Laptop VS PC: What’s the best for gaming?

Just a few years ago, any laptop VS PC debate between gamers would have ended before it began - with the PC taking the crown. But now some of the best laptops come with seriously cutting-edge graphics cards, Ryzen CPUs, and expandable RAM. The line between the technical capabilities of PCs and their portable counterparts has become thinner than ever.

But still, to ensure an optimal gaming experience there are a few things to consider before choosing the winner of your own laptop VS PC contest. Graphical and CPU power, storage, and expansion options are the key battlegrounds here. Yes, if you're looking for affordable gaming portability you'll probably be firmly in the laptops under £1000 category. If that's you, expect to sacrifice a few things here and there. But, as long as those concessions don't impact your core gaming specs, you're golden.

The best gaming laptop VS PC at a glance

• Best overall gaming laptop: ASUS ROG Strix G16 G614JZ Gaming Laptop - View on Amazon
• Best overall gaming PC: HP Omen 45L Gaming Desktop PC GT22-1004na - View on Amazon
• Best budget gaming laptop: ASUS TUF Gaming F15 - View on Amazon
• Best budget gaming PC:  Fierce Ryzen Gaming PC 24" Monitor Bundle - View on Amazon

But if you prefer a large tower of power to game on, the best PCs offer amazing expandability and accessible upgrade paths. Not to mention huge power supplies to support those hungry GPUs. For us, it isn't just the machine's power that makes it great for gaming; you should also consider how the machine looks, plus the all-important screen size, resolution, and refresh rate. Also, don't forget that this probably won't just be for gaming. You should keep one eye on the quality of keyboards or trackpads as well as the overall build. So, with a lot to look out for, how do we go about choosing?

Well, here at What's The Best, we're always looking for the best bang for our buck. We're after the best gaming experience for the best price - but you have to be led by your own preferences; What we think may be a fantastic deal on an amazing gaming PC might not be as appealing to you; that depends on how portable your rig needs to be. Our experts have put together a comprehensive guide to help you choose your champion in the epic battle of gaming laptop VS PC. But first, here's our pick of the best from both camps.

Best gaming laptop VS PC

Laptop VS PC: Which has the best performance?

The line between laptops and PCs is steadily becoming thinner, laptops are becoming far more capable of running cutting-edge GPUs. Yet, generally speaking, a gaming PC is always going to win out in terms of power; with bigger components, better thermal cooling, and higher wattages. Those all make for smoother general operation as well as gaming.

So, in general, you're going to get the best gaming performance from a PC. This, however, does not mean laptops can't run the latest AAA games at 60 FPS or higher. To compete with a beefed-up gaming rig, you'll need to spend serious cash on a laptop. Unlike a PC, this is less likely to have options for expansion, so you should consider longevity when deciding.

For performance, our selection includes some pre-built PCs and laptops that are both easily capable of running most modern games with little-to-no trouble whatsoever.

Thermal cooling: What's more effective?

Generally speaking, PCs are much better at keeping cool than laptops. They're much bigger, which means there's a greater surface area exposed to equally larger fans.

Laptops find themselves on all manner of surfaces, not all of which are perfectly flat. So, their smaller vents can be easily blocked or restricted. Then they can't cool the hardware efficiently enough to keep your CPU safe and cool.

Storage: What's easiest to upgrade?

PCs are far easier to upgrade than laptops simply because they're made to be upgraded. If you have a PC already, you'll notice an array of empty slots on the motherboard. These are essentially options to improve your PC's performance in the future, which is a major plus.

Laptops, much like smartphones, are normally manufactured so that the user doesn't tamper with the internals. This isn't always the case though. Choosing the right laptop could also mean great options for RAM and storage upgrades.

Budget: What's more affordable?

Any gaming laptop or PC setup able to run the latest generation of games is bound to be somewhat costly, along with the peripherals you'll need. However, that doesn't mean you can't find some great budget options like the ones we recommended above.

Your most important factor is of course your GPU, it's the key to getting great frame rates on those particularly demanding open-world games that make your old PC sound like a jet engine. Recently, the GPU market has seen huge price increases. While we're seeing some price dips since 2021, the very best graphics cards remain expensive. More often than not, graphics cards will deliver more performance inside a PC than their physically smaller laptop equivalents can, with more power and cooling available too.

That said, laptop graphics cards still pack a mighty punch for gaming on the go. Leading manufacturers like Nvidia optimise and shrink down their leading card tech to fit into laptops with minimal concessions. That means you can pick up a really powerful machine for a significant price difference.

Laptops also have the additional benefit of being the complete package; a screen, a mouse and a keyboard, all ready to go. That said, unless you do want to splurge on peripherals, you are then stuck with the screen, keyboard and basic touchpad-style pointing devices just the way they are.

{#h-}

Verdict: Laptop VS PC for gaming

In our book, there's no absolute winner.

If you prefer portability in exchange for some slightly weaker performance, a gaming laptop is your absolute weapon of choice. If you're looking for the very best performance you can get, however, a gaming PC isn't going to be beaten. It'll just cost you quite a bit more to get up and running.

Laptop VS PC: FAQs

How do I know if my laptop will run a certain game?

If you're looking to run a game, it's best to look at the minimum system requirements of the game itself; it'll show you the minimum RAM, CPU, and GPU in most situations, as well as the OS you need. Steam, Epic Launcher, and the Microsoft Store will have all this information on the game's details page.

How do I find out what hardware I have?

If you're on a Windows PC, simply navigate to Windows Explorer, right-click on your device name, and select 'properties', and you should see all the information you'll ever need.

If you're using an Apple Mac, navigate to the Apple Menu and select 'About this Mac'.

Are PC prices going down?

Since the beginning of the year, the price of microchips has dropped due to the end of the manufacturing shortage caused by the pandemic. Now that manufacturers have ramped up production, scalpers can no longer buy up large stocks of hardware to sell for profit. So, thankfully, PCs and graphics cards have become much more affordable this year.

Laptop VS PC: Jargon explained

RAM - Random Access Memory, or RAM, is a short-term storage used by the computer for temporary files which are especially useful for web surfing and heavy-duty programs such as games or video editing.

CPU - The CPU (or, Central Processing Unit) is really the 'brain' of the computer. Its controls the flow of data to and from the correct hardware and executes instructions between them.

GPU - The Graphics Processing Unit is central to any part of your PC that handles graphics. It renders the images to your screen, which is especially important with gaming and editing.

SSD - The Solid State Drive is essentially the same storage technology you'd find on a USB stick. They store data electronically rather than magnetically, as with a more traditional spinning hard disk drive (HDD).

HDD - The Hard Disk Drive uses a physical disk which is written onto magnetically to store and retrieve data. With a lot of moving parts, this makes HDD much slower than SSD.

USB - Universal Serial bus or USB is a technology used to connect peripheral devices to your PC, but not all USB ports are equal. There are many types of USB ports - Type-A, Type-C, and some PCs mention the USB port's generation, but why does it matter? Well, a USB port with a later generation usually has a much faster data transfer speed. USB type C can often be power delivery cables too, which means you can connect and power much larger devices like monitors.

Ryan is a tech writer and reviewer for What's The Best, specialising in PCs and gaming. He is a keen PC gamer and an avid reader.

Subscribe to the What’s The Best Newsletter to keep up to date with more of the latest reviews and recommendations from the rest of the What’s The Best team.