Is a gaming laptop cheaper than a gaming PC?

Gaming laptop vs Gaming PC - which is cheaper?

Updated: Dec 20, 2022 1:03 pm

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Is a gaming laptop cheaper than a gaming PC?

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Table of Contents

Gaming laptop vs Gaming PC: price guides

Gaming laptops

Prebuilt Gaming PCs

Custom Gaming PCs

Is a gaming laptop cheaper than a gaming PC? Final Word

The answer to the question: Is a gaming laptop cheaper than a gaming PC? is very simple – no. For gaming laptops you essentially pay premium for the portability (cramming all those high-end components into a thin laptop chassis isn’t easy) so the same specced gaming laptop will invariably cost a lot more than a desktop gaming PC with the same core components.

What’s more, gaming laptops which ostensibly have the same GPU and CPU as a desktop gaming PC will never be as powerful – although the name of the components may look the same, mobile versions of processors and graphics cards especially, are more stunted, lower-powered variants. This means if you want to achieve the same FPS in a gaming laptop as in a desktop PC, you normally have to aim for the SKU above to achieve the same performance (i.e. an RTX 3080 laptop may perform similarly to an RTX 3070 gaming PC, though this depends heavily on the Total Graphics Power of the laptop GPU).

All that being said, the additional convenience and functionality that you get through having a laptop that you can take with you into the office, work and game with on the move, and then plug into a monitor when you’re at home, should you wish, is worth the extra cost for many people who would otherwise need to buy a general use laptop anyway.

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Gaming laptop vs Gaming PC: price guides

We have numerous buyer’s guides based on different price points for both gaming laptops, pre-built gaming PCs, and self-build gaming PCs below to help you get a better idea of what you want.

Although the gap has narrowed somewhat recently, you will typically be able to get more performance for your money if you build a PC yourself, so these are the best options of the three below if you want to maximize your FPS performance per cash spent.

Gaming laptops

Prebuilt Gaming PCs

Custom Gaming PCs