[SOLVED] Why are Laptops with same specs not as fast as Desktop PCs?

tzuzu100

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Feb 2, 2019
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Why are Laptops with same specs not as fast as Desktop PCs?
There are laptops and Desktop PCs that have same CPU and same RAM and
still Desktop Pcs are better and faster? How come?
 
Solution
Thermal limitations, generally.

There's limited cooling potential within a laptop, so a CPU or GPU is never going to be able to sustain the same clocks as it's equally spec'd desktop counterpart.

In addition, you have battery considerations.

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Thermal limitations, generally.

There's limited cooling potential within a laptop, so a CPU or GPU is never going to be able to sustain the same clocks as it's equally spec'd desktop counterpart.

In addition, you have battery considerations.
 
Solution
What specs?
Laptop processors are different from desktop processors.
They may sound the same, but desktop processors can take advantage of the better cooling available for better performance.
Laptop coolers will not be as effective because of weight and size constraints.
Ram and ssd performance can be comparable.

Mobile versions of graphics chips are similar, but different.
A laptop is designed to run on a battery to be portable.
That requires lowering performance to extend run time.
When plugged in, a laptop will run faster.

If you need portability, buy a laptop.
Otherwise, buy a desktop.
 
This is the biggest reason. The processors are not even close to the same nor are the gpus. Memory and storage are the same, but that's about it. So they're not the same performance because they literally are not the same.
You can get laptops that have desktop CPUs and GPUs. They're just huge because of the thermals, hot, don't boost very well and drain the battery very quickly. They're also more of a novelty.

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/cty/pdp/spd/alienware-17-area51m-laptop
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
You can frequently find GPUs that are close to the ones used in desktops. There are a lot of GTX 10 series GPUs that can be found essentially unchanged in laptops with the exception of slightly lowered clocks, a far cry from the gimped mobile versions of GPUs found 10 or even 5 years ago. And I'm not even talking about Max-Q versions, either.

Comes down to heat and power. My high-end Alienware is hot, noisy, heavy enough to knock down doors when used as a battering RAM, and has abysmal battery life when the GPU is used. But it comes with me when I travel (along with one of my lighter laptops) because if I'm running a Monte Carlo simulation or want to play a game, it's the one to use.
 
Comes down to heat and power. My high-end Alienware is hot, noisy, heavy enough to knock down doors when used as a battering RAM, and has abysmal battery life when the GPU is used. But it comes with me when I travel (along with one of my lighter laptops) because if I'm running a Monte Carlo simulation or want to play a game, it's the one to use.
Yep, sometimes all that power is well worth it. :)
 

bikemanI7

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Jan 9, 2020
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Laptops also are harder to open the case to do dust clean outs than Desktops, cleaning dust kinda critical i feel with Gaming Laptops to have best performance in my eyes.

((Though my HP Omen Gaming Laptop is a pain to open it, and clean it, One darn screw didn't even wanna come out--guess will try again with a real PC toolkit soon)) But did run my dusting machine by the outside vents of it. Temps do seem better with it so far

I also have a Gaming Desktop, and my AAA games i tend to run on there, and lighter games on Laptop from time to time

((If the screw is scripped, then i guess i'll have professional upgrade the ram in the future, and m.2 ssd, the screwdriver i was using worked fine for all the other screws, not sure why didn't work for that one))
 
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