Gaming on notebooks

Today I want to talk about gaming on notebooks. Many people believe that notebooks are as fast as desktops and they are wrong. Let me explain why.

Power consumption

High end components like CPU, Video card consume a lot of power. High-end CPU and high-end video card can draw 300W-500W of power on high load. As result just for these 2 components you need at least 400W-600W power supply. These kind of power supplies actually not that compact, and it will be really hard to put in compact notebook case. Also, such power supply will be too heavy for notebook.

Cooling

Most of electricity consumed by electronic device will be converted to heat. Normally desktop CPU has 75C-80C on high load. Video card about 90C. And they able to stay on this temperature only because they have massive and heavy heatsink and big fan on CPU and 2 – 3 fans on video card. When someone playing on desktop in closed room, you can feel how temperature is raising. Desktop computer works as 200-300 watts electrical heater. Most desktops have at least 4 fans: 1 CPU, 1 video card, 1 power supply, 1 intake fan on case or one on the back of the base. But any relatively good desktop computer will have at least 6: 1 for CPU, 2 video card, 1 power supply, one intake fan and on exhaust fan on the case. And these fans are big (12cm - 14cm) and powerful. As result there is quite big airflow going thru holes in front of the case that going thru big empty space inside of case when then hot air will blow out on the back of the case. It is obvious that notebook cannot have the same airflow. Not even close. Whole surface of notebook is less than front of desktop. And it is not possible to increase speed of air flow because it because it became really noisy.

Weight

I already mentioned weight of power supply. But there is also weight of heat skinks on CPU and video card. Usually there is heat pipe that transfer heat from CPU or GPU to heatsink. The bigger heatsink - the bigger area of contact with air and more effective cooling. Obviously, nobody will put 0.5Kg-1.0Kg heatsink just to cool it off. And that limits cooling capability a lot

Dust

On desktop PC even on high load fans does not work that fast and air flow is slower but volume is much bigger. Most desktops have some air filters to prevents dust to go inside. And even if your case does not have one, it is really easy to make one. So, while dust is problem for desktop PC, it is not that big of issue. I seen working PC that were completely covered with dust and they still working fine on high load. On notebook airflow going in much faster because there are not many holes. Most notebook does not have any dust filters. As result dust accumulates much faster on notebooks. Dust is thermal insulator. So, it effectively reduces cooling by a lot, and it can even kill notebook due to overheating.

Temperature

And while on top desktops CPU and video card temperature can be quite high but usually it does not affect other systems. For example, CPU can be quite hot, but other components on motherboard will be about 40C. But for notebooks it is not the case. Whole notebook became very hot. This reducing lifespan of electronic components and in extreme cases components can unsolder. And even if everything works fine but cycle of heating up to cooling down leads to expansion and contraction and then it leads to cracks. Moreover, in many cases temperature in notebooks even higher to have performance closer to desktop. And it is actual problem on many notebooks (Apple for example).

Conclusion

All these things prevent manufacturers to make as fast notebooks as desktop. It is simple physics. The faster component working the more heat it produces. More heat requires system to transfer it off. And so far, the more heat you need to dissipate the bigger volume of cooling system.

But manufacturers really want to create impression that notebooks are as fast as desktop PC because it is premium market. As result even Intel and nVidia naming mobile CPU and video cards the same as for desktop even they much slower. And consumer sees i7 and 2060 and believe it is exactly the same as desktop counterparts, but it is not true. As result even top gaming notebooks working as fast as middle-class desktop.

What else? Desktop are much easier to repair, replace or upgrade. Notebooks to most part of not upgradable. I had notebooks that allow to add more memory, but second stick of memory will lead to overheating even in normal use like internet browsing. And usually you can replace hard drive and that it. You cannot replace CPU or GPU.

With desktop you can select any screen you like and any size. Most gaming notebooks are 15” or 17”. I rarely see more. And 19” notebook is quite heavy. I my business trips I always take 17” notebook and it really heavy. Like 4-5 Kg with power supply.

Notebooks has only one advantage – portability. You can move it. And it is really nice. But you just want to play home and not planning to move then I suggest you buy desktop. It will be cheaper and much faster. And most components like case can last for very long. And it will be really hard to spill coffee on it :)