Should i get a laptop or desktop for gaming?

[abduizzle]

I have a choice between getting a desktop or laptop for gaming and i figure that laptops are way less powerful that desktops especially by price/performance wise. i am still a school student and usually go places for summer and winter breaks since desktops are not portable so i cant take it with me when i go places but it is powerful and laptops on the other hand are potable but have way less performance. The games i look forward to playing are battlefield 3 and skyrim for now.

 

[hubbardt]

If you want to be able to play Battlefield 3 and Skyrim then a laptop will struggle badly. I would go for a desktop and you can always pick up a 2nd hand laptop later for Internet and email when you are away from home

 

[nekulturny]

Laptops for gaming is a joke. You'd have to spend at least 3 grand on a laptop that would do something a $1000 desktop could do, and probably more than 3000.

You're better off getting a weaker laptop with something like an AMD Trinity (not quite ready yet I don't think) for portability, and build a powerful desktop for home.

If you really want, there are computer towers designed with portability in mind (LAN gamer cases), like this one
http://coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2912

 

[captainmoose]

With desktops you can get a lot better performance for less money. A good gaming laptop that will handle the games you want to play will cost you upwards of $1000 dollars. But if portability is really that important too you and you are willing to spend more, than a laptop will be ok. Gaming laptops give some pretty good performance, but if you are looking into laptops then I assume alienware would be your first stop. Try looking around at other brands, youll probably find a much better deal.

 

[JefferyD90]

Well there are actually several options for you.

HP actually has a notebook based on the new A10 APU from AMD, get it with 8GB of Ram and the dedicated Video Card and you will be in business...

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/B7M25AV?HP-Pavilion-g7z-2100-Notebook-PC

And look at Tom's review of Trinity...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-4600m-trinity-piledriver,3202.html

...it gives you playable performance on several games so with the added dedicated video card, your really looking at a nice inexpensive "gaming" notebook. Honestly I think you would be better off with a desktop for gaming, and a smaller AMD APU notebook for light gaming and computing on the go, but that is up to you! But I dont see why the Trinity notebook wouldnt meet your needs!

And if you wanted to save a little money the A8 Trinity would do fine, and keep in mind the Tom's review doesnt have the add in graphics card. So you really have a lot of options available to you

 

[DECL4N]

accidentally clicked laptop *facepalm* Desktop is so much better and just buy a portable case if you want to play away from home. Desktops are miles cheaper and get way better performance to price ratio than a laptop desktop FTW

 

[Goden]

If you get a game-grade laptop that can run the games you specified then you will be very disappointed in the price-to-performance.

You have to shell out a monumental amount of money to get a laptop that can run as good as a mid-ranged-ish desktop PC.

This isn't including the fact that gaming laptops suck copious amounts of power so gaming on battery is out of the question, they produce immense amounts of heat and thus have a higher failure rate, and most of the hardware isn't interchangeable.

 

[mesab66]

This is an easy one, abduizzle - the difference in performance (cpu/gfx/cooling/noise/etc/etc/etc) between a same-priced laptop and desktop is staggering!.......I'd even go so far as to say......uncanny! (certainly for us in-the-know an for others monitoring framerates and fan noise)... as you'll appreciate, you pay a fortune (in comparison) to get even close to a mid performance desktop.....clevo/sager 680m sli anyone?

Ok, I'll admit, you don't need a 680m sli laptop for 'acceptable' gaming using modern titles, but the point we're trying to get accross is if you are in a position to accept both choices (i.e. you don't 'need' to get a laptop) then it is much, much better to chose a desktop....for all the reasons mentioned.

Unfortunately desktop portability can be a problem though, it can be done if you've space in the car. You might even consider a smaller format desktop enclosure.

 

[nekulturny]

I did an Alienware build with an SLi 680m, I came up with a price tag of 4300 bucks. LOL!

 

[dudewitbow]

if you play 1920x1080 resoution, you will need to shell about ~1500$ minimum for a 7970m(approximately as good as a gtx 570) to play the games labeled with decent fps. on a desktop, it should be easily reachable under 1k for all the parts even the OS. possibly

 

[JefferyD90]

Still going to stick by my recommendation. I think a Trinity based notebook with at least a 17" screen would do most games at native resolution, with at least a "Good" preset. And especially if you decided to add the dedicated video card to crossfire with the APU, your talking about major performance.

I have a Icona Tab 500 and I use it when Im not at my desktop to play World of Warcraft a little, I get about 20fps on "Fair" at 1280 x 800... and your not only going past the E series, your going all the way to the 2nd gen A series "Trinity".

 

[Pyree]

Desktop. However, if portability is a concern, then get a laptop. As of now, the laptop with the best price to performance ratio is Lenovo Y580.

Also, the decision depends on your budget. So how much are you willing to spend?

 

[abduizzle]

Thanks for all the great feedback, i guess ill be going with a desktops because of all the advantages it has against a laptop.