Mac user looking for pc gaming - Laptop or desktop?

[jav6454]

Funny, this is exactly the same case for me. Remove photography and music and I don't need a Mac at all.

As for the OP, do you care at all to have an external monitor to display these games on? You can do it with a laptop, obviously, but it does raise some thermal concerns. It's not as bad on the PC side of things but it does have any impact. I don't know what other games you want to play really, but Crusader Kings 3 should be fairly possible to maintain good performance on even with a cheaper GPU if you go desktop route. I suspect the upcoming Victoria 3 will have the same or close system requirements if you plan on purchasing that.

Another personal note, I can't stand the 'gamer' aesthetic either. Give me a black or silver box and accessories and call it good. Too many dummy lights on tech already.

Agreed and agreed. A friend of mine bought a CaseLabs (before their shutdown) case, and I can't stop my envy of it.

Also, on RGB, it's a gimmick. In fact, I remember there being a meme making fun of exaggerated RGB where:

• Blue lights are a cooler running build
• Red means higher power and more performance
• Green means low power usage and standby

That said, I understand adding lights and color, but some people go over the top.

 

[mi7chy]

look for my custom built computer threads; should be in my sig. My Mac is only for pics and iLife apps.

Building an old desktop doesn't translate to recent gaming laptop experience. Have you done upgrades to that thing. i7-7820x is equivalent to mobile AMD 5800H.

 

[jav6454]

I'm sure you know what you're talking about but that's just not true though, you can check benchmarks but some of the latest gaming laptops have sustained triple digit performance in the games you've mentioned for hours. I am not saying they are equal to desktops as they are not but they are capable gaming machines if you are okay with the higher temps/noise and slightly lower perfomance.

I'd also add, that as a gamer. All gaming is somewhat childish, there is no serious games or childish games, it's games all the same.

Enjoy your hobby, it's fun, that's what it is for. It is all it is, fun. Saying it's serious games doesn't make it more adult or more "serious" none of it is serious other than the business of making games, now that's serious business.

It's all personal opinions on game types, as you said, to each their own. I don't look down on people, but I do like for my sake to call it what I see it. If I see a "kiddie game", it'll be that to me, period. But I don't look down regardless.

However, on laptops, benchmarks tell you a snapshot of the overall experience. I use them as a baseline for any purchase, not as a smoking gun for component or device selection. That said, laptops do have their limitations versus a dedicated gaming desktop. There is no question regarding it. To sustain performance chips have to be adjusted for those constraints.

Let's take the RTX 3070 in both desktop and laptop flavours

• 5120 cores v 5888 cores
• 125W power draw max v 220W
• Boost up to 1.62GHz vs up to 1.73 GHz

Clearly a laptop GPU flavor already is below the desktop counterpart just in the numbers department. That's not going into benchmarks (synthetic or real).

That is why, me personally, I wouldn't game on a laptop.

 

[jav6454]

Building an old desktop doesn't translate to recent gaming laptop experience. Have you done upgrades to that thing. i7-7820x is equivalent to mobile AMD 5800H.

That is an old thread. I haven't posted recent builds for other customers.

 

[Harthag]

Side note, I have been toying with the idea of buying the remastered C&C.

It is great, blast from the past. Now if they only remaster Red Alert 2...

It's all personal opinions on game types, as you said, to each their own. I don't look down on people, but I do like for my sake to call it what I see it. If I see a "kiddie game", it'll be that to me, period. But I don't look down regardless.

However, on laptops, benchmarks tell you a snapshot of the overall experience. I use them as a baseline for any purchase, not as a smoking gun for component or device selection. That said, laptops do have their limitations versus a dedicated gaming desktop. There is no question regarding it. To sustain performance chips have to be adjusted for those constraints.

Let's take the RTX 3070 in both desktop and laptop flavours

• 5120 cores v 5888 cores
• 125W power draw max v 220W
• Boost up to 1.62GHz vs up to 1.73 GHz

Clearly a laptop GPU flavor already is below the desktop counterpart just in the numbers department. That's not going into benchmarks (synthetic or real).

That is why, me personally, I wouldn't game on a laptop.

The 3070 laptop is 140w and sustains 1700mhz boost clock for most part on mine. May be wrong, but performance wise it is between the desktop 2070 Super and 2080? Pretty good for a laptop.

 

[BaronSH]

The 3070 laptop is 140w and sustains 1700mhz boost clock for most part on mine. May be wrong, but performance wise it is between the desktop 2070 Super and 2080? Pretty good for a laptop.

More than that a 3080 laptop outperfoms a desktop 3060 and 3060ti. Don't get me wrong desktop equivalents are more powerful and the laptop cards should be named something else but the idea that they can't compete with desktops is insane.

People have natural biases, I do too, I'm sure the poster is a good guy but builds custom desktops.. I agree they are better in most ways, I'd rather have a windows desktop than laptop all things being equal.

 

[Harthag]

More than that a 3080 laptop outperfoms a desktop 3060 and 3060ti. Don't get me wrong desktop equivalents are more powerful and the laptop cards should be named something else but the idea that they can't compete with desktops is insane.

People have natural biases, I do too, I'm sure the poster is a good guy but builds custom desktops.. I agree they are better in most ways, I'd rather have a windows desktop than laptop all things being equal.

You should really consider the Legion 7 or 7i. I added the fully loaded 3080 one to my cart many times but can't justify the cost. If I replace my desktop (which honestly I may) I'd 1000% get the fully loaded Legion 7i.

 

[jav6454]

It is great, blast from the past. Now if they only remaster Red Alert 2...



The 3070 laptop is 140w and sustains 1700mhz boost clock for most part on mine. May be wrong, but performance wise it is between the desktop 2070 Super and 2080? Pretty good for a laptop.

Now that is something I want to see. Remastered RA2 plus it's expansion. I mean, I still play the original, but the game is so old that sometimes it chokes on its own. Hopefully they have the HD video cutscenes.

True, but you are comparing a new generation card vs an older generation.

 

[jav6454]

More than that a 3080 laptop outperfoms a desktop 3060 and 3060ti. Don't get me wrong desktop equivalents are more powerful and the laptop cards should be named something else but the idea that they can't compete with desktops is insane.

People have natural biases, I do too, I'm sure the poster is a good guy but builds custom desktops.. I agree they are better in most ways, I'd rather have a windows desktop than laptop all things being equal.

Custom builds are an art; intricate, complex yet simple at the same time. If you are going to spend a good penny on a gaming system, might as well be a desktop and ensure you can easily update it.

Laptop? Nope.

 

[Harthag]

Custom builds are an art; intricate, complex yet simple at the same time. If you are going to spend a good penny on a gaming system, might as well be a desktop and ensure you can easily update it.

Laptop? Nope.

I've probably spent more time tinkering and building my PC than I have gaming haha. Part of the fun. I scaled down to an air-cooled SFF mini-ITX build in a Lian Li TU150 case. Little beast.

 

[diamond.g]

More than that a 3080 laptop outperfoms a desktop 3060 and 3060ti. Don't get me wrong desktop equivalents are more powerful and the laptop cards should be named something else but the idea that they can't compete with desktops is insane.

People have natural biases, I do too, I'm sure the poster is a good guy but builds custom desktops.. I agree they are better in most ways, I'd rather have a windows desktop than laptop all things being equal.

The mobile 3080 is actually a 3070Ti (same GA104 die). At least this generation has names that are less confusing.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Laptop vs. desktop is primarily a question/desire/need of convenience (i.e., mobility). if you don’t need or aren't willing to pay the premium for portability, don’t.

Deksopt wise… Of course, there are a lot of factors. Currently, price/expense has jumped to the top of the list of things to consider. For the most part the question is, what are you willing and able to pay?

I have a SFF build, and its whisper quiet and doesn't get overly hot (air cooled). Granted, I don't have a 3090, but then I'm not about to mortgage my house to get one of those anyways. There are plenty of ITX cases that have excellent cooling, and while my ITX is not NUC sized, it is rather small.

Interesting on the whisper quiet part. I haven’t had a PC I would describe quite that way unless it’s idle or under only light load.

I have an Origin Chronos — went SI because of things being so severely out of whack lately — with a Ryzen 5600X and 3080 FE. The graphics card fans aren’t dreadfully annoying, even at top speed. However, the stock AMD cooler — I’m not a liquid cooling enthusiast — can hit vacuum cleaner loud when the CPU is under heavy load. Therefore, if it were to change it up, I’d probably go with a 240 mm AIO option. Anyway, despite the noise, the case does have good thermal handling.

Basically, if @BaronSH wants a SFF gaming rig, there are acceptable/satisfactory options out there.

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[maflynn]

Interesting on the whisper quiet part. I haven’t had a PC I would describe quite that way unless it’s idle or under only light load.

Its an ITX build inside a Lian Li TU-150 case running a AMD 3700x with a massive Noctua NH-D15 cooler. My fan profile is such that the fans won't spin up until the temps start hitting the 70c range (they slowly spin faster in the 50 and 60c range but I don't hear them).

The loudest part of the computer is the RTX 2060 Super and there's not much I can do about that, depending on the game, it spins up and down as needed. I also have the fan profile set to be quiet as possible until the temps get a bit toasty.

Given the tight confines, I couldn't fit the second 140mm fan on the cooler but I did manage a 120, and that's working. Maybe its superfluous but I'm really happy with results.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Looks like you did well given the space.