Whether for work or play, dedicated GPUs in laptops are better than ever. They're now a truly viable alternative to desktop computers, with similar performance and without the big price premium you might imagine. However, choosing a laptop with the right GPU is a real minefield for a variety of reasons. For this reason, you should always check the following factors before purchasing a laptop.
5 Benchmarks, benchmarks and more benchmarks
Unlike desktop computers, we cannot buy laptops as separate components. Therefore, it makes no sense to judge a laptop's GPU in isolation. It is tied to a complete system. So what really matters is the performance of this system as a whole. This is why the most important thing when it comes to a laptop's graphics performance is to check the benchmark results.
Whether it's a synthetic benchmark like 3D Mark or a real-world benchmark of the apps or games you want to run, this is the most accurate indication of what performance you can expect for your money, regardless of the laptop's specifications on paper. You'll want to make sure you look at the benchmarks of the laptop you're looking for and not just the GPU, as the same GPU can perform differently in different laptops, which we'll get into in a moment.
4 The numbers behind the name
Laptop GPUs have similar or identical names to desktop GPUs of the same generation. For example, there is an Nvidia RTX 4090 for both laptop and desktop systems. But even though they have exactly the same name, these two GPUs couldn't be more different. Looking at the number of cores, configuration, clock speeds, etc., it becomes clear that all of these two GPUs have a name. The performance of the laptop model is more comparable to the RTX 3090 of the previous desktop generation, which is still amazing, but not what the name suggests.
This is not always the case. For example, the Nvidia RTX 4060 laptop and desktop chips are essentially the same and can deliver virtually the same performance depending on the configuration. But the bottom line is that a laptop GPU's name only tells you its position in the mobile product portfolio and has nothing to do with the actual performance of its desktop counterpart.
3 Thermal Design Power (TDP)
If you have two identical processors with the same theoretical maximum performance, but one has access to better power and cooling, the resulting real-world performance will not be identical. With desktop GPUs this is rarely a concern, as there is enough cooling and power space to allow the GPU to achieve the performance level it was designed for, and in the case of some factory overclocked cards, even exceed it.
Laptops are a whole different kettle of microchips. Power and cooling are always in short supply, so some laptops may not give a particular GPU the headroom it needs to perform as it should. For example, if you have an RTX 4070 in a slim and light gaming laptop, it won't have the same performance as the same GPU in a large workstation laptop.
This is where TDP comes into play. You can look up what the TDP range (measured in watts) is for a laptop GPU, and then see how close the laptop manufacturer is to the top end of that range. For example, the RTX 4060 laptop GPU reaches its performance optimum at around 100W, but manufacturers can limit it to up to 45W. This leads to a huge drop in performance.
This is why benchmarks are crucial, as there are situations where a higher tier chip at low TDPs may perform worse than a lower tier chip at high TDPs.
2 MUX switch
Most laptops with powerful GPUs use a hybrid approach, where the power-efficient integrated GPU in the CPU package handles simple tasks like running productivity apps, while the powerful dedicated GPU only steps in for applications that need it, like video games.
The problem is that with solutions like Nvidia Advanced Optimus, the frames produced by the more powerful dedicated laptop GPU must first pass through the integrated GPU before reaching the display. This has a slight performance hit, but if your laptop has a MUX switch, you have the option to bypass the integrated GPU entirely, increasing frame rates somewhat. The difference is significant and it's definitely a feature to look out for. However, a new Windows feature called CASO (Cross Adapter Scan-Out) reduces the performance impact when there is no MUX switch or when the MUX switch is in hybrid graphics mode. So it's not that critical unless you absolutely need to have the greatest possible performance.
1 Screen resolution
Another unique aspect of laptops is that a GPU is attached to a specific display. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the display resolution and the capabilities of the GPU are a good match. This must also be related to your intended use. For those interested in gaming on a laptop, a resolution of 1920 x 1080 is generally more than acceptable on screen sizes up to 17.3 inches. While laptops with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 are becoming more common, the usefulness of such high resolutions on relatively small screens is questionable, especially for gaming. Once we reach 4K resolution on a laptop for gaming purposes, it becomes difficult to even recommend it. As resolution increases, the performance of the GPU must also increase to produce the additional pixels at playable frame rates.
However, 1440p and 4K resolutions on laptops certainly serve their purpose for general desktop work or creative tasks like video editing. A 1080p display can seem cramped, even with just two windows split in a 50/50 arrangement. When you combine a higher resolution display with a lower-end laptop GPU, you'll have to settle for lower detail settings or using upscaling technologies when gaming. You also usually have to trade refresh rate for resolution, as 1080p displays are available at extremely high rates and the speed of options decreases as resolution increases.
Measure twice, cut once
A laptop GPU is part of a financial commitment for an entire computer, much more so than desktop systems. You need to be doubly sure that you are getting the right model for your needs to cover the number of years those needs need to be met. Laptop GPUs are more powerful and energy efficient than ever, but it's still possible to choose the wrong tool for your specific task or to pay far more than necessary by opting for higher-end components with marginal performance gains.