Gaming Laptop vs Gaming Desktop Rig: Which Set-up is Right For You?

Let's say you're a fairly new gamer and you've just managed to save up around PHP 90,000 to upgrade to a more powerful gaming set-up from your initial rig? Should you simply buy a gaming laptop or use the money to build a gaming PC?

The Gaming Laptop versus Gaming Desktop debate has been around probably ever since both set-ups became available to gaming enthusiasts.

Through the years, a lot of online forums, blog posts, and Youtube videos have been dedicated to this topic – so much so that it feels like everything has already been written and said about it. However, here in TechPinas, we believe in always contributing our voice to any relevant tech conversation. After all, a new gamer who needs information on this issue joins the community every day.

If you currently find yourself caught in the said tech dilemma, here are five factors you should consider before making a final decision on which set-up you must invest your hard-earned money on.

Portability

Obviously, because of its very compact form factor, a Gaming Laptop will always win against a Gaming Desktop when it comes to portability.

Whereas a Desktop Rig needs to be mounted on a table and be given a dedicated space in a room, a Gaming Notebook can be conveniently folded and placed in a bag for travel or remote use.

This prized quality of the Gaming Laptop makes it the primary option for gamers who don't want to be stuck in one room as they do what they're passionate about. If you're a gamer who often meets up with other gamer friends and you travel together to join gaming conventions or tournaments, a Gaming Notebook should be ideal for you.

Budget-Friendliness and Cost Efficiency

Considering the budget that I gave at the very beginning of this article, which is PHP 90,000, I can think of one new Gaming Laptop here in the Philippines that fits the bill – and that’s Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-55NE.

Currently donning an official suggested retail price of PHP 87,999.00 at PREDATOR Gaming Store in SM North EDSA, this powerhouse notebook comes with the following fairly impressive technical specifications:

Intel Core i5-11400H processor (12 MB Smart Cache, 2.7 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz, DDR4)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX TM 3060 6GB GDDR6

16GB DDR4 Memory

512GB PCIe NVMe SED SSD

15.6 inches QHD 2560 x 1440 Display

59 Wh 4-cell Li-ion battery

Now, you may be wondering, how much would it cost to build a Gaming Desktop that has comparable technical specifications to what Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-55N has? Would this set-up cost around PHP 90,000 too?

To answer that, let’s try building a Gaming Desktop rig with following components, parts, and peripherals:

CPU:

Intel Core i5- 11400 (2.60GHZ) Rocketlake/11th Gen /12MB /6Cores /12Threads /730 HD GFX /14NM LGA 1200 Processor 

Price - PHP 11,880.00 at PC Express SM North EDSA

Motherboard:

GIGABYTE B560M-DS3H-AC S1200(11TH/10TH GEN)/ 4DDR4/ PCIE4.0/ 3.0/ 2XM.2/ WIFI/ BT/ RGB/ USB3.2/2.0/TYPEC/HDMI/DP/REALTEK7.1/GLAN MATX

Price - PHP 7,020.00 at PC Express SM North EDSA

RAM:

(2) Kingston 8GB DDR4 3200MHZ Fury Beast Black (KF 432C16BB/B) Memory 

Price - PHP 4,760.00 at PC Express SM North EDSA

Storage:

GIGABYTE GP- AG4500G 500GB Gen4 M.2 2280 NVME PCIE SSD

Price - PHP 5,680.00 at Gigabyte SM North EDSA

GPU:

GIGABYTE GTX1660TI OC 6GB DDR6 192BIT (GV-N166TOC – 6GD) (HDMI /3XDP) Video Card

Price – PHP 19,490.00 at PC Express SM North EDSA

Power Supply:

Thermaltake Smart RGB 600W 80+ Non-Modular Power Supply 

Price – PHP 3,130.00 at PC Express SM North EDSA

Case:

Silverstone Fara R1 Black Tempered Glass ME SH Front Mid Tower ATX Chassis

Price – PHP 8,199.00 at PC Express SM North EDSA

Monitor:

LG 24" LED Monitor 24MP400-B Black

Price – PHP 2,970.00 at SVGA SM North EDSA

Keyboard/Mouse:

Logitech MK120 USB Keyboard and Mouse Combo

Price – PHP 895.00 at PC Quarters SM North EDSA

The total price of this Gaming Desktop Rig is only PHP 64,024.00, which is a whopping PHP 23,975.00 less than the SRP of Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-55N.

Clearly, with comparable technical specifications, a Gaming Desktop Rig is almost always the more budget-friendly and cost-efficient option when compared to a Gaming Laptop.

This can only change if the Gaming Laptop would be offered with a massive discount that puts its price very close to that of the Gaming Desktop and in that case, you – the buyer – would have to look at the other factors to weigh if the additional spending to go with the notebook would be worth it.

Power

If you're going to spend the exact same amount of money on a Gaming Laptop or a Gaming Desktop, you will find that the latter will almost always give you more powerful technical specifications and greater performance across the board. This is directly related to the cost-efficiency factor that we talked about above.

Hence, if getting the most bang for your buck in terms of power is your top priority, the Gaming Desktop option is the one I recommend for you.

Upgradability

Both Gaming Laptop and Gaming Desktop are upgradeable.

However, the upgrades that you can do on a laptop are often limited to adding more RAM and to swapping the SSD storage with one that has larger capacity and faster read-and-write speeds to help beef up the device's performance.

In stark contrast, a Gaming Desktop allows you to upgrade far more components on the motherboard that can exponentially enhance the rig's capabilities. You can add more RAM sticks, swap the SATA SSD storage to NVMe, change the graphics chip, and in many cases, even upgrade the CPU itself for the best gameplay experience.

On top of that, using the latest gaming peripherals like a Curved Monitor as well as a gaming keyboard and mouse just looks so much better on a dedicated Gaming Desktop. One can argue that these accessories can be added to a Gaming Laptop as well but I believe many would agree that a Notebook is supposed to be an all-in-one device.

Game Compatibility

Since Gaming Laptops have become largely as powerful as Gaming Desktops in terms of technical specifications, the two set-ups can pretty much play the exact same line-up of gamers with comparable performance.

Nevertheless, because a laptop’s compact and thin form factor can make it more prone to becoming hotter with prolonged use, especially when constantly being charged via an electrical outlet, there are still games that I think are more suited to being played on a Gaming Desktop, which doesn’t have this limitation.

To be specific, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games or MMORPG titles like Genshin Impact, Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds, and Final Fantasy XV that require many, many hours of exploring worlds to enjoy the content may just be better played on a Gaming Desktop that’s less prone to overheating.

So Which Gaming Set-up Is Right For You?

Frankly, at the end of the day, only you as a gamer can decide if a Gaming Laptop or a Gaming Desktop is ideal for you based on your requirements.

If you want a gaming device you can easily travel with to join gaming events and tournaments out of town and abroad with your peers and buddies, a Gaming Laptop makes a lot of sense.

If you want the get the greatest power and performance from your gaming set-up while not breaking the bank or while being mindful of your budget, a Gaming Desktop could be the best option.

If you love the idea of regularly upgrading your rig with the hottest peripherals and the latest parts or components, a Gaming Desktop could be a great companion.

Finally, if you play titles that require extended gameplay to explore their virtual worlds, a Gaming Desktop could be the right rig for enjoying them.

Shop at SM Malls Online!

Kindly note that all devices, components, and peripherals that I mentioned in this article are now officially available at the Cyberzone section of the all-new SM Malls Online mobile app, which you can now download for free on your Android and iOS devices.

There are many advantages to buying gadgets, electronics, and other tech-related products at SM Cyberzone. One is that Cyberzone makes you feel TechAssured since they only carry and sell authentic gadgets and they also offer a seamless shopping experience from convenient online check-out to giving you an option to have your purchases delivered or picked-up. Aside from that, Cyberzone also gives you the Lowest Prices Guaranteed! For instance, gaming laptops in SM Cyberzone have the lowest prices when you compare them to what other e-commerce competitors offer. In fact, you can even score gaming laptops at SM Malls Online’s Cyberzone section at up to 25% OFF!

New SM Malls Online users can get extra P200 OFF by using the code SMGOESONLINE upon checkout with no minimum purchase requirement and valid for single use only.

So there you have it! I hope you found this article useful and that we were able to contribute something good to this long, drawn out tech conversation. Let me know your thoughts about. If you have questions, feel free to comment or to send me a message on social media. Cheers!