, a gaming laptop is impossible to upgrade. Other than upgrading the memory and storage, you can’t swap components in a gaming laptop.
In contrast, there’s virtually no limit to upgrading components on a gaming desktop. You’re only limited by your motherboard and your power supply. But you can change them, too, if the value of the machine makes it worth it.
There have been efforts to make modular laptops mainstream by companies like Framework. But there’s still a long way to go before such devices catch the attention of the average buyer.
Gaming Laptops Verdict
There are many considerations when deciding between a gaming laptop or desktop. You must consider your budget, performance needs, and everything else mentioned above. Then, you have to determine which of these considerations you want to prioritize.
There’s no definitive answer, as all gaming PCs come with their benefits and issues. At the end of the day, it comes down to whether you prefer portability and price over performance and upgradability. In terms of performance and customization, desktops are still the clear winner. However, if you want to take your gaming computer anywhere and don’t mind the fact that you can’t upgrade the parts, then a laptop may make the most sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the lifespan of a gaming laptop?
A gaming laptop with a mid-range to high-end graphics card and a relatively newer processor can last you three to four years. The gaming performance of a laptop is largely determined by its graphics card. As long as you’re willing to dial down settings in the most demanding games as the laptop ages, you can run most games at playable framerates. Considering you can’t just upgrade your laptop graphics card, research well before spending your money on a gaming laptop and buy one that packs decent hardware to last you for some time.
Are gaming laptops good for everyday use?
Considering gaming laptops are equipped with relatively high-end hardware compared to regular laptops and ultrabooks, they are generally well-suited for everyday tasks, like browsing, media consumption, and even light photo and video editing. The only challenges you may face are the bulkier form factor and less-than-ideal battery life.
Is a gaming laptop better than a console?
In terms of sheer price-to-performance ratio, gaming laptops are far behind modern consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. At around $500, current consoles offer a great gaming performance with high resolution and high refresh rate gameplay. Compare that to gaming laptops, and you’ll likely have to spend upwards of $1600 to get the same gaming performance. Plus, consoles will last you longer, as game developers will continue to optimize games for the standardized hardware throughout the lifecycle of consoles. In contrast, gaming laptops will have to deal with the same performance drawbacks faced by gaming desktops.
Image credit: Unsplash
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