The vast majority of enthusiast PC gamers prefer to play games on desktop systems rather than notebooks, according to a study from Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the technically oriented marketing, research, and management consulting firm based in Tiburon, California. Per JPR’s GPU production and sales data, as well as Steam Hardware Survey data, upwards of 87% of enthusiast PC gamers use desktops to play games, it’s claimed. The study was apparently prompted by “misleading” market research and sales data that JPR believes could lead hardware manufacturers to over-invest in notebook R&D and marketing.
From a JPR blog post:
Sales of gaming-branded or gaming-styled computers to enthusiast gamers might appear to be higher in the notebook category based on some market research and sales data, but it’s very likely that the vast majority of these computers are not being used to play games.
JPR’s recent analysis of the GPU data of the Steam survey broke the GPUs into three categories: Desktop, Notebook, and Either, with the Either category being GPUs that have the possibility of being used in either notebook or desktop configurations, while an additional 2% were “Unknown.”
The data indicates that 68% of Steam Hardware Survey gamers are using desktop GPUs, 10% are using notebook GPUs, and 20% are using GPUs that could be used in either configuration.
We applied the ratio of desktop to notebook GPUs to subdivide the Either and Unknown data, and this methodology suggests that 87% of enthusiast PC gamers are playing on desktop configurations, while only 13% are playing with notebook configurations. This is not surprising to us, as PC gamers are very tech savvy and know that the highest performance, the highest customization ability, the highest upgradability, and the best value for the money over time is found with desktop PCs.
Discussion (14 replies)
Join Discussion →I know plenty of folks that gsme on notebooks. But to me that's akin to console gaming. But a top line notebook is probably good for 4 years of gaming I would think.
If we're going to infer preference from hardware use, then we can also conclude that people prefer to play video games on a GTX 1060 at 1080p over an RTX 4090 at 4K.
I've got a decent gaming laptop (MSI GP66 Leopard with an RTX 3070 and i7 11800H 8c/16t) and will occasionally take it on the patio to do some gaming but what really holds me back is the small screen (15.6). It's what I could afford, I spent maybe $1500 before some upgrades since 17.3 usually tack on at least another $1K for the types I'd prefer. Otherwise, at one point I had it hooked up to a monitor and the biggest drawback indoors was the insane fan volume. Factor in those details and sure I absolutely spend most of my time on a desktop but if I had $6K to throw at the best-of-the-best that could be a different story, come on lottery, right?
The other thing I don't like about notebook/laptop or even external screens for them is that nearly all top at ~400 nits or less and I prefer closer to 1000. I'm sure this is due to power restraints but, to me, it really becomes a drawback for IQ when gaming.
Kind of looking seriously at the Samsung ultra laptop with the 4070. AMOLED 16 inch screen... 13900h cpu, 32 gig of ram and 1tb of space. (space is the big drawback here.)
I just did a quick peek at BB. It's nice looking for sure and @$3K is not bad. I've got a Galaxy Book 7+ with an AMOLED screen and love it. If the panels are anywhere close to the same I'd expect things to look awesome. The resolution looks like a good match for the GPU as well and that CPU is way more than enough for anything gaming related. My only complaint would be that I'd want a 17.3 or 18.4 but that's just me but then that price would go up another $1K for sure.
As someone who has toted around a 17 inch gaming laptop before... when you are travelling with a work laptop, and normal bag/carry on... then have to move between terminals at an airport.. I think the 15.6-16 inch range is the sweet spot.
I totally get it. I rarely have to travel much with mine and I can easily see what you mean.
Did this even need to be studied?
who wants to spend more money for a shittier unergonomic experience with a small screen?
I don't have to travel for work anymore, but if I did, I'd just not play games. I'd wait until I got home.
The experience on a laptop, any laptop at any price point is going to be so inferior that it is not even worth playing.
As an MMORPG gamer... I understand your point but am in the 'gaming' community... so it's more the community than the experience. But I don't mind paying for the experience to be as good as I can afford.
I was gonna say, file this under the "no sh1t sherlock" tag.
I agree. I have a decent gaming laptop that is used mostly for work, and compared to my desktop there is no comparison.
15.6 is the sweet spot of being useless. I'm all for 17", the desktop is big enough so I don't have to use scaling and the internal keyboard is not compromised into uselessness. For mobility there is virtually no difference, 10% heavier, for 200% more usability is a no brainer for me, I'll never again buy a 15.6" after having used a 17" for years.
All our work notebooks are gaming notebooks. Much better value than so called mobile workstations.