There’s one other obvious difference between a gaming laptop and a gaming desktop: portability. Gaming laptops have all the usual benefits you’d expect of them, alongside powerful hardware that’s capable of rendering and running games. But you pay for that expanded portability with a higher price tag. A gaming laptop will always be more expensive than an equivalent desktop PC, as manufacturers have to redesign graphics cards and all the other stuff to fit inside a small chassis. That price difference doesn't necessarily apply to custom-built gaming computers, however. Even the most specced-out gaming laptops will save you money compared to a powerful custom PC gaming rig. The average custom PC gaming setup costs more than $3,500, and prices just keep going up. The best pre-built PC gaming computers are much more affordable, but they also take a lot of the fun out of building your own. There’s nothing a gaming laptop can’t do that a desktop can, and vice versa. However, you may want to opt for a desktop for longevity’s sake.