Nvidia’s RTX 4070 graphics card and 4070 laptop GPUs share the same name,
but that’s about all they have in common. I’ve compared both
in 25 games at 3 resolutions to show you the real differences!
The desktop graphics card almost has 28% more CUDA, tensor and RT cores compared to the laptop
version, and it’s able to use more power, allowing it to reach higher clock speeds. The desktop
card has 50% more memory capacity, and it uses faster GDDR6X memory with a bigger memory bus.
To do this testing I’m using XMG’s Neo 16 gaming laptop because it has water cooling support,
which means this is a best case result for an RTX 4070 laptop as there’s no
thermal throttling, but I will compare thermals on air and water. It’s paired
with Intel’s Core i9-13900HX CPU and 32 gigs of DDR5-5600 memory.
Along with MSI's RTX 4070 Ventus graphics card, the desktop system has Intel’s Core i9-13900K
processor, which was chosen as it has the same amount of cores, threads and cache as the laptop
CPU. I’ve also tested it with 32 gigs of DDR5-5600 memory with the exact same timings as the laptop.
The RTX 4070 laptop GPU in XMG’s Neo 16 can technically run between 115 and 140
watts in some workloads, but due to voltage limits on all 4070 mobile GPUs by Nvidia,
performance starts flatlining at around 105 watts in 3DMark Time Spy. The 4070
laptop can also run as low as 35 watts, so expect lower performance compared to
what I’m showing here with a thinner and lighter laptop with a lower power limit.
Laptops simply have to have lower power limits because more power equals more heat,
and I don’t know if you can tell, but there’s a pretty big size difference
between these two. Laptop’s just don’t have as much space for cooling. I mean granted,
this is a pretty big case, but even compared to a Mini-ITX build, this is still smaller.
And this means that the laptop fans need to spin faster and louder to keep things
cool compared to the desktop, let’s have a listen.
The desktop is running quieter despite the fact that it’s using 75% more power from
the wall when running Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p ultra settings, or 70% more power in Control
at high settings - at least when compared to the water cooled results. Interestingly air
cooling was using a little more power, and as you heard it was a fair bit louder too.
The laptop’s temperatures weren’t too bad even with air cooling,
quite a way off Nvidia’s 87 degree Celsius thermal throttle limit. The laptop’s GPU was
running a little cooler than the desktop card with the water cooler attached,
but don’t forget the desktop card was using 70% more power too, which generates more
heat. It’s just that the desktop card has way more room for a bigger cooler.
The extra power allows the desktop 4070 to reach higher clock speeds in games
when compared to the laptop 4070, which will mean more FPS for the desktop. I’ve included
air and water results for this thermal testing, but all games on the laptop were tested with the
water cooler connected, as I want to compare with a best case 4070 laptop with no limits.
The laptop actually ends up more power efficient from a performance per watt
perspective in these two different games. The desktop 4070 does indeed
hit higher FPS, but as we saw, it needs more power to achieve this.
The desktop card also has twice the amount of PCIe 4 lanes between the CPU and GPU,
so it’s got extra bandwidth too.
Let’s get into the 25 games, starting with Cyberpunk 2077. I’ve got the 1080p results
down the bottom, 1440p in the middle and 4K up the top, with the laptop GPU below the
desktop GPU. This game actually had a below average difference at all three resolutions.
Forza Horizon 5 on the other hand also had average differences at 1080p and 1440p,
but it had the biggest difference at 4K out of the 25 games tested, with the desktop reaching a 72%
higher average frame rate. Probably mostly due to the extra vram. Honestly, I don’t think the 4070
laptop is really 4K capable without upscaling, but the desktop is, which is why I’ve included it.
Games that are more CPU bound saw smaller differences, like Microsoft Flight Simulator,
where the desktop 4070 was just 22% faster than the laptop at 1080p,
the smallest difference at this resolution out of all 25 games tested.
Apex Legends on the other hand had the biggest win for the desktop card at 1080p out of all
games tested, with more than twice the FPS and a 107% lead over the laptop. The desktop was
still 87% faster at 1440p, and 62% ahead at 4K, the 2nd biggest difference at this resolution.
Meanwhile Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 saw below average differences between the two,
but even still, the desktop maintained a clear lead at all resolutions.
Hogwarts Legacy was tested in Hogsmeade, and at 1080p there’s a below average difference,
with the desktop 31% faster than the laptop, but then a larger 44% gain with the desktop at 1440p,
though the laptop was still just above 60 FPS at max settings.
The Witcher 3 was tested with its next gen update and the ray tracing preset,
but just like I’ve seen on higher tier hardware, there’s some sort limit that
stops either going higher than 30 FPS at 4K. Not sure what the problem is,
but the laptop was 53% faster at 1440p, and 46% faster at 1080p, an above average difference.
Some games like Dying Light 2 had the desktop reaching 1% lows that were way above the
average FPS coming out of the laptop. 1% lows represent the dips in performance,
so in other words the desktop feels much more stable and consistent.
Far Cry 6 basically didn’t work at 4K on the laptop, which I suspect is due
to its 8 gigs of VRAM. Again I don’t think the 4070 laptop GPU is 4K capable without
upscaling methods like DLSS or FSR, and this is another example why I think that.
Of course then there are also other games like Red Dead Redemption 2, where the laptop was around 40
FPS at 4K, while the desktop was higher than 60 FPS. I mean you could probably run the laptop
ok with DLSS on, but honestly for 4K gaming on a laptop I think the 4080 or above makes more sense.
Alright so the desktop 4070 graphics card was always beating the laptop version,
you get it. Instead of wasting your time talking through the rest of the 15 games that I’ve tested,
I’ll instead just quickly skip through the rest of the results on screen now,
so feel free to pause the video if you want a closer look at any of the other games tested.
I think it’s important to test a wide selection of games so that we can get an accurate picture
of the average performance differences to make the fairest possible conclusion. In other words,
more data equals more better. Let’s look at those average differences next.
On average over all 25 games tested, at 1080p the RTX 4070 desktop GPU was 43% faster when compared
to the RTX 4070 laptop GPU. This graph shows how much faster each game is on the desktop,
and as we can see, results depend on the specific game. Games that are CPU heavy
like Flight Simulator, Spiderman and Far Cry 6 are down the bottom with the smallest change.
Apex Legends on the other hand was reaching more than double the FPS on the desktop.
The desktop’s lead increases slightly at the higher 1440p resolution, now coming out 46%
ahead of the laptop, and at 4K the desktop was now 55% faster than the laptop, but the average
is being held up by the massive Far Cry 6 outlier at the top. The laptop just choked in this game
at 4K and was completely unusable, which is why the desktop was more than 3 times higher
in average frame rate. If we remove Far Cry 6 as an outlier, then the desktop was instead
47% faster compared to the laptop, a similar difference seen at the lower 1440p resolution.
Here’s how frame rates look if we instead take the average of all 25 games at all
resolutions. I think this better allows us to visually see how much better the
desktop is in a quick and easy summary. The 4070 laptop GPU was definitely capable
at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, even with the higher setting levels tested here, but
I don’t think it’s a good option for 4K without upscaling methods like DLSS or FSR.
So the desktop 4070 was better than the laptop 4070 in every game,
as expected. But what about the price difference?
Prices and availability will change over time, so check out those links below the
video for updates and sales. And speaking of sales, we update the gaminglaptop.deals
website every day so that you can get the best deal on your next gaming
laptop! So check that one out regularly if you’re in the market for a new laptop.
Right now the cheapest RTX 4070 graphics cards start from $600 USD, which is their
MSRP at launch, and this includes the MSI Ventus model that was used for testing in this video.
If I pick out similar parts for a desktop pc to what I’ve tested with here, we’re looking
at under $2700 all up. Obviously you could get a cheaper motherboard, power supply,
CPU cooler, case and less SSD space to lower the price even further while getting similar
performance in games, but this is a similar configuration to what I’ve actually used.
With cheaper parts it’s possible to save over $1000, though with the lower tier
CPU and DDR4 RAM performance might be a little lower than what I’ve shown here.
The cheapest full powered RTX 4070 laptop I can find right now goes for $1400 USD,
but most of them in higher quality models with more features tend to be closer to
$2000 or so. XMG’s Neo 16 with liquid cooler that I’ve tested here is under 2500 Euro,
but that includes 19% VAT, so it’s about $2200 USD without tax - just to keep the comparison fair.
The cheapest desktop configuration with the more budget friendly part selection would give the best
performance from a cost per frame perspective, though of course this is working under the
assumption that it provides the same frame rates as my higher end hardware, which it wont,
but it’s probably not too different. Even with the higher end hardware I’ve tested,
the desktop still ends up a little better compared to those $2000 4070 laptops we saw. I suppose I
didn’t include a screen, keyboard, and mouse in the desktop build budget, so that’s something
to factor in too if you don’t already have those. The laptops already have those built in.
The desktop can also be easily upgraded in the future. Next gen if you really want
you could take out the RTX 4070 and stick in a 5070 or 6070 or whatever. But for the laptop,
you’d have to replace the entire machine.
Ultimately for the most part, it’s going to depend on whether or not you need portability.
If you do, then good luck taking something like this to school or the office. Again,
like I said before, you could of course build a much smaller PC,
but that’s not the point. My point is you would still need to take things with you like a monitor,
keyboard, mouse and some kind of power source. This has a battery built in,
and if you wanted to carry around a UPS for this it’s probably going to double the weight.
The point is, these are different machines for different people with different use
cases. It all comes down to personal preferences, but at least there’s choice.
There’s an even bigger performance difference between a 4080 desktop
and 4080 laptop. Check out this video next if you’re after even
more performance than what these guys have to offer. I’ll see you in that one next!