Now that PC gaming is gaining new heights, it is conceivable that you would have a huge dilemma of whether to go for a gaming laptop or a gaming desktop. Many people go for a laptop just because they have the problem of travelling a lot. This is also one of the most debated topics in the PC gaming community and people constantly question their own decisions when shifting towards one side. Today we have a look at the reasons of why you shouldn’t buy a gaming laptop.
Performance Letdown
Gaming laptops perform at almost half their desktop counterparts and also cost almost twice as much. For example, a desktop having a GTX 950 runs Crysis 3 on 1080p Very High preset at an average of 53 fps and a laptop with a GTX 950M runs Crysis 3 at the same settings for an average of 27 fps. Also a laptop with a GTX 970M will cost a minimum of 1.2 lakhs whereas a desktop of almost the same configuration will cost you a bit more than half of that.
Commitment Issues
A gaming laptop or for that matter, ANY laptop cannot be upgraded. Period. Many people have the wrong idea that they can simply change the GPU of a laptop and convert their potato of a laptop to a gaming one! What they don’t keep in mind is that a laptop’s configuration is pre-planned considering many factors, some of which are-
- Power Consumption– If your laptop has an integrated GPU, then it is most likely that the charger adapter and the in-built SMPS is designed for lower power input and output. So if you try to insert a GPU you won’t be able to run the GPU due to a higher power requirement.
- Motherboard Config– Most of the desktop PC’s these days have the basic requirements to run most of the GPUs these days. A laptop is made with the consideration that it will have a specific configuration and hence is made according to that and not what you’re going to put in it.
The most you can possibly do is increase the RAM which does not significantly increase gaming performance. You are stuck with the same hardware till you buy the next laptop and if you are someone who likes to always be on top of settings and FPS, a laptop is not the way to go.
Is it REALLY PORTABLE?
Those screaming, “I want portability” will probably like to read this bit. How many times, in a car, train, plane or bus have you fired up a game and played an FPS online or any FPS at all, because seriously, after having played on a table for so long, it’s very uncomfortable to play in a limited space or by placing the mouse on the seat! All you’d play is some fighting game or some sports/racing game because in most of those cases you’ll require only the keyboard or a controller. The younger generation however will be in a state of “I go to my friend’s house to play. Do you expect me to carry a hefty rig all the way to my friend’s house?”. The answer is simple, if you are going to buy a gaming laptop of about 1.2 lakhs,it’s preferable to go for a 70K desktop and a 50K laptop, because most of the games that you’ll be playing on LAN with your friends won’t require high specifications and will run smoothly on most modern laptops.
Life Expectancy
All the parts of a laptop, crammed together in a small space is what causes heating in most cases. And that heat directly results in degradation of hardware. How much ever a company tries to make a well ventilated laptop, it also has to make sure that it is compact. See the irony there? A gaming laptop cannot be used for prolonged periods of gaming due to the amount of heat generated. At max, with all the precautionary steps taken, a laptop will perform it’s best for 2 years, after which it starts degrading in performance. A desktop however, with marginal care sings to your whims for ages!
Conclusion
I think that unless you travel on a day to day basis or a weekly basis, it would be a waste of resources to buy a gaming laptop, instead buy a mid spec laptop, keep your expectations at bay and maintain it properly, you’d see wonders(Your wallet will always be pregnant lol).
I hope I was able to spread some light on this topic and hope that helped in making your decision a little easier when in the market. Hope that you have great gaming days ahead. Adios.
Note: This does not mean we will not make a post on Best Gaming Laptops…. Oopss… Sorry for the spoiler.
Regarding “portability”, I have to say the following:
I currently own an ASUS ROG and have to say that I’m fairly happy with it. The choice was purely based on the fact that I needed something portable, because having to quickly move between 3 houses and having to use GPU and CPU heavy software, it’s the best possible solution.
However, for someone who stays on the same house for long periods of time, I have to agree with you. Nonetheless, it’s not applicable to all cases.
About the life expectancy, I currently have owned mine for about two years, and it’s been used for some long periods of Dark Souls and Witcher playing, and no problems whatsoever.
Regards,
Van
ASUS ROGs are a good set of laptops, and you needed something portable probably because you were on the move a lot. That is completely understandable. But it all comes down to whether you truly require it. If you are spending your entire time outside home or just have to travel from place to place every couple of weeks, I myself say that you should go with a laptop.
These days Gaming Laptops are becoming a common occurrence (Yeah I know all the ‘Technology is getting compact’ thing) and it troubles me to see that people are expecting desktop like performance in laptops. My aim with this article was to show the people what you are actually getting from a laptop.
I guess you must have maintained your laptop with care, and ASUS does produce quality laptops, but I’ve seen many people complaining about performance issues, lags, crashes etc after that much amount of time. And it depends on how you’re using the laptop. I was referring to 5-8 hours of heavy gaming daily. I don’t know how long you play and how much you play.
Really good post 🙂 loved it completely. I was thinking to purchase some of these high gaming laptops.
Thank you. Hope I made your decision a bit easier now.
Not “easier” but “crystal clear!” 🙂
Hii Pratyush! I am a gaming geek love to play games on PC like 3D war games, 13 Card Game. In my experience, I would also suggest that one should go for PC rather than Laptops. Gaming desktops are having more life than laptops. I like the way you have compared technical aspects of both platforms.
That is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for this wonderful article.