Does this laptop outperform this desktop?

Question

If anybody has been answering tons of these questions lately, I'm sorry, because I am the one asking them all.

My sister stumbled across this laptop that to me, seems to outdo the desktop I was planning on getting.

I thought I'd ask you guys who are more tech-savvy than me.

Both these computers are about the same price and now I am seriously thinking of getting this laptop instead.

It's going to be for some serious gaming. Well....not too serious I guess. Sims 2 and 3 and Crysis and Halo. Specs for the laptop are below.

Operating System*
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Memory*
4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory
Display Size*
18.4" widescreen
Display Type*
HD+ TruBrite® TFT LCD display
Display Resolution*
Supports 720p content, 1680x945 (HD+), 16:9 aspect ratio
Graphics Engine*
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M
Graphics Memory*
2298MB total: 1GB GDDR5 discrete memory + up to 1274MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology
Hard Drive*
500GB HDD (7200rpm)
Optical Drives*
DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive supporting up to 11 formats
Webcam
Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel
FM Tuner with Antenna
No FM Tuner with Antenna
Wireless LAN*
Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth
No Bluetooth (No Antenna)
Inputs and Controls
Mute button, TOSHIBA eco utility™ (Energy-saving mode), Premium US keyboard with 10-key pad (Black), TouchPad™ pointing device with multi touch control, CD/DVD Buttons (Play/Pause, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track), Media button

Security and Protection
Security Cable Lock Slot
Modem
No Modem port
LAN
10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
Audio
Microphone jack (mono), Built-in microphone, harman/kardon® stereo speakers, Headphone jack (stereo), S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port)
AC Adapter
180W (19V x 9.5A) Auto-sensing,100-240V AC Adapter
Battery
High Capacity Li-Ion (8000mAh, 12-Cell)
PC Express Slot
1-ExpressCard™ Slot
Media
Memory Card Reader, S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port)
USB Ports*
3-USB (2.0), 1-eSATA/USB (2.0) combo port with Sleep and Charge
iLINK
i.LINK™ IEEE-1394
HDMI
HDMI-CEC output port
Software*
Dolby® Home Theater®, TOSHIBA ConfigFree®, Corel® DVD MovieFactory® for TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA PC Health Monitor, WildTangent® Orb™ Games Console, TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor), TOSHIBA Recovery Disk Creator, Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial), Hard disc (HDD) recovery, TOSHIBA DVD Player, Microsoft® Works Version 9.0, TOSHIBA Disc Creator, TOSHIBA Face Recognition, Microsoft® Silverlight™ , Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30-day trial), Microsoft® Windows Live Essentials including Photo Gallery, Messenger, Mail and Writer.
Weight*
Starting at 9.70 lbs.

And the desktop I was going to get is this:



Operating system
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Processor
Intel Core i7-920 Processor

Memory
9GB

Memory speed
9GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM memory (3x2048MB and 3x1024MB)

Total memory slots
6 DIMM (240-pin, DDR3) (occupied)

Maximum memory expansion
24GB

Graphics card
NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 graphics card with 1.8 GB dedicated graphics memory, DVI, HDMI, and VGA capabilities and support for Microsoft DirectX 10

TV & entertainment experience
N/A

PCI expansion
1 PCI Express x1 (one available); 1 PCI Express x4 (one available); 2 PCI Express x16 (one available)

Hard drive
1 Terabyte Serial ATA hard drive

Primary CD/DVD drive
SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology; Write: 16x max DVD+/-R, 12x max DVD+/-R DL, 8x max DVD+RW, 6x max DVD-RW, 12x max DVD-RAM, 40x max CD-R, 32x max CD-RW; Read: 16x max DVD-ROM, 40x max CD-ROM

Secondary CD/DVD drive
N/A

Networking
10/100/1000Base-T network interface; Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n

Sound card
High Definition Audio with up to 7.1 surround sound capabilities


Does one outperform the other?

Which one would you go with for gaming?

Answer 1

You didn't mention the CPU for the laptop, but with those specs, I would assume an i5. The desktop definitely has more raw power (CPU, more RAM, more power), but that laptop's GPU is smokin (see source). The amount of RAM on the desktop is a bit overkill (never need more than 6GB, I only have 4GB). The GPU's are very similar (same core) but the desktop should perform better (marginally). Overall I would go with the laptop for two reason: 1) Similar specs (a little slower, but it's a laptop and to be expected; still blazin fast); and 2) Portability, It's always nice to have that.



I also want to point out that you don't have listed a monitor, keyboard, or mouse for the desktop, so I assume you have them already? If so, you could hook them up to the laptop at home and use it as a desktop.

Answer 2

I don't see what processor the laptop has however... it has an 18'' monitor and is only 720p thats kind of shabby... if you don't need a laptop then get a desktop for gaming... while the laptop has a better video card, in the desktop you can easily upgrade that into something much better than either has, you can't do that in a laptop... also you can get a good sized monitor (I have a 24" Dell that is amazing) for the desktop.



For gaming desktops are better because you can choose what keyboard and mouse you want to use that will be most comfortable to you and improve your gaming...

Also speakers are important to me at least and laptop speakers no matter what they claim are laptop speakers and just aren't that good...



So obviously you could plug in your own speakers, mouse and keyboard into the laptop but that defeats the purpose of a laptop...



Go with the desktop...

Answer 3

Desktop.

First, laptop would be too heavy to carry around everywhere. It would be like a mobile desktop computer only.

Next, despite great hardware specs, there might be problem with laptops GPU/CPU overheating. Typically, laptops do not use whole CPU power all the time, so they have time to cool down. If game is graphic -intensive, you might need serious cooling after half an hour/hour of gaming. But that depends on laptop purely.

Answer 4

Well,for Gaming,go with desktop.in future,you won't be able to change the graphics card which is 75% important for gaming.that desktop have i7 920 along with 9 GB of tripple channel memory and GTX 260 graphics card.this is nice setup for crysis but totally overkill for Sims 2 and Sims 3.if you want to play current latest games then it is a nice desktop.



Desktops will give you much better upgrade options in future than the Laptop plus you will have a big screen for gaming.you can change your current graphics card in future to keep up with the latest games and this is not possible with Laptop and that desktop really have nice configuration.go with it.