Desktop Vs Laptop Graphics Cards: What Is The Difference?

Anyone who has shopped around gaming rigs must have known that graphics cards are the most important thing to look for. With an inappropriate graphics card, your overall gaming experience will turn out to be a disappointing one. When it comes to gaming, refresh rates also hold the utmost importance in offering gamers better control over gameplay. So, to get a higher refresh rate and support your 240hz gaming monitor or laptop, you need a graphics card. But which one to choose: desktop or laptop graphics card? Let’s explore the difference between them to find the answer.

Desktop Graphics Card: These graphics boast a simple design. These are assembled in a PCB with all the cooling solutions, like fans and thermal blocks, to prevent the graphics card from overheating when it’s in use. And, with the increase in demand related to processing and graphics technology, this setup is a necessity to ensure efficiency in gaming and other resource-intensive tasks. ASUS 2-in-1 Q535 is best gaming Laptop.

Laptop Graphics Card: Similar to their counterparts, laptop graphics cards function the same but are different. Both are responsible for projecting images and visuals like desktop graphics do. However, their design is different. While desktop graphics are also known as dedicated graphics because they are separate from the other computer parts and are designed purely for improving graphical performance, laptop graphics are mobile and portable, hence the name mobile processors. They are smaller and have a small form factor. On the other hand, desktop graphics are large and bulky and have considerable space to accommodate graphics cards.

Laptop Graphics Cards vs Desktop Graphics Cards:

Desktop graphics provide superior power better than laptop graphics. However, laptop graphics give you a moveability advantage as you can travel anywhere carrying your laptop.
You cannot upgrade a laptop graphics card like desktop graphics because its components are directly on the motherboard. So, when you are the requirement of better performance, you have to buy a new laptop. Considering this factor, laptops can be pretty expensive. Conversely, you can swap desktop graphics with a new component.

Laptop graphics cards can be power-hungry when under an intensive workload, which can drain your battery quickly. Desktop graphics cards easily prevent this problem and facilitate cooling and heat dissipation.

Performance Comparison:

Besides supporting graphics-intensive work, the most significant challenge of laptop graphics cards is to keep the power consumption minimal. But to make this happen, GPU tends to become weaker. GPU lineups for desktops and laptops (for instance, Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti) are distinct because of their processing and heat dissipation capabilities. Unless your laptop has high cooling capacities, it will likely overheat, and the battery will melt. But different versions for desktops and laptops might not be obvious to the users.

To understand the performance aspect, take the example of the RTX 3080 Ti. The desktop version of the graphics is best in class for 4K gaming. On the other hand, the laptop version of the RTX 3080 Ti is similar to the RTX 3070 for desktops, which is really good in exchange for portability.

Can a Desktop Graphic Card be Used on a Laptop?

Yes, you can. And you don’t have to work much to support an external graphics card. One of the options to add an external graphics card is Razer Core X. It helps you enable desktop-compatible GPUs through a dock. However, it’s not a convenient option to add to the laptop. If your laptop has an integrated graphics card, use it only.

Which Graphics Card to Buy: Laptop or Desktop?

If you compare both laptop and desktop graphics cards, laptop graphics cards are comparatively more expensive than desktop cards but offer the highest portability. Analyse both graphics cards, your needs and your budget and decide which one is actually worth it.

They also may not be as powerful as desktop ones, but they are great alternatives to fulfil your graphical needs on the go. For example, you can still get gaming performance at 60FPS. If you want to buy a laptop, check whether it has a laptop graphics card before zeroing in on any model. If it has, compare it with the desktop counterpart to make an informed decision. You can look for a laptop that is available at an affordable price to make it a value-for-money purchase.

Conclusion:

While users expect the laptop graphics card to work as desktop graphics, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon, as both devices are built for purpose and can’t be swapped. However, the good news is that you will likely find laptops offering desktop-like performance, but they are costly.

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