Why Are Gaming Laptops So Expensive? (Researched for 2023)

Expert Consulted:  Adrian Gardiner. I’m drawing on my own 30 years of experience in the IT industry to write this article, having worked with many new, refurbished and upgraded computers for my customers. I’m often asked about the pros and cons of laptops v desktops and can offer helpful insight in this area.

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Gaming laptops have one big advantage over desktop computers, this mainly being portability, having everything built in to one compact device.

The main problem though, is price, especially if you want similar power to a desktop equivalent gaming PC.

So, exactly why are gaming laptops so expensive then?

Gaming laptops are expensive due to their compact design resulting in custom parts and advanced cooling to manage the heat generated by intensive session, high demand gaming.

The need for more efficient, higher capacity batteries for portability, lower market demand and therefore smaller production volumes also contribute to increased costs.

Our article goes in to more detail on why laptops cost so much more than their desktop equivalents.

Why Are Gaming Laptops So Expensive?

Gaming laptops and desktops cater for difference segments of the gaming marketplace, each with their own specific advantages.

Gaming laptops tend to be more expensive than desktops and this is for a variety of reasons that I’ve covered in the following sections.

Miniaturisation

A laptop, with its main advantage being portability, has to fit everything in to one neat package that can easily and safely be carried around.

This requires all the of the same components you expect to see in a desktop gaming PC but in a miniaturised form, requiring advanced engineering to make everything fit and do so in the most efficient way.

This process of making everything much smaller, involves considerably higher manufacturing costs from the increased complexity and smaller scale production numbers.

In addition, the time and cost of assembling these very much smaller and more delicate components is much higher, requiring specially designed automated production lines and trained staff.

Repair Issues

Repairing a device like this with such compact and small internals can be a real challenge once it’s out of warranty. Parts will be very expensive if it ever goes wrong and working on it too.

A desktop on the other hand is so much simpler in comparison with the ease in which all of it’s components can be accessed and replaced / repaired if required.

Getting Rid of Heat Build Up

Managing heat dissipation in such a tight fitting environment is a real challenge compared to a desktop computer which has the luxury of plenty of air flow provided by large cooling fans or even liquid cooling.

The only answer to the considerable amount of heat generated by high performance components like processors and especially graphics cards is to design specialised cooling systems that can get the heat away from the system and maintain safe operating temperatures during heavy gaming sessions.

Designing such custom cooling solutions adds considerably to the cost of gaming laptops.

Noisy Cooling

No doubt the very latest Gaming Laptops are much better at cooling than devices of old, however, to get rid of the huge heat build up from such powerful devices requires some serious cooling.

These laptops have multiple fans – up to 4 in many cases.

When running an intensive gaming session for extended periods there will be increased noise from these fans to keep everything cool – something to be aware of.

As the laptop gets more use, and dust starts to gradually build up inside over time, as is inevitable, the noise levels will increase, no matter how good the cooling technology used.

I see this all the time with ordinary laptops – it can be more of an issue with gaming laptops.

Custom Designed Components

Every single component in a gaming laptop is custom designed to fit in to a very tight and restrictive space taking in to account the need for high performance, excellent cooling and portability.

Like the need for custom cooling solutions mentioned earlier, other custom components must be designed, like processors, graphics chips, memory modules, fancy gaming keyboards, all of which are usually much more expensive than their desktop equivalents (which enjoy much greater economies of scale).

Battery Life

By virtue of the specialised gaming components fitted, gaming laptops consume a lot more power than a standard laptop and so need larger and more efficient battery technology to cope.

Again, this is another large design expense hampered also by smaller production volumes that desktop computers don’t have to worry about.

Display and Peripherals

Gaming laptops often have other considerations such as high performance built in displays with higher resolution, high refresh rates and fast response times.

Specialised gaming keyboards and customisable RGB LED lighting are often included.

All of these features are custom designed, adding to the complexity and production costs.

Portability and Convenience

The number one advantage of a gaming laptop over a desktop is portability and not having to permanently allocate a room or special area for the computer to sit, together with a separate monitor, mouse and keyboard etc.

It’s much easier to carry your gaming laptop over to your friends to game together.

Weight

It’s worth noting that a 17″ gaming laptop is going to be considerably heavier and more bulky than a standard laptop so despite it’s ‘portability’ it will still be heavy to carry around and you wouldn’t want to carry it too far!

As an example, the 17.3″ HP 17-cn0504sa 17.3″ Laptop weighs 2.05 kg. The Dell Alienware m18 Gaming Laptop weighs in at around 4.4 kg, double the weight of the HP! Put the laptop in a good strong bag for carrying it around and the weight goes up even more – still portable but you’ll need regular visits to the gym to cope!

Market Demand and Production Scale

The popularity of desktop gaming computers and the economies of scale that comes with such popularity means cheaper component prices.

Desktop gaming computers are not only cheaper but also more flexible on specification, more upgradeable, provide more gaming power and tend to last longer.

Gaming laptops, with their design constraints increasing the cost of components and the final assembled product will always cost more than their desktop counterpart.

Tips for Looking After Your Gaming Laptop

The following simple tips will go a long way to helping extend the life of your precious and expensive gaming laptop.

• Hard or Soft Surface? – avoid resting it on soft surfaces like your lap (I know, it’s a laptop!) or soft bedding – this will block the cooling fans underneath. They run best on a hard surface and preferably raised a bit to help air circulation
• Food & Drink – it goes without saying, never eat or drink over your laptop! I’ve seen many destroyed laptops from spillages. I’ve also seen literal bio hazard situations from food crumbs stuck in the keyboards and starting to grow new life!
• Carelessness – never leave your laptop on the floor – you’re basically saying ‘step on me please’. Laptops are very fragile, especially the screens and expensive to repair
• Pets – keep away from pets at all costs – fur, pet dander and drooling animals don’t work well with expensive laptops
• Children – young children don’t work well with expensive gaming laptops either. Best to use out of harms reach – its surprising how easily a child can take a laptop apart.
• Storage – when not using your laptop, try to keep it stored safely away in its purpose made travel bag instead of leaving it on the kitchen worktop next to the cooker or the sink!

The above are all situations I’ve encountered regularly with my own customers and all have resulted in expense and a shorter (sometimes much shorter!) lifespan for the poor laptop.

Conclusion

As outlined above, the higher prices of gaming laptops are attributed to the higher cost of producing them and the smaller production volumes necessary to fulfil the demand from a more focused niche, catering to those requiring a mobile solution.

If you have the space in your home and don’t need to be mobile, go for a desktop gaming setup.

However, if you want the ability to game anywhere, travel a lot, and have deep pockets, a gaming laptop is possibly the way to go for you.