Why do you choose laptop over desktop gaming?

I don't know what half of you people are talking about, you talk as if Laptops have superior GPU's or something. Let me remind you that hardly any notebooks have a 5870, let alone a 480 GTX, and those 5870's are on par with a 5770 desktop version. Cooling on Laptops is hitting a wall as in limitations, as 15 inch systems can barely take on a 5850 as it currently stands, and the new laptops coming out later this year have 460's in them. So instead of talking about how desktops are going to slowly get extinct, I'd be more interested in hearing the explanations on how or why a mid-range desktop GPU, or high-range Laptop Gpu, is good enough for you and for everyone else. And actually as cell phone and smart phones continue to advance, the need and usage for laptops are more and more on the decline as well, as I use my android device ALOT, thus limiting my laptop usage especially while on the go.

 

when you can get a smart phone running crysis then we talk.

On a serious note, People want notebooks with xfire or sli powerful graphics cards. People are travelling more and more these days and desktops aren't that great to take to work with never mind travel around the world. A laptop fulfills that requirement. Not many laptops do have the specs to play games at near gamer enthusiast settings but it's becoming more popular. We are not saying desktops are going to become obsolete pack their bags and vanish off the face of the earth, but this is a notebook forum, people that go on this forum usually have an interest in notebooks. There is a huge market for desktops as do notebooks. Gaming notebooks are becoming more popular as the technology for them keeps on improving.

 

Yea okay, so what laptop do you have that makes playing Crysis so amazing? Cause read my sig, Crysis sucks on those systems it's superior on the desktop.

 

Originally I chose a laptop for gaming because I thought I would be moving around a lot. Turns out that wasn't the case and game performance was seriously hampered. Thus, my second gaming system was a desktop and now I'm on my third gaming desktop. No way would I ever go back to a gaming laptop. Not cost effective.

 

Was sarcasm, Superior on the desktop will always be the case, The desktop isn't as limited, but laptops will get become powerful enough to play games at maxed settings with full AA over time, the next refresh of M17x will most likely bump up benchmarks another few thousand points and be more powerful, especially with new ATI Mobility GFX cards and Intel Sandy Bridge processors on the horizon.

 

Watch, you'll find that the users who ONLY have laptops will support laptops, and the users who only have desktops, support desktops, and then Users who have both, will prefer their desktops, and if they don't then get a bigger monitor around a 25+ inch one, and then they'll support their desktops. It's as simple as that.

 

By the way, I used to have a desktop...was big, ugly and essentially I'm not a power gamer so I did not need the power...

As for smartphones...they are about 10 years behind current desktops, no kidding, just look at desktops anno 2000, they had about the power of a current top notch smartphone. So in about 7-8 years, you might play Crysis on your phone

 

OK, When I'm home I connect my 26" T260 to my Laptop, and there: Big screen.

They both have advantages and disadvantages, depends again on personal preference. I have both and I like both.

At a cost perspective you can always build a much better desktop compared to any laptop at the same price (or even up to double the price more).

Wanted a Gaming laptop so that I could be mobile, no need to drag the big screen, case, keyboard (always drag a mouse with ) with me for a LAN, Quick multiplayer game ext.

And on a side note the mobility HD 5870 in crossfire perform closer to a desktop 5850.

 

not as simple, but 95% of the time mainly true.

 

I use my 37inch HDTV as monitor when I'm home, and yeah I can actually play crysis at 1080 res on high settings with playable (30) average fps. Current mobile GPUs are powerful enough for decent gaming on the go, allowing even high settings on newer games.

Gaming on a laptop is not about the best possible performance, but the best mobility. I move a lot, I am almost never at home, so It's nice being able to play all my games fluidly without the hassle of building a midrange-high end desktop that would only be used, at most, 1 hour a day.

Most desktop GPU sales come from midrange to low end GPUs. The smaller market share belongs to the high end GPUs, so it is no wonder that companies try to aim for mid range specs for their games lately, specially with console ports, as those will be the higher userbase. And since high end mobile GPUs are basically mid range desktop GPUs, we fend ourselves gamingwise.

Lastly, my current laptop consumes a mere fraction of power on average than my gaming desktop. Sure it's nice to have a super powerful machine and all, as I would love to have a high end 3monitor setup etc, but being realistic, I wouldn't even have time to enjoy it.

 

While reading trough this thread something really baffled me: the argument that laptops use less power and that this way you save money.

Hm okay, lets say a laptop would save you like...100-150€ every year at most? (but if you use your laptop as a dekstop with an external screen I doubt you'll get even close to that amount).
But, how long does a 1500€ desktop last? I'd say it would last at least double than a 1500€ gaming laptop (which will be obsolete after 2-3 years, while a desktop of that price can last 4-5 years).

So in the most optimistic eco friendly calculations you can save like 300-450€in 2-3 years using a laptop, and then you'll have to buy a new one if you want to be able to game the current games, paying another 1500€. Whereas with a desktop, you pay 300-450€more on electricity, but save yourself another 1500€ purchase for 2 years.

 

I bought my previous laptop about 4.5 years ago, and it was no where neer top of the range (X1600 GPU), but I could play crysis, albeit at low settings.

There is no reason to get new machines constantly, its a fun hobby but you'll never have the best for very long, every 3 months or so there will be some thing new.

I bought my new laptop because its a lot more portable than draging my desktop around, either to gaming settions or just around the house. Whats really enjoyable is one the games are done you simply pack her in to you backpack and off you go, no help needed.

And I have no intention of replacing it for atleast 5 years, it should last me longer than my last one (Crysis on High at between 44 to 50 fps ).

 

Around here 150€ is enough to run a load of 250W continuously for 12 months. We pay $.07 per kWh. So for at least around here, the difference in electrical costs of running a desktop vs a laptop are going to be a lot less.

 

I have the same laptop, and I'll tell you that my desktop blows my laptop away, it doesn't even hold a candle to it. And in all honesty the m17x-R2 is huge and heavy, it's hardly a laptop when considering the usage of a 15 inch laptops.Yeah the powersupply is slimmer but it's hardly portable, unless you wanna call it a portable desktop which it is, and you gotta be kidding me if you're telling me you hook up an LCD and external keyboard and mouse to your m17x-R2, cause that's just flat out a waste. I did that for about 6 days, and felt it was retarded and moved over to a self-built desktop, because once you've gone that far, you might as well just have the real thing. Who are you really kidding? At that point you're just kidding yourself.

The mobility 5870 is no where close to a 5850, it's more like a 5770. I've had both cards, I've had a mobilty 4870, 5870 (both in crossfire), and Desktop 5870 and 5770. "Compared to desktop graphics cards, the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 CF should perform somewhere between a Radeon HD 5750 and 5770 in Crossfire mode according to the specs (shader count of 5770, clock rate of 5750)." http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5870-Crossfire.29486.0.html

And a desktop 5770 runs for like 125 dollars.... Yet somehow you ended up paying 600 some dollars for the laptop versions, now I don't expect them to be the same price, but you're easily paying 4x the amount... with little or no future possible upgrade.

 

You forgot high end servers.

 

That's because it's a B.S. argument.

People looking to do gaming in general on the cheap will buy a console. People looking to do PC gaming on the cheap will build a desktop. The cheaper components far outweigh whatever savings you get from using less power.

 

Server is an entirely different market segment from Desktop.

 

Because i can.
because Money is not as important as experience.
because i can get what i need in a laptop.

the question is rather silly imho, if you take out money and performance concerns out of the question, i can;t think of anyone who would WANT a desktop for a personal machine (high end servers and datacenters aside)


thats like asking "hey do you want a 4 door car that can be folded into your pocket-can fold to a size of pack of cigarettes or a car that cannot be folded and it is always the size of a 4 door car. the catch is the foldable car is 2-3x more expensive, and we cannot build a foldable SUV, so if you need something more than a 4 door car you only have 1 option"

that displaces 3 groups to "complain":

1) people who can;t afford what they want in a Laptop.
2) people who can;t get the Desired level of performance out of a laptop.
3) people who make bad decisions about their needs and budgets.

the former will remain forever because nothing is ever cheap enough.

the middle are always a work in progress altho recent years have made this way more viable, ALMOST to the point of where 80% of basic pc users ( i call em "webbies") can get what they need in some kind of over the counter laptop, therefore reducing the issue back to $ ---ssd has leveled the playing field with hard drives. Ram speed/quantity was leveled with desktops a couple years back. cpu and vid card are really all thats left, and we have seen decent strides in both. 2012+ sees another big step--- [edit: i originally typoed gddr5, but really meant ddr5] DDR5 for system memory. native quad core mobile designs (no more mobile dualies after that).

the last group can hopefully learn, or they will die off via extinction me thinks

cheers

D

 

+rep. These three bullet points sum it all up perfectly.

For me, I am in camp #2. I will always be looking for a laptop that can give me the level of performance of a desktop machine, in a package that is 13.3" or smaller. So far, I've always had to make compromises. But I've gotten a lot closer to where I want to be in recent years, with my last two purchases being the Dell XPS M1330 (3-year old 13.3" laptop w/nVidia 8400 GPU) and the Alienware M11x (new 11.6" laptop w/nVidia 335M GPU).

If I could find a wafer-thin 13.3" laptop with a powerful GPU that weighed under 3 pounds, I'd be in PC gaming heaven.

 

Another point to consider is that casual gamers like myself simply may not need or want a high powered desktop. I want freedom and reasonable performance in a portable package.

My current laptop allows me to play all of the games I want to at a good frame rate. I play games at 1600 x 900 resolution have no need for a Desktop but that's just me.

 

Because the new gaming laptops performs well like desktop and saves space...oh and it's mobile (I have no choice, can't play from country to country with a desktop).

 

There's no need for any desktop users to be offended by this thread... we all understand that desktops are far better performers per buck/euro/pound/whatever and for performance/future-proofing ratio.

I built a powerful desktop for a great price in 2007 and it still holds up very well today (gotta love those trusty old GTX 8800 GPUs!). I am a college student however, and twice a year I pack up most of my things and drive 2,000 miles back and forth between school and home. It didn't take me long to realize that seemingly half of the cargo space taken up in my crossover SUV was computer equipment (mid-tower, screen, keyboard, 2.1 speakers, etc. etc.), and aside from that, my desktop seemed to heat up my room by like 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit (not cool since I'm a warm-natured person and hate getting too hot, lol). I also could not easily go LAN'ing anywhere for obvious reasons.

And let's not forget how much of a pain it can be to completely de-dust a desktop, and that's only until it sucks more in a couple days later (okay I admit, I'm a clean freak).

Solution? Gamer laptop + netbook for mobility/battery when needed. It may only last me 2-3'ish years of performance productivity (still a long time), but the trade off is worth it to me, at least until I own my own apartment/home in a more permanent situation and can stand maintaining a mega-mainframe desktop setup once again ;-).

 

Choosing a laptop is more portable, easy to access, even though sometimes you would have to charge the battery it's worth it. Laptops, sometimes can have overheating problems but those issues have a very few existence.

Why do I like laptops? I can walk with it, use it anywhere, anytime I want, I can do almost everything on it. Today, laptops have enough power for gaming and the processors and the graphic cards meet the standards of gaming. So basically, laptops all the way!

 

Your logic is rather silly.

1. You can't imaging why anyone would ever choose a desktop over a laptop.
2. You think that the price advantage of desktops is not a real issue.
3. You think that laptop are "catching up" to desktops.
4. You label anyone who doesn't choose laptops to game on are just complainers.

 

There's a lot of good points in here and I could go on and on but I think paralel is getting it right here along with many other true valid statements similar to this. Iv been in so many flame fest mean angry notebook vs desktop threads that debating this with any rational thought is beyond comprehendible.

One point I like to reiterate though is the fact that many desktop fanboy's don't recognize notebooks as a viable alternative to game on if even an option. This is sad to me, cause many people that don't have the information readily available to them that could indeed benefit greatly to owning a mobile peace of electronic like a laptop end up getting a desktop cause of the mass swarm of idiotic desktop cult followings.

This subject has been exhaustively debated in threads like this. It really is an never ending story this topic untill desktops will one day fail compleatlly when everyone relize's that desktops are a heap of stagnit metal that is more of a trap then anything and that having a nice laptop is more like heaven open and full of bright light lol...Im just being bias but desktops were nice when I was a kid but Im grown up now, ill never own another desktop in any other form then a server rack 44u with keyboard/mouse/video controlling it, either that or a workstation or server terminal.

 

Are you kidding me? And then you follow this with what you wrote below?

So the reason so many people choose to build desktops to game on is because they are too ignorant and stupid to "see the light"?

And the lord spoketh, and the laptop was given to man.

You sound like a preacher trying to bring civilization to the savages.

 

I said I was being bias..., I guess I'm not following what your first point is suppose to be critiquing. With my remark about the light an all that was just for effect...sadly I wont contrict my self ever to sitting in front of a desktop for any length of time like when I was younger. I bought a gateway desktop when I was 15 and sat in front of that thing for hours everyday. I much enjoyed my alienware laptop I got when I was 22.

To each there own, I have nothing against desktops, Would I discuss them everyday on a forum...no

This thread is obviously a flame thread to begin with, there are going to be people that have different opinion's on this debateable subject. I'm suprised mods let this kinda thread go when there are threads 10 times less contraversial that get closed everyday lol.

And we live in a savage world, just look at the bombs sent to all the carriers planes in the US over the past week. The threat of international terrorism is very relevant in are society still along with many other things.

 

I work from home. The wife and I both play a lot of games and like doing it from our couch while watching tv. (=

 

Please See the following Posts
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/528322-r2-compatible-gtx-480m-7.html

Note book review says that One Mobility HD 5870 run close to a desktop 5770. I also says that the Mobility HD 5870 in Crossfire (ie. 2 of them) will also run like a one desktop 5770 to 5750 .

Some people have stated that they have over closed there 2 HD 5870 (Mobility) and reached performences close to desktop 5870's. and at stock they run close to a 5850.

Again I say a top range desktop will always be faster than a laptop for the same price!

An I connect my bigger monitor at home, because its bigger.

 

Also if you scrole down to the bottom of the Notebook check Review, link below:

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire - Notebookcheck.net Tech

To the Farcry 2 results (for example), it scores 62fps at ultra (1920x1080 Ultra high AF and 4AA).

Now by checking Toms hardware's grafix benchmark charts for Farcry2, again link below:

Charts, benchmarks Gaming Graphics Cards Charts 2009 (High Quality), Far Cry 2


Farcry 2 Setup (1920x1200, 4AA, 8AF, Very High Quality)

An we check arounf 62fps and we find the following:

A. ATI Radeon HD 5850 * (1024 MB) at 63.2fps

B. ATI Radeon HD 4850 CF * (2x512 MB) at 60.8fps.

Also I've noticed on my machine that I get higher frame rates at 1920x1200 than 1920x1080 in Crysis 1.21.

 

for me the reason why gaming on a laptop nowadays is so appealing is becasue of the games themselves.
there was a time when you needed the newest gpu's to play games good resolutions and settings. thanks in most part to the consoles, those days are gone and most midrange desktop gpu's or highend laptop gpu's will allow you to play most games at max on 1080p.
there is not doubt that a desktop will give you more power, but power for what when the game will run as well on a lower spec'ed setup; unless youre into eyefinity and things like that.

 

And what happens exactly if I over-clock my desktop, which probably does better especially when water-cooled, my Crossfire 5870, which btw also comes with a Lifetime Warranty. Dude I have both systems and I guess I'll just say it, the driver support for the mobility 5870 is flat out garbage. You may say that card is amazing and all this stuff, but when I use both of my systems side by side, I'm witnessing a horrible load time on the Moibility 5870, now you may not care when you're playing your single player games, but it's VERY apparent in MP games. Don't believe me? Ask any of the alienware R2 owners what the load times were like when playing BC2. As compared to either desktops or laptops with Nvidia Cards, Driver support especially for ATI mobility cards has been shotty IMO, and late.

 

I don't have any horrible load times on BC2 mainly because they probably got fixed a while ago. You can overclock your HD5870s? Woah, such concept did never occur to laptop users! It's not like I have my Mobility radeon heavily OC'd or anything.

The card IS amazing considering what it is: A laptop GPU that has the power of an HD5750/70. You can brag about your incredible setup all you want, but that won't change the FACT that we can play the same games, even if we may have to reduce a setting here or there.

You make it sound as if laptops GPUs are all like Intel GMA crap, where in reality we are around half the performance of a dekstop GPU. We can game, we can move around whenever we want.

As for drivers... what are you talking about? Sure we may not get the best drivers of the universe but we get one set monthly. Some are decent, some are not.

Look, we are not trying to say which one is the better gaming solution. We are stating exactly what the topic title asks. Why do we choose laptop over desktop gaming. It is not that hard to comprehend how important is mobility for some.

 

Thank You . +1 Rep.

 

If you do that you don't have any question left.

 

Last time I checked didn't overclocking a graphics card void warranty?

 

Looks like this thread is going in the wrong direction so it's now closed.