Comparing Laptop Graphics Cards to Their Desktop Equivalents

When the term mobile gaming is mentioned, people typically think about playing on a phone, a tablet, or a handheld console like a Nintendo Switch. However, phones, tablets, and handheld consoles aren’t the only form of mobile gaming. People tend to forget or overlook gaming laptops, but they are an extremely viable, and extremely powerful way to play games on the go. One of the most important things when it comes to a gaming laptop is the graphics card, because, without a powerful graphics card, you can handicap your performance depending on the games you’re trying to play. So this article will be talking about laptop graphics cards, and explaining the similarities and differences between their desktop counterparts.

Table of Contents:

1. How Do Graphics Cards Work?
2. Desktop Graphics Cards
3. Laptop Graphics Cards
4. The Difference Between Laptop Graphics Cards and Desktop Graphics Cards:

How Do Graphics Cards Work?

Graphics cards are specialized computer parts that are made specifically to deliver images to a screen after having processed the data that was sent to them. Graphics cards start as PCBs ( printed circuit boards ) that have design layouts created by a team of engineers. Those design layouts are meant to maximize the power and efficiency of the graphics cards when they’re in use. Those PCBs are assembled with different chips and circuitry that provide the processing power that graphics cards use to perform their functions.

Depending on the manufacturer, those chips will be a little different. Nvidia’s patented graphics technology chips are known as CUDA cores, while AMD uses stream processors. They do very similar things, but in different ways, and each chipset has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the task that the graphics card is asked to perform. In summary, graphics cards take data that is given to them, and they display the data that they’re being fed onto some sort of output device or monitor.

Desktop Graphics Cards:

Desktop graphics cards or GPUs are pretty simple in design. As mentioned above, they’re assembled from a PCB once different chips have been attached to the board along with cooling solutions such as fans or a thermal block that will keep the graphics card from overheating when in use.

Over the last few years programs have become more demanding in terms of processing and graphics technology that’s required to run them efficiently. Programs like Handbrake that are used to change video files from one format to another, and or increase the resolution of that file require immense amounts of graphical power to perform optimally. Without a powerful GPU rendering images or running a program like Handbrake can take hours, or even days depending on how much power your card does or doesn’t have.

The increase in the power demand has led to more powerful cards that are much larger and require more power to be supplied to them to run, but also more cooling. Graphics cards get extremely hot when being used, and the more demanding the activity, the hotter they get. So powerful cooling solutions are necessary to keep the cards functioning properly. Things like copper heat pipes, thermal vents, and vapor chambers are all employed to cool graphics cards optimally. Desktop graphics cards are often suggested to be placed in cases that are larger and well-ventilated so that they can be supplied with airflow as an additional cooling method.

Laptop Graphics Cards

Laptop graphics cards function very similarly to their desktop counterparts, but also very differently. They provide an image to some sort of output device, just like a desktop graphics card does. But laptop graphics cards are made in a much different way.

Desktop graphics cards are often called dedicated graphics cards because they are their separate entity from the rest of the computer, and they’re dedicated purely to graphical performance and nothing else. Desktops have the space to be able to dedicate to a graphics card because they’re much larger than a laptop. Laptops however have to be portable and mobile, so they can’t be as big and bulky as a desktop can.

Desktop vs. Laptop GPUs Explained

The smaller form factor of a laptop means that compromises have to be made because everything has to be made smaller. As a result, the power capabilities and the cooling capabilities of that graphics card are often much lesser than their desktop counterparts. The GPU components have to be shrunk down to fit inside of a laptop chassis which means that many parts of that graphics card are either stripped out or substituted for smaller and less powerful components.

Another reason for laptop graphics cards being less powerful is the power supply of a laptop vs the power supply of a desktop. It’s common to see a desktop with a 1000-watt power supply. Laptops on average vary between holding 40 watts and 150 watts in their battery pack. Laptops just don’t have the kind of power that desktops do because of their smaller form factor, so there’s no way for them to drive the kind of performance that a desktop is driving when it comes to a graphics card.

It’s common to see gaming benchmarks of laptop GPUs vs their desktop equivalent where the laptop GPU is delivering 30 frames per second or less than the desktop GPU. But that doesn’t mean that laptop GPUs are weak. They may not be able to match the performance frame for frame, but they’re still able to output high levels of performance.

A common solution that computer makers employ to try and bridge the gap is to try and merge the graphics card ( GPU ) and the central processing unit ( CPU ). When that happens, an APU is created, and an APU stands for the accelerated processing unit. APUs are much less powerful than a dedicated GPU and a dedicated CPU, but they do typically provide quality performance, and they do so at a reasonable price point. There are some manufacturers however that create larger, more powerful laptops with performance closer to a desktop, but those laptops often cost far more than a comparable desktop would.

The Difference Between Laptop Graphics Cards and Desktop Graphics Cards:

There is a strong case to be made for both laptop graphics cards and desktop graphics cards.

1. Desktop graphics cards offer superior power to their laptop counterparts, but laptop graphics cards allow you to be mobile because you can travel anywhere in the world with a laptop.
   
2. Laptop graphics cards cannot be upgradedas a desktop graphics card can. Laptop components are often soldered directly onto the motherboard of the laptop, so trying to remove them will damage the motherboard and likely break the entire computer. So if and or when you need to upgrade your graphics card because you’re no longer getting the kind of performance that you’d like to see, you have to buy a new laptop. And laptops can be extremely expensive depending on what you need them to do and their technical specifications. Desktop graphics cards can be easily swapped out for a new component, however, so instead of needing to buy a new computer, you can buy a new graphics card instead and save money in the process.
   
3. Laptop graphics cards are also power-hungry when under load, or being put under strain. That strain can drain your battery extremely quickly if it isn’t plugged in, and cause your laptop to be extremely hot to the touch if it doesn’t have good ventilation. It’s even possible to burn yourself depending on how hot the laptop gets. Desktop graphics cards often avoid that problem because the larger amount of space in a desktop provides better opportunities for cooling and heat dissipation.

Final Thoughts:

Laptop graphics cards may not be as powerful as their desktop counterparts, but they are a viable alternative to use if you need graphical firepower on the go. Personally speaking, I bought a gaming laptop with an RTX 2070 in it two years ago and I love it. While I’m not getting the same performance from the GPU that I would be on a desktop, it’s still giving me fantastic performance and I’m still playing games at a solid 60 frames per second. So laptop GPUs are extremely powerful, and if you’re in the market for a laptop and you find one at a good price, you might find that you’ll be getting good value for your money.