Gaming Desktop vs. Gaming Laptop: Which Is Better For You?

[cryoburner]

Inspired, I tried to re-create my Cheapo Crappy Lenovo L340 Gaming i5 using the same site, and the best I could come to was around $740.00, which is almost a $100 more than what I paid and with a crappier mix of component brands.

Keep in mind what I mentioned in my post, that the laptop parts are typically underclocked to the point where they perform more like less expensive desktop parts, to be able to fit within the power and heat constraints of a laptop. As per my example, the laptop 1660 Ti Max-Q compared in the article performs similar to a desktop 1650 SUPER, not a desktop 1660 Ti costing $100 more. And the same goes for the CPU side of things, where an $85 Ryzen 1600 AF should perform roughly as good or better than most laptop processors.

I literally tried as many combinations as possible to have an equivalent PC and when I started adding components I quickly reached the $700 mark: Heck: A good compact ITX case, a decent PSU and a Windows License already gets you halfway that mark.

ITX tends to often be a more expensive form factor, and assuming one isn't moving their desktop PC around constantly where portability might be the top-most concern, they might as well go for a slightly larger Micro-ATX build. A capable B450 MicroATX board for Ryzen can be had for under $75, but if one is willing to put up with a few limitations that are still better than what you would get on a laptop, even an A320 board for as little as $55 could be fine. A case for around $50 will likely be plenty good as well, and it is even possible to get some nice-looking tempered glass cases around that price range these days. And while a quality 80+ Gold PSU might be ideal, even something like the Bronze EVGA model listed in the article for around $60 would probably be at least as reliable as a laptop's power delivery system. And assuming one is picking up a Windows license from a certified reseller rather than looking for a less expensive way to get Windows, or transfer it from an existing system, that's still only a little over $100.

So a case, PSU and Windows can be had for around $220 or so. That part of the build shouldn't need to put you more than a third of the way to $700. Throw in a Ryzen 1600 AF with an A320 board and a 16GB (2x8GB) kit of DDR4-3200 RAM with a 500GB SSD, and that still only brings the total to around $500. If one already has a monitor or television they could use, that would leave up to $200 to work with for the graphics card in a $700 build, and that level of graphics performance would almost certainly be noticeably better than what one would get in a $700 laptop. With a 1650 SUPER, the total wouldn't need to be much over $650. Laptops in this price range will also typically have fewer processor cores and less RAM and/or SSD storage, so there might be some additional room for cutting costs while still providing similar or better performance.

I guess what the article says about peripherals could be a bit more true once you get down to this price range though. If one doesn't have an existing display and keyboard, those will add at least another $100 to the price. Once you start adding things like a Windows license and monitor, you start hitting the limits of how low a complete gaming desktop with dedicated graphics can cost around this price range. The desktop system would still be providing more gaming performance for the money though, even if the price wasn't any lower. Of course, while I don't know the exact specs of your laptop, it sounds like you may have got it at a fairly good sale price, which might not be a good comparison for typical pricing. The higher you go up the price stack for a gaming laptop, the further the value proposition will tend to swing toward desktop hardware.

A budget gaming laptop will have some advantages though. Even if it's not used outside the home, the portability means it could be hooked up to a television at times, and used elsewhere at other times. And of course, building a system to maximize value might not be for everyone.