You don’t need a PhD to see that gaming rigs are significantly more expensive than their non-gaming counterparts. But what’s interesting is that gaming laptops tend to be more expensive than gaming PCs, at least in terms of what you get for your money.
There’s a wide chasm in perceived value between gaming laptops and gaming PCs, and the best high-end gaming laptops often cost more pound-for-pound compared to similar-tier gaming PCs. Both might pack a blisteringly fast Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU and accompanying CPU, but one’s going to hit your wallet a lot harder. Why is that?
Thiago Trevisan / IDG
Thiago Trevisan / IDG
<div class="scrim" style="background-color: #fff" aria-hidden="true"></div>
</div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Thiago Trevisan / IDG</p></div>Well, I’m a gaming laptop expert and I have lots of experience with this, so allow me to shed light on all the major factors that play into why gaming laptops are so expensive.
Reason #1: Convenience
The portability of a gaming laptop is its unique selling point versus normal gaming rigs. Not everyone can afford the luxury of a permanent gaming PC plus a separate laptop, so the ability to combine high-end gaming within a laptop is understandably sought after.
Indeed, gaming laptops fit the bill for so many people. They come in handy for work and travel, but the sheer flexibility of playing anywhere in your home is also valuable.
Thiago Trevisan / IDG
<div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Falcon Northwest Tiki custom gaming PC" class="wp-image-2413705" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Even a svelte PC such as the Falcon Northwest Tiki isn’t mobile enough for some.</figcaption></figure><p class="imageCredit">Thiago Trevisan / IDG</p></div> </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Thiago Trevisan / IDG</p></div>Sure, there are diminutive PC gaming desktops—such as the Falcon Northwest FragBox and Falcon Northwest Tiki—that are small enough to lug around, but they still require separate monitors, keyboards, and mice that kill on-demand portability. Nothing compares to the all-in-one convenience of a gaming laptop.
That’s why gaming laptops outsell gaming PCs—and by 2025, gaming laptop sales are projected to be double the sales of gaming PCs. When there’s this much demand, it’s no surprise to see rising prices.
Reason #2: Complex designs
Gaming laptops aren’t just in higher demand than gaming PCs. They’re simply more expensive to produce due to engineering costs.
Think of all the components that go into a laptop: display, keyboard, touchpad, CPU, etc. All of these parts don’t just have to fit together—they also have limited amounts of space to work with.
That means laptop components need to be much smaller compared to desktop components, and the overall package of a laptop tends to be much more complex than a desktop PC.
Thiago Trevisan / IDG
<div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Open gaming laptop with internal components revealed" class="wp-image-2413717" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">That’s a lot of technology packed into a small space!</figcaption></figure><p class="imageCredit">Thiago Trevisan / IDG</p></div> </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Thiago Trevisan / IDG</p></div>It’s one thing to pay a markup on high-quality components, like OLED screens, mechanical keyboards, and lots of RAM. It’s a step up to figure out how to get all those pieces neatly into the tiny chassis of a laptop.
So, translating components into laptop-compatible form factors takes engineering manpower, and that drives up costs.
And one particular part incurs a big cost: the battery. Whereas a desktop PC can support heavy and humongous power supplies, the battery in a laptop adds weight and places further design restrictions due to all the space it takes up and all the heat it generates.
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