Some gamers love the massive screen and a whole lot of customization to their gaming rig, while others prefer portability. There are a wide variety of desktops and laptops to choose from specifically targeting gamers. Technology advancement has enabled both – laptop and desktop, to offer excellent gaming experiences. The question, however, is how to decide between a gaming desktop or laptop.
Here, the answer depends on two factors – Portability and Customization.
Portability comparison
While choosing a machine, you should ask this question to yourself. Do you have to take your machine to different places, or you don’t feel the need for it and just want to have a heavy gaming rig with more ports and customization options?
When you chose portability, then gaming laptop is right for you. Modern-day machines have the ability to do most of what you can do with a desktop. It offers flexibility which is highly beneficial if you are often away from home. You can use laptops in places you wouldn’t or shouldn’t normally bring your PC, like your favourite coffee shop or on a flight.
Powered by a battery, gaming laptops often have high-end hardware that allows for competitive and AAA gaming wherever you are. To increase your experience, you can include additional equipment like docking stations, keyboards, mice, and external gaming displays.
On the other hand, desktops are large in size and not portable. Even if you have the smallest PC, you will have an external display, keyboard, mouse, and will need a power outlet and UPS. Although a few won’t mind taking their full tower gaming rig for special occasions like LAN parties, most people limit their desktop experience to one place.
Desktops support an extensive range of external devices. You can add some to the external USB and other ports, and you also get the option to add devices through expansion slots like PCIe on the motherboard, like a more powerful discrete graphics card. You can also extend your viewing experience by adding multiple monitors. You get the option to include non-standard peripherals, additional USB connectivity options, and a more dynamic and flexible work or gaming station.
Customization and Upgradeability
Why do gamers prefer a gaming desktop? Because desktops are highly customisable and upgradeable. You can’t build a laptop on your own though while purchasing you can choose the configuration as per your preference, but with some limitations.
On the other hand, you can choose every component of your desktop. You can choose your GPU and CPU combo. You can have faster and higher RAM. You can add multiple RAID configured storage drives – SSD and HDD. Similarly, you can choose your screen keyboard, mouse and other peripherals.
Moreover, if there is any new component you want to add or upgrade any old one, then desktop gives you that flexibility as well. A prebuilt PC comes with some limitations, but you can still upgrade your RAM, GPU and CPU, as long as it uses the same chipset.
Laptops are also upgradeable, but it’s mostly limited to RAM and Storage. For instance you can look at HP Omen and Pavilion Gaming laptops. These are highly upgradable.
Conclusion
While choosing a gaming laptop or desktop, there is no straight answer. It depends on your needs and your preferences. For portability, go for a laptop and for customisation, should choose a gaming desktop.
Probably, performance should not be a huge decision factor here as modern laptops can be incredibly efficient and powerful. Though desktops can still have a performance edge, the gap has been reducing over time.
