"just buy a gaming laptop" they said... (vs tiny pc) 

Thank you to Lenovo for sponsoring this video! Check out their products here: go.magik.ly/ml/23i1q/

a comparision video with one side being sponsored? okay

If you need/want a PC, "just buy a laptop" only works if your budget is infinite. Laptop is a lot worse at home, upgradability, and in price, PC is worse on the go.

I think that one aspect that is being overlooked is that high performance laptops can get annoyingly loud with the fans ramping up at high loads.

When sponsor pays you well

People need to stop this comparison between the two. Laptops and desktops do similar things but they fit different niches within the pc space. Desktops can give you more performance while also giving you so many upgradability options. Laptops are meant to be on the go options and they do so by using mobile components.

This entire video is an ad and im disappointed

I personally have ditched my mini itx 10L build for an old 8 gen i7 thinkpad X1 yoga laptop. Paired it with an RTX 4060 eGPU - TH3P4G3 and I am absolutely loving the results. 1600% 3Dmark Score gain 💀 Conclusion: a light and portable laptop with a thunderbolt port to connect an eGPU brings back the upgradability to the equation. Worth it! Edit: Costs me 879$ details are in the comments below..👇

I have a friend who frequently flys abroad, and has a pelicase with a sff pc in as well as a portable monitor and mmk, obviously a very enthusiast thing to do but he enjoys it!

I'm a trucker and I'm not hurting too much for space. The case I picked after some measurements is the Antec Dark Cube for MATX or ITX. Using a ceiling style industrial TV mount I can fit up to a 42" TV or Monitor. As for a flat surface I was looking into the Nerdytec Cycon² but think I'll just make my own. I've got plenty of tools for a fair bit of DIY. I've used a laptop over the past 5 years or so, my Alienware Area 51m with 9700k, RTX 2080, and 64GB DDR4 RAM. It plays most all my usual games pretty good. But the 17" 1080p screen isn't great.. So once Arrow Lake and RTX 5000 hit the shelves, I'll be upgrading. Most likely going with a 42" 4k OLED TV, in particular the Sony A90k. It all should be a significant improvement in my gaming and video viewing experience over my laptop.

I originally started my PC joruney on a "desktop replacement" gaming laptop. It was great because i dont have much space where i live and the size was great for travel. But when new parts bgan to outpace it, i sold it and built my first pc which was SFF. And i never really looked back with most of my builds being SFF.

comparison video with sponsorship side, lmfao

I'm a game developer, so I buy laptops to go out and demo games to testers and for work connectivity between the office and home. The most decisive factor in my decision to buy a laptop was the advent of AMD's APU series and the "RTX 4060". The computing power I need hasn't changed much over time. Seven years ago, I needed a top-of-the-line CPU with AIO and an 80ti or better graphics card. Now I want a laptop under 2kg that I can throw in my bag and travel with.

I def recommend a laptop for ppl who just want a pre-built 4060 pc. You can get a 4060 laptop for under 1000$ now and a prebuilt 4060 pc is like 1400+ and u still need a monitor keyboard ect. And a 4060 laptop is very close to performance to a desktop 4060 (provided proper wattage). When u get to higher tier graphics cards, pc will def be better for sure

0:43 HE IS USING INVERTED SCROLLING AHHHHHHHHH

A laptop is fine - by that, I mean something that is actually slim and light with strictly a very efficient and cool APU within. So that you can check your mails on the train to work, finish your slides and head to the meeting room with the device to do you presentation by connecting to the big screen. Later take your laptop home to finish a few things, set up tomorrow or be able to troubleshoot from home in case something goes wrong. Maybe play some FTL on the side. That's a laptop. A gaming laptop however is not that. That's actually nothing like a laptop. It's thick, it's heavy, it's boiling hot and it's noisy AF with a battery that depletes in an hour. You wanted a laptop but want to use it as a full gaming desktop - now you get NEITHER. It is a failed concept. A small pc on the other hand (I mean sub5L like a Velka 3) do offers desktop benefits, like performance, modularity, etc. You cannot use them on the road itself, but that's ok for 99% of people with a laptop too anyway as doing actual 2-3 hour work on a laptop is tiring, a proper desktop enviroment is needed for that anyway. Same for gaming. However, if you are a student and have your monitor and peripherials on both your dorm and at home, then carrying just that Velka 3 once every week or second week from one place to another is no biggie - especially with an appropriate padded camerabag. Bottom line is that laptops have their specific usecase and are valid for that (see first paragraph). Small pc's also. Gaming laptops on the other hand are for people who cannot make decisions, so they get the worst of both worlds - a heaviness and noisiness of a badly done pc, with the worse performance and bad ergonomics of a laptop.

People don't realize how amazing Laptop is in term of portability, convenience and simplicity. Same thing goes to Desktop, they are super powerful, upgradability, and customizable

I’ve owned many laptops and my main gripe that convinced me to build a sff pc was the cpu thermal throttling. Even with laptops with Liquid Metal, i had an unreliable experience with keeping consistent performance. Upgradability is the second obvious bonus.

To those saying "never buy a laptop" is ok but theres people who always are on the go. And need that portability

I'll always pick a desktop over a laptop for gaming, but depending on what your needs are, a laptop is sometimes the only choice.

You nailed it at 6:50 where the Gemcase sits inside the NZXT. Opting for SFF, to me, embodies an enthusiast's passion-a challenge to shrink the overwhelming presence of an ATX into a seemingly impossible size with all your dream components. There’s immense satisfaction in that accomplishment that ‘using a laptop’ won't provide.

Over the past few years I have built one ATX and 19 mini-ITX/SFF computers in various cases and configurations. I build mini-ITX sized (

Are people really still comparing laptops to desktops? If you're a basement dweller, care about upgradability, performance, then desktop. If you need a computer for portability, like a student or office worker, then buy laptop. It's literally not that hard.

So I'm an Indian living in Saudi for work since past year and I have a normal Atx gaming pc. in few days I'm going home for vacation and I can't take my pc with me that's a negative point for me and I'm planning to sell my pc when I'm gonna quit my job in Saudi and have to buy a new pc somewhere where I'm gonna start work So in these situations I think these kinds of small pc will be a huge help. If you ask why I'm not considering a laptop it's because I have laptop. It's not upgradable it's not powerful I can't build it myself 😅

Honestly I’m not here to argue between desktop/pc I’m just here to admire . Truly love the different aesthetic and minimalist styles of your builds

For most people I can think of, they are better of just go with gaming laptop. I think a small pc only make sense, if one has more than one device or one don't need a mobile windows device. Like I can imagine Misinform V3 go really well with this concept. A laptop tablet on the go, and use the PC like a dock, but except it's a whole another PC without any loss in performance unlike an eGPU. And If needed bring the PC along and V3 IS a portable monitor.

Bro released a 10 minute commercial

There's a single fan 4060 Ti, I have one in my Velka 3. Not sure how you haven't seen the StormX

I have been living in the UK for 4 years now, I am looking at going back to my home country (South Africa) for a few years. I have a lot of family in the UK, so I will be visiting for Christmas and maybe some birthdays, but I also don't intend in staying in South Africa more than 5 years, because of this I am planning on getting a SFF PC so taking my PC with me when I move won't be a nightmare (When I first moved to the UK I took my full tower PC, never again). On top of that I do really like the look of SFF and the space saving, I do also like the clean minimalist look a lot of them have. I really wish I wasn't a gamer because then I would just go with Minisforum or a laptop. But I think the SFF would be perfect for me where it is mostly permanent where I will stay, but with plans on moving in the future not having to worry about lugging a huge PC around.

How you display cpu, gpu and fps like that?

A person that moves around still needs a laptop. Can't bring along a monitor and a keyboard.

The video card on my $3000+ laptop died after just under 3 years and it will cost around $2000 just to replace the one circuit board. So I'm going with an SFF PC now since I don't need the extreme mobility of a laptop. I mostly use the PC in the break room at work, so an SFF PC that I can just throw into my locker every day after work will be much better in essentially every way that matters. And if some internal components die, I won't have to shell out an arm and a leg to replace them.

Your builds are minimal, bold, and beautiful. The excitement and thrill one experiences building ITX builds will never be the same to a laptop. Keep us inspiring. 🍂

I also upgraded from the IS-55 to the AXP90-53 Full Copper and it's at least 6 degrees cooler during gaming on a 5800x3D

PCS: 1. Upgradable 2. Cheaper 3. Durable Laptops: 1. Space efficient 2. Easier to sell 3. On the go 4. Better warranty coverage

An alternate solution, build a pc, keep it on/idle, and whenever you game, use the remote pc option and make ur pc controllable through a laptop(could be a cheap laptop), then game??? Could it work

I really neede a laptop when I was a student. Tried a powerful PC at home and a super unnderpowered laptop with SSH and teamviewer combo, but it was simply bot enough. And when I would travel it was even worse. So a big fat gaming laptop was my thing. Wish they had M1/2/3/4 back then, but who am I kidding! I was not able to afford meat back then 😂

imo the actual use of small gaming desktop pc is not portability but to hide it, especially for some of us that wants a clean aesthetic on our desk, free from tech vibes. It is mind-blowing to me that not until now we have clean aesthetic cases like fractal north and terra with wooden accents for pc cases.

10:58 i dare you to repurpose a laptop screen for this 😂 it would be crazy af but really cool too

I haven't own a gaming laptop since 2016 and recently bought one because I need portability. Overall I'm amazed at how impressive gaming laptops are now. They are alot slimmer than they are used to back then. I'm thinking of building my own PC next once new gpu series is out!

I have to add, with the recent influx of ultra tiny pcs loke the khadas mind or the um690, i would say thats another option for taking a desktop experience on the go, but without the advantages to desktop repairability and replacability

I bought my first Laptop, a Lenovo Legion 5, when I needed to replace a GTX780ti, but it was late 2020, with the graphics card crises underway. I purchased the Laptop on sale, just before the new models were coming out, instead of getting another card. I was worried, and the Laptops specs seemed kinda modest (R7-4800H & RTX 2060@115w). I've been loving my Laptop ever since- I keep it docked with a monitor keyboard and mouse, in my bedroom 90% of the time. The laptop is comparable to my PC- R5-5600g & RTX 3060ti, but I think the 5600g bottlenecks the graphics card a bit. (I wonder how much the, Pcie 3 vs Pcie 4, makes a difference at this level?) I'm hoping to get an R7 5700 or R7 5800 CPU sometime. If I were to build an ITX PC right now, I think I would choose the AM4 platform, even though that would be so 2020. The price and choices available in Motherboards would win me over. Besides, yes AM4 is over (kinda) but it is still relevant, and able to support a decent system.

A tiny PC can't do some of the things a laptop can (e.g., take it on vacation, during a trip, start it up in the train or car). A tiny PC is a good addition, but a gaming laptop is an all-rounder.

Took me a minute to realize a portable PC is just a versatile console

in conclusion: this is a useless 12 minute sponsor use common sense wether you want a desktop, mini desktop or laptop. Thats all you have to do

sub 20L PCs are the best way to go coming into this new era of laptops having zero upgradable parts

laptop turns into literal potato, that works for 3hrs max unplugged

ngl, for a second I thought I was watch LTT 0:18 :')

Anyone know what is the nice overlay that shows CPU and GPU temps? Looks so much cleaner than the MSI Afterburner

Laptops are best for portability and power, until u need to replace a soldered ram after warranty, to keep it running 😢

This felt like a 12 minutes ad for the Lenovo laptop 🤷🏻‍♂️ I already bought a secondary monitor for my laptop, next pc will be a sff desktop since the components of my laptop are dying one by one, battery died after 3 years, so it become a stationary laptop, monitor died last year, keyboard not responding anymore, i'm lucky it still works.

there is a little bit of review in your advertising 👎👎👎👎

I like my Razer laptop a lot. That being said, I do miss having a dedicated PC I can upgrade when necessary. But my plan for this laptop was to have a solid 4 years out of it before I build myself a dedicated PC. So far, I'm nearly on 2 years. All the games I play run flawlessly, and my PC backlog of games will all run fine.

I just don’t want a goddy huge pc tower that screams look at me but I don’t want a laptop that goes obsolete in a couple of years and can’t be repaired

Tiny PC > Gaming Laptop.... trust me...

Some people would like to "lug" around SFF PCs in their backpacks. Especially the ones who are crazy about this hobby. Also, SFF PCs don't need to be just for gaming. Productivity work can be done too. But yeah, lugging pcs (even if SFF) and setting it up in a coffee shop with a portable monitor and mouse and wireless mechanical keyboard seems a bit overkill when you can just bring a laptop. Anyway, you're sitting in the coffee shop for just an hour or so at the most. But writers sometimes used to bring their typewriters at the turn of the century to coffee shops in USA or Europe or even South America and happily clack away at their novel. People didn't mind and some even felt it soothing. Now in the modern age, you shouldn't be surprised if an established (or even budding for that matter) writer walks into a coffee shop (where he is very well known) and suddenly whips out a SFF PC along with a portable monitor and keyboard and mouse and starts typing away.

Ditched my custom built desktop for a Legion 5. Never looked back. 👌🏼

What program did you use for your stats display? It looks clean and minimalist.

1:35 get something like a legion go and be "sad" 😂 (Caption says set)

What about a framework laptop? It’s expensive but completely upgradeable.

Lol. I literally take my ITX PC with me everywhere. When I'm on vacation, at the library cause I get distracted at home, out at work, and maybe the coffee shop. 9/10 times I'm usually just meeting up with someone at coffee shops, so rarely I decide to do that. I do post production work, so it's great to know I can have an insane workstation with me on the go with the ability to swap in and out components.

You built a lot of mini pc. I wonder if you've ever wanted to sell some of them?

Laptops are too small to have acceptable cooling and noise levels. But 18" is starting to get there.

I'll stick with my tiny terror A4H20 4080 SFF Build

In Australia this same Laptop will cost me $4,399.00

If you're a road warrior and can game privately in hotel rooms or some other private space, then SFF PCs are great. If you game in public in libraries, coffeeshops, or even (if you dare) at work where there's a power outlet, then a gaming laptop is obviously the best unless you're an exhibitionist and desire weird looks from others. If you are constantly on the go in public transport, from buses, trains to aircraft, then a handheld is best, along with a beefy powerbank.

i have both a sff pc and a gaming laptop. i'm just here for the pretty B roll.

Like laptops, Sff PCs are also only really viable if you have disposable income because itx motherboards, psus and cases are disproportionately more expensive. To make the most out of each $ (majority of the demographic) Matx is the way. Easier to manage thermals too

My friend fried the whole goddamn laptop while just replaceing the thermal paste , he disconnected the battery and when he reconnected there was a spark, these are high amperage batteries and you should also ground yourself first ,the whole motherboard needed to be replaced and it costed a lot , ill frickin use my ipad with a raspberry pi running linux rather than buying a laptop ffs.

Nah i'm rocking Parsec now with my gaming pc at home while using my laptop (surface laptop 1) rendering 3d stuff and playing games on the go. The downside is I have to be aware of low internet connection and tiny delay streaming on the go. Best setup ever.

I went SFF to replace my console in the living room and wanted something similar in size

I upgraded last year from my Asus rog 1060 I paid 1400 for and bought a legion 5i slim with a 4060 for only 850. It works great because I use it for my personal things and still have the power for gaming without breaking the bank. The only missile in 5 years I will probably have to upgrade for another 850 but it will be all new parts.

Brother what is that FPS counter?!

Have you heard the single fan rtx 4070 devyn?

the sponsor makes the video so biased like please why would you sponsor a comparaison video

Take this from me as a laptop only gamer atm due to my job restrictions I had to switch to a laptop from a desktop 4 years ago. A desktop 4070 outperforms a laptop 4090 in all games. It is NOT the same. I really miss my desktop setup; laptop does the job but you genuinely feel the massive performance hit.

Hey, what software are you using for the performance overlay?

Im here so early that i was confused at the lack of views and comments

I want a small form factor PC as my home network storage or server

Boooo 🍅 🍅🍅🍅🍅 If it’s going to be a sponsored video, make it one that’s not a VS. If Company A is paying you to say A is better than B, you mislead your entire viewership to believing that A is better. A SFF PC is a better portable option in a bunch of cases.

never ending debate at all. devyn is right it depends on your usecase and lifestyle

gaming laptop still the best option if you are travelling. no handheld can be that powerful and mobile at the same time. those laptops comes with DISCRETE GPU. for those who are looking for small form factor desktop PC there are some from silverstonetek with the line up name "sugo" like the silverstone sugo 15, that is so small, but could pack three slot GPU and 240mm radiator/AIO.and micro ATX or ITX boards.i think its merely 15 liter in volume. you could fit it in your suitcase or duffel bags actually. 😅 those type could give you over a hundred FPS gaming anywhere. provided you carry a portable monitor too.

I just heavily dislike plasticky laptops , and once you get to a good enough level its price usually isnt compared to a desktop. So id rather compromise, get a solid laptop ( like a thinkpad ) and get a radeon 780m igpu or even the 890m igpu to match a 3050 in a 54watt envelope.

I went with the alienware m16 r2 gaming laptop. It has the ultra 9 processor and the 4070 gpu. I went with this because of its capabilities and portability. I like to play games but I also go to school. This works out perfectly. The other specs like the refresh rate, resolution, and fps are surprisingly good for a laptop. I just added a second ssd the Samsung 990 pro 2T for playing games. Good performing mobile pc that I love. Fan noise and warmth to the touch yes but, it's not all that bad.

You made a lot of misleading points and omit a lot of information for gaming laptops. Here's a couple where you're missing key information for. High resolution gaming: Thats been possible since pascal came out because during pascal and turing, the mobile and desktop gpu's were within 5-10% of each other across the board, including high end laptop gpu's. Infact, its with ampere and lovelace that gaming at higher resolutions has become HARDER. NOT easier. That DLSS and FG ain't so hot. Laptop vs desktop gpu's: Nvidia has crammed in a 200w desktop rtx 6000 quadro with a die size larger than a desktop 4090 into a 15' 3kg laptop 4-5 years ago. We have laptops with liquid cooling and ones which use PTM7950 or LM. All things that greatly boost laptop cooling. People have infact shunt modded their 4090m's to use 250w without much issue. So its not that laptops cannot compete with a 4090, its that nvidia wont LET THEM. Nvida threatened eluktronics because they increased laptop gpu wattage without nvidia's permission. Upgradability: You can upgrade more than just the ram and storage in laptops. You can potentially upgrade the battery too. Wifi card. Heck, even the display if you wanted. Usecase: A gaming laptop isn't just a laptop. Its quite literally a gaming desktop you can easily lift with 1 hand. If you're in a longhaul truck or a van then its incredibly handy to have a gaming laptop that can be easily moved around and stored since you will need to adapt your storage needs on the fly. Heck you'll just have more space to work with. Remember, a gaming laptop can also serve as a desktop, laptop, console and even portable console. Just like the handhelds, gaming laptops pack the same iGPU's so you can just do gaming on battery. A SFF pc won't be able to compete there. Cost: I don't think you really take into account the actual cost. If you choose poorly, a gaming laptop will cost more. But if you don't it will cost less. For example, that legion slim 14' went from $1000-$1300 for the 7840hs + 4060 with a 2.8k 120hz OLED display. The display alone will be insanely expensive on desktops. Then there's the smaller case, gpu, motherboard, etc. that all add extra cost. I'm quite sure a super small SFF pc with an oled display, 4060, 7700, etc. will cost quite a bit more than the laptop. And that legion slim 14' will have 8-10hr battery life due to ryzen. There's the nitro 5 at $1000 packing a 6800h and 3070ti (desktop 3070) with a QHD 165hz panel. Desktop equivalent would be around the same cost as that laptop all things considered. Tuning: An aspect I see you don't cover. This includes stuff like using LLT software to bypass dynamic boost, propping up the laptop for better cooling, repasting the laptop, undervolting the GPU, etc. all can help the laptop run cooler and faster. Infact, if you actually covered this, you'd realize chip makers and OEM's are artificially limiting this aspect. Noise and temps: Unless you live in complete pindrop silence, there will be background noise to mask the laptop's fans to an extent. You mention zero tuning to make the fans run quieter. I mean if you do no research on laptops, but do all the research on desktops, that ain't fair to the laptops I really don't think you've given a proper and fair view on this debate. And the whole angle about laptop performance, thats incorrect. Laptops parts are being artificially limited, more than desktops. This means nvida, intel and amd give you intentionally limited parts instead of the full ones despite the laptop being able to handle it well. That ain't fair to the laptop now, is it?

LAPTOP IS BORING. SMALL FORM IS FUN.

They should just build chonky gaming laptops without the battery and desktop specs due to not needing to rely upon a battery. Purpose being you get the whole package of monitor, keyboard, slim form factor, maybe more shock resistant, and mouse pad for convenience when you need to quickly check something. Basically a desktop for the person that very rarely uses it like a laptop.

With new laptops that you can't even upgrade the ram, small cases are getting more and more popular in my opinion. And there is repairability issue with laptops - if your CPU/GPU chips are dead you end up with dead laptop, which is so expensive to repair, with pc you can just swap the CPU/GPU or other element and you good to go.

The problem is the laptop overheats a lot but you can buy a special cooling pad fan to put something underneath just to cool the laptop so it may take maybe between 10° maybe 20°C down just depends what kind of game you’re playing. I’m kind of settings.

I would like to see this video again without it being sponsored... i bought a laptop some 12 yrs ago, not for gaming and it was pretty much outdated within 7 months...i got it when touchscreens on laptop was a new commodity plus it would swivel and fold like a tablet. Once technology on phones got better i haven't had a need to open my laptop since...it currently resides somewhere in my closet for the past 10 yrs...however, i am currently on the market for a mini pc with oculink... destop pc's are just too big and bulky for my liking...a mini pc, i can just unplug and put it in my gym bag or coat pocket and plug into just about any tv if I'm traveling.

laptop should just come with separate keyboard that can be stack on top of the chassis with the price they come with, this wouldn't cost them that much, plus they can add more cooling and draw more power for both gpu and cpu

I have a 3.9L tiny PC, the issue with a dual fan 4060 and low profile cpu cooler, you really can’t push out crazy gaming performance. I can hit around 120 frames on war zone with mostly low settings

Gaming notebook? No thx: Sucks as a gaming rig at home, sucks as a (mobile) notebook. Its really only good for gaming while travelling. They are heavy, the psu is very heavy. They get hot often, they tend to die a lot (i watch repair channels a lot). And finally, their cpu/gpu specs dont translate 1:1 to their desktop counterparts.

I travel on a weekly basis Monday thru Friday, was looking at possibly a portable setup for hotel gaming, might just go with a SFF setup

Coooool. So nice I found you. Yes, no gaming Laptop, screw them. I'm about to build a mini PC for my wife. She needs a PC. Its not to carry around. I'm happy what I can learn :D

Instead of pushing foldable screen for phone….I think it’s better for manufacture push foldable screen for pc etc. LOL

I was a laptop gamer...laptop gaming is great for gaming ans portability But when the battery expired can't full charge it can't give you full performance even with plug in cord...u will need to change the battery to a new one for good performance back

Which software do you use to see fps, cpu, ram and gpu stats?

i want an itx not to carry around but because i have limited space.. and since its still a pc i can upgrade it.. eGPU are good option to but in our country they are still scarce and expensive

I need a new pc for my wife... but she wants to sit next to me when we game together.... so her pc and monitor have to fit next to me on my own desk. But i also want a new htpc for the living room and it would be nice if i can also play native on it...at the moment i would use steam streaming to play in living room but the game is running on my gaming pc. I thougjt i could usw one mininpc that i can move from the living room to to my room if my wife wants to game with me in my room. At the moment the only thing that stops me from building a mini pc (I thought about 4 Liter case), is my bank account ^^ I dont have any budget at all for that