Today we're taking a look at desktop vs. laptop graphics performance, a revisit of a topic we final covered over a year ago when Nvidia launched their start mobile GeForce RTX GPUs. The original investigation was prompted by Nvidia's confusing naming scheme, where laptop and desktop GPUs take the exact same proper noun but certainly feature vastly unlike performance.

Using hardware bachelor in early on 2022, nosotros found that the desktop RTX 2070 was on average 19% faster than the RTX 2070 mobile chip at 1080p. This difference expanded to a whopping 42% difference when comparing the desktop RTX 2070 to Nvidia's low ability RTX 2070 Max-Q variant.

Since then, we've seen refreshes to laptop and desktop hardware. On the graphics side, Nvidia has released the RTX Super series for desktops and more than recently laptops. This latest wave of 2022 gaming laptops uses Super GPUs at the loftier-end, in the course of the RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super which nosotros've reviewed already. We're too seeing new CPU options through Intel'southward 10th-generation, and the render of AMD to gaming laptops with Ryzen 4000.

Knowing what you lot are getting however, is as confusing every bit ever. In 2022, yous can purchase laptops that feature "RTX 2070 Super" GPUs within, but sometimes you'll get a Max-Q variant, sometimes you won't. This continues beyond the entire line, from beneath the GTX 1660 Ti correct up to the highest option, the RTX 2080 Super. To some customers that aren't equally familiar with Nvidia's GPU line-up, at a glance information technology looks like these laptops are offer the same GPU and therefore the same functioning as what yous'd go from an equivalent desktop gaming PC. But that's far from the case.

Permit's have the RTX 2070 Super as an example. While both the desktop and laptop variants use the same physical GPU -- the same 12nm TU104 die consummate with 2560 CUDA cores is actually there -- other aspects are very different. The desktop card features a 215W ability limit, which allows the GPU to clock at 1770 MHz boost or higher. The laptop variant has a power limit anywhere from 80 to 115W, with boost clocks between 1155 and 1380 MHz. That means that purely based on rated clock speeds, the desktop bill of fare can clock 28% higher in the best example, and potentially over 50% higher if we compare it to the lowest power mobile configuration.

Memory configurations tin besides differ. The base blueprint is again similar, both variants deliver 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-scrap motorcoach. But if you become a low-power Max-Q mobile variant of the RTX 2070 Super, you'll come across simply 11 Gbps memory, compared to 14 Gbps on the desktop. This reduces retention bandwidth in addition to featuring lower clock speeds.

We could get on with examples across the rest of the line-upwardly, but you lot get the point. Nvidia feels that past using the aforementioned concrete GPU with the same number of shaders, they can brand their laptop GPUs the same as they practice on the desktop. This is in spite of vastly unlike power targets, clock speeds and ultimately operation.

With that, we're going to unravel in today's review the exact performance difference you can come to wait between Nvidia'south desktop and laptop GPUs of the same name, covering all options from the GTX 1660 Ti up through to the RTX 2080 Super. Hopefully this will make it much clearer next fourth dimension you're buying a new gaming system, knowing what level of performance y'all're getting.

Before We Brainstorm: Exam Notes

Like our previous comparisons between desktops and laptops, this isn't designed to be a straight GPU comparison where we lock down the desktop platform to the aforementioned specifications and level of operation you lot'd become from a laptop. There's no CPU downclocking or power limiting, this is designed to be a realistic comparison between desktop and laptop platforms. This means that yes, the desktop PC will also accept a more than powerful CPU with meliorate cooling, and faster memory. That's how these systems are mostly configured in the real world, and then these results volition show you the bodily divergence between a gaming laptop and desktop, not between a gaming laptop and a weird gimped desktop.

With that said, nosotros haven't gone all out with our desktop test system to absolutely trounce gaming laptops. Our desktop platform for this test is configured with a relatively small Intel Core i5-10600K, 16GB of dual-aqueduct DDR4-3200 retentivity with XMP enabled. We chose these components to roughly match what is on offer in nearly gaming laptops: typically you become an Intel six-core CPU like the Core i7-10750H at near reasonable price points, while 16GB of memory is a common starting bespeak likewise.

On the laptop side, our usual test notes use. We configure all laptops we exam with dual-channel memory, decent airflow into the coolers, and set them to stock power settings. The results y'all'll see in the charts are an average of several systems with the same configuration. Y'all tin check out the full list of laptops we tested hither.

Benchmarks

Allow's boot off the benchmarks with Blood-red Expressionless Redemption ii, the showtime of half dozen games we'll explore in-depth earlier showing a summary of the 18 games we tested for this comparing.

The first thing you lot'll note here is that alongside each CPU and GPU configuration there are power limits, which show the maximum sustained ability draw we saw from these components. For laptops, generally both the CPU and GPU will run right up to this limit indefinitely, so that could mean 45W on the CPU and 90W on the GPU. Yet with our desktop platform, how shut a CPU or GPU comes to reaching the limit volition depend on the game and its utilization.

For case, while the RTX 2070 Super is listed here with the desktop variant every bit 215W, in many games its actual power consumption is lower.

Back to Red Dead Redemption 2, running at 1080p on High settings with the Vulkan renderer, y'all might have noticed straight away that nosotros have three desktop configurations sitting at the peak of the nautical chart.

The RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super deliver breakaway operation, but even the RTX 2070 comes in marginally ahead of the fastest laptop configuration nosotros've tested in 2022, which comes equipped with a Core i9-10980HK and RTX 2080 Super Max-Q running at 90W.

Moving downwards the chart we have the RTX 2060 desktop config in the middle, delivering slightly more performance than the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q. In this exam, the desktop RTX 2060 is only 4 percentage ahead of the RTX 2060 for laptops, which as we'll come to encounter is an outlier. Meanwhile, the GTX 1660 Ti is sitting effectually 8 per centum ahead of its laptop counterpart.

Side by side up we have Control, which is one of the almost GPU enervating titles in our suite, we're not fifty-fifty close to existence CPU limited here, especially on laptops. Starting from the bottom you'll see that the desktop GTX 1660 Ti outperforms the laptop variant past 14 pct, allowing it to also slot in ahead of the lower ability RTX 2060 configurations. Then if yous get a laptop with an 80W RTX 2060, you aren't quite at the level of a desktop GTX 1660 Ti.

Ane up the desktop stack is the RTX 2060 that pulls away from the fastest laptop configuration of this GPU, to the melody of xiii%. The RTX 2060 desktop is notably faster than the RTX 2070 for laptops, and RTX 2070 Super Max-Q as well. In fact, the RTX 2060 is delivering closer to RTX 2080 Super Max-Q type performance, fitting right alongside those GPUs.

And then for the high-stop stuff, it's a fleck of a bloodbath for the laptop variants. Our desktop RTX 2070 GPU is xxx per centum faster in this championship, pulling well ahead due to its much higher maximum power limit of 175W versus 115W. The Super desktop GPUs compared to their 90W Max-Q equivalents in laptops, the margin grows to over 40 pct in favor of the desktop model.

In Metro Exodus you tin besides wait to see big margins between the laptop and desktop GPU variants, which grow at each successive step. The GTX 1660 Ti for desktops is 14% faster than the laptop model. Then for the RTX 2060, it's 17% faster. For the RTX 2070, we're up to 31% faster. It'due south 41% for RTX 2070 Super vs RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, and 35% for RTX 2080 Super versus RTX 2080 Super Max-Q.

These are substantial margins in favor of desktops, especially at the loftier end. The functioning difference for a card like the RTX 2070 is, quite frankly, ridiculous given they both have the verbal same name, no Max-Q branding here.

The 115W power limit for the laptop GPU doesn't permit it to get even shut to the desktop card and really, it's hard to say the laptop model is delivering true RTX 2070-like functioning.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an interesting example in that this game is as well heavy on the CPU, to the signal where at 1080p, our loftier-end configurations are CPU limited and deliver roughly the same performance. Only what yous'll also come across, even for the lower-end models, is that the desktop GPUs in combination with the Core i5-10600K, evangelize much college 1% low performance than the laptop models.

Take the RTX 2060, for example. Looking at average frame rates, the desktop card is 18 percentage faster than the laptop variant at 115W. Just if yous compare 1% lows, the desktop platform is 35% faster as the CPU is able to continue upward improve with the enervating sections of the benchmark laissez passer. There are plenty of situations like this across modernistic games where desktops don't just have a large GPU advantage in games, but a big CPU advantage likewise.

Battlefield Five is another game where y'all'll get much more consequent frame times with a desktop PC than you will on a laptop. For example, the ane% depression of our desktop organization with an RTX 2060 is most every bit high every bit the average frame charge per unit you go with the aforementioned GPU in a laptop.

Of course, on acme of that we see much higher average frame rates. The RTX 2060 is sixteen percent faster on average and this grows with college terminate configurations.

The last game we wanted to comment on is Borderlands 3. This is some other game where the top four desktop configurations sit at the pinnacle of the chart, and where even a GTX 1660 Ti desktop paired with a Cadre i5 processor is able to outperform a decent RTX 2070 gaming laptop.

Like Red Dead Redemption 2 was an outlier on the lower stop of performance margins, Borderlands 3 is a bit of an outlier the other way, with over a 25% reward in the RTX 2060 class to the desktop platform.

Functioning Breakup on 18 Games

The performance breakdowns below will illustrate the difference betwixt desktop and laptop GPUs across a range of games. With the GTX 1660 Ti, nosotros're looking at the desktop variant being 14% faster on average when looking at average frame rates.

GTX 1660 Ti Desktop vs. Laptop

In some titles like GTA V, that margin is only low single digits. In others similar Hitman two and Borderlands 3, the difference is closer to xx%. Only throughout our testing, on average the laptop GTX 1660 Ti isn't quite at the level of the desktop card.

RTX 2060 Desktop vs. Laptop (115W & 80W)

Next up is the RTX 2060, comparison the desktop carte du jour to the fastest laptop configuration available today, with a 115W power limit. The desktop card is on average 18% faster, which is a substantial divergence between the variants given they both take the same name. This is frequently the difference between below 60 FPS and higher up 60 FPS with a title like Control.

And comparing the desktop RTX 2060 to the lower power 80W variant of the RTX 2060 for laptops, the margins are larger, at 32% in favor of the desktop card. With such a large difference, information technology'south a bit silly to telephone call the much slower RTX 2060 80W the same name equally the desktop card that can consume upward to twice the power.

RTX 2070 Desktop vs. Laptop (115W, Max-Q 80W & Max-Q 90W)

In the RTX 2070 class, when testing with a more modern fix of games, the desktop carte is at present approximately 25% faster on boilerplate, with especially large gains in titles such as Borderlands 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Control. And when putting the desktop card up against the low power 80W Max-Q variant of this GPU, the departure is very pregnant, with the desktop menu pulling ahead by 38% on average.

For the RTX 2070 Super we only currently have information for low power Max-Q laptops that allow the GPU run up to 90W. In this instance, the desktop card comes in 35% faster on average, putting the low ability model to shame. In the most GPU demanding titles of contempo years, the desktop PC tin can pull ahead by twoscore to l percent in some instances, so this Max-Q model really is not delivering RTX 2070 Super-like performance.

RTX 2080 Desktop vs. Laptop (Max-Q 90W)

Similar story with the RTX 2080 Super. Margins are a little smaller than with the RTX 2070 Super, just still, the desktop variant is 29% faster than the laptop Max-Q variant running at 90W. At times, the margin can exist as high equally 50%.

Desktop to Laptop Equivalents

This begs the question, where do the laptop GPUs really align in terms of the desktop GeForce line-up? We've seen that laptop GPUs like the RTX 2070 are very far from their desktop analogue...

Permit'southward have a look.

In terms of performance, the RTX 2060 at 115W is well-nigh like a GTX 1660 Ti from the desktop line, plus the inclusion of ray tracing back up and tensor cores which the GTX 1660 Ti doesn't have.

This means that annihilation below the RTX 2060 115W, including the 80W model and laptop GTX 1660 Ti, is more in line with lower-end GTX series GPUs that we didn't test in this review.

The RTX 2070 for laptops at 115W sits in betwixt the GTX 1660 Ti and the RTX 2060. Here we tin can meet the GTX 1660 Ti for desktops is 5% slower on average, merely we'll also mention the RTX 2060 is near ten% faster, and so information technology's closer to 1660 Ti than it is to RTX 2060. Meanwhile the Max-Q variant of the RTX 2070 is well within GTX 1660 Ti territory and is, in fact, slower on boilerplate.

Then right at the summit of the stack, the RTX 2080 Super Max-Q delivers roughly equivalent operation to the desktop RTX 2060, although it is faster in some titles. Despite this, at no stage does the 2080 Super Max-Q outperform the desktop RTX 2070 and in the worst cases gets easily beaten. This so places the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q below the RTX 2060.

What Nosotros Learned

When comprehensively exploring how the GeForce desktop line stacks up against the mobile, it's clear that even when 2 GPUs have the same name, y'all just won't get desktop-class functioning from the laptop production. The desktop cards are 15 to 35% faster depending on the comparison, and the inclusion of new Super GPUs into the line appears to be widening the gap.

This ways that each laptop GPU actually delivers performance of a desktop GPU several rungs beneath in the line-up. An RTX 2070 for laptops more closely aligns with a GTX 1660 Ti for desktops. The RTX 2080 Super Max-Q is in line with an RTX 2060. Then on.

Now, there is nada fundamentally wrong with the GeForce GPUs you lot get on gaming laptops... and they also happen to exist the best you can get. Both AMD and Intel have been absent from the mobile PC gaming marketplace for quite some fourth dimension.

Current gaming laptops can deliver decent 1080p performance on the go; while the 1660 Ti or RTX 2060 for laptops may not stack up well against desktop cards, in many games you're getting at to the lowest degree a threescore FPS feel with Ultra-type settings. In some titles you're looking at well above 100 FPS.

Given that some of these laptops come up in at less than 5 pounds and are very portable, the performance on offering is impressive at times and even a pocket-size mid-range arrangement is highly capable in today'southward games.

For u.s.a., the primary issue at stake here is that Nvidia won't differentiate mobile GPUs and continues to rely on desktop-equivalent naming. Perhaps saying there's a mere RTX 2060 in a $iii,000 gaming notebook wouldn't go down well (a desktop with the same GPU can be built for a third of the price). Calling that GPU an RTX 2080 Super instead, using that expensive silicon, and slapping on "with Max-Q Pattern" branding at the end may equal more sales.

All the same, when you're just getting started in the PC gaming ecosystem, all the jargon and names tin exist confusing. I could argue it'southward always been like this (except it hasn't), and most of the time when graphics chips have not aligned precisely between desktop and mobile, GPUs have received different names or a corresponding mobile designation.

In our opinion, the middle ground would be to get dorsum to the G naming scheme. RTX 2070M. RTX 2060M. Like shooting fish in a barrel to understand, the M immediately signifies to buyers that the GPU isn't the same as the desktop card, only resides in the same performance class as the desktop GPU relative to others in the line-up.

Ultimately, we hope you've learned where a gaming laptop will slot in compared to a desktop PC you might be more familiar with, or vice versa. There'south no right or wrong answer as to whether you should buy a gaming laptop or gaming desktop given they serve completely unlike markets and use cases, only it is squeamish to know the bodily differences in performance on offer, not just performance assumptions made based on component names.

Shopping Shortcuts
  • GeForce RTX 2060 on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 2070 Super on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 2080 Super on Amazon
  • Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Laptops on Amazon
  • Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Laptops on Amazon
  • Nvidia RTX 2060 Laptops on Amazon
  • Intel Core i7-10875H Laptops on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS Laptops on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen seven 4800H Laptops on Amazon