Many gaming PCs and laptops offer the same graphics card by name. However, despite the same name, there are some differences you should consider. MeinMMO explains what you need to pay attention to.
When comparing gaming PCs with laptops, you will quickly notice: it’s the same graphics card inside! Both desktop PCs and laptops feature an RTX 3080 on paper.
However, if you look more closely, you will quickly notice some differences and also recognize that your gaming PC with RTX 3080 is much faster than a laptop with RTX 3080. We explain why in this article.
Laptop and PC graphics card offer officially the same functions
In terms of features, there are usually no differences. If you buy an RTX 3080 or an RTX 3080 Mobile in a laptop, both graphics cards offer you the same range of functions. You can use ray tracing or DLSS.
So where are the differences? The first difference is the size and form factor. The graphics card in a laptop is usually much smaller than a graphics card installed in your desktop PC.
While you can easily remove desktop graphics cards from a computer and replace them with another, faster graphics card, that is not so easy with laptops. Some manufacturers offer replaceable graphics cards in laptops, but that is very expensive and often very limited.
The biggest difference is primarily in the performance, which in turn depends on the power limit. A graphics card that is in a desktop PC may and can consume much more power than a graphics card in a laptop, and this also affects performance.
The performance of a graphics card in a laptop is therefore often downscaled to fit the respective device. An RTX 3080 that can consume 500 watts is simply more powerful than an RTX 3080 that has a maximum TDP of 90 watts in a laptop. Here we are again with the form factor: In a gaming PC, there are better options for dissipating heat than in a laptop.
Moreover, there is an additional peculiarity with laptops, namely the mentioned TDP. TDP stands for Thermal Design Power in watts and refers to the energy consumption under maximum theoretical load. While there is also TDP in gaming PCs, it can lead to absurd results in laptops:
- An RTX 3060 Ti in a gaming PC is officially slower than an RTX 3080.
- An RTX 3060 Ti with high TDP can, however, be faster than an RTX 3080 with low TDP.
These numerical comparisons are especially confusing when you only look at the series designation of the graphics card.
You will also notice the performance difference between laptop and desktop when comparing the performance of the devices.
Laptop vs. Desktop – Which graphics card is faster?
Where do I get more performance? If you want to know exactly which graphics card offers more power, you should check out the YouTube video by Jarrod’s Tech (via YouTube.com). Here he compares two variants of the GeForce RTX 3080.
In the video, you quickly see how large the differences can be between a desktop GPU and a laptop graphics card:
- In Far Cry 6, the RTX 3080 (desktop) averages 127 FPS in Full HD. In comparison, the RTX 3080 (laptop) only achieves 85 FPS.
- In Cyberpunk 2077, it looks similar: The RTX 3080 (desktop) achieves 120 FPS in Full HD, while the RTX 3080 (laptop) can manage 85 FPS on average.
A comprehensive consultation on whether a laptop or desktop PC is more recommended for you can also be read on MeinMMO. Here we explain again in more detail the similarities and differences between gaming PCs and laptops:
