It can be really difficult to choose between a gaming laptop and a workstation laptop, especially when you do not know the difference between the two.
Here are a few things that you should essentially know to decide whether you should go for a workstation laptop or a gaming laptop.
In This Article
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The CPU and GPU of the workstation laptop will be much more powerful than a gaming laptop to support intensive professional tasks such as CAD, animation, rendering, 3D modeling and others.
- The workstation will come with lots of RAM for processing a lot of complex data than a gaming laptop.
- The audio performance of a gaming laptop will be much better than a workstation which will usually be equipped with an audiophile type of sound card.
- The workstation excels the gaming laptop in strength and durability and may be also in aesthetics.
8 Differences Between Gaming Laptop and Workstation
1. The Graphics Card
This is one of the sure ways to differentiate a workstation laptop from a gaming laptop.
The workstation laptops will have more powerful GPUs to support larger and more complex professional works like animation, CAD, 3D modeling, rendering and engineering design.
The gaming laptops, on the other hand, will have GPUs that are specifically designed for playing games and not for professional work.
2. The Processor
This is another component that will set the workstation laptops apart from the gaming laptops. Typically, most of the mobile workstations come with an Intel Xeon processor because it has Error Correction Code memory which is not available in other consumer processors.
This prevents internal data corruption which is a no-no in professional work.
The gaming laptops will not have such features. Most of these laptops will come with an Intel Core processor, but all these are more powerful than ordinary laptops.
3. Display
Though the display of a mobile workstation and a gaming laptop may not be an obvious differentiating factor between the two, it still counts.
Most of the gaming laptops come with a matte display that has very high refresh rates of 120 Hz and above. This prevents screen stuttering, tearing, ghosting and motion blurring.
The workstation laptops, on the other hand, do not have such a high refresh rate display. The glossy displays in a workstation laptop have standard refresh rates 60 Hz only.
4. RAM Size
A gaming laptop does not need lots of RAM to operate. Ideally, most of these laptops come with an 8 GB RAM which is more than enough to run high-end games on it.
By contrast, the workstation laptops will need a lot of RAM to process complex professional projects and data.
Typically, the workstation laptops come with anything between 32 GB and 64 GB RAM, but the high-end devices may have equal to or greater than 128 GB RAM.
5. Motherboard
The motherboard of a workstation laptop differs from that of a gaming laptop because it has to hold and support special and more powerful CPUs and RAM.
If you look at the gaming computers, the motherboard may not be as remarkable as a workstation laptop.
6. Sound Quality
The audio quality and capacity of a gaming laptop is high. This provides a seamless gaming experience taking the gamer to the world of fantasy easily and more effectively.
The motherboards of most of the high-end gaming laptops use the audiophile type of construction. It comes with filter power and gold plated I/O contacts for an added digital audio converter.
Turning towards the workstation laptops, it simply does not care for sound quality as much as it focuses on the powerful performance and functionality of the unit.
7. Aesthetics
The workstation laptops are primarily designed with a business-first aesthetic to help them do their professional jobs on it easily.
On the flipside, the gaming laptops use customizable aesthetics such as numerous RGB LEDS, cases with windows, rubber gaskets to insulate vibration from the hard drives, and anti-vibration mounts for the cooling fans and lots more.
8. Strength and Durability
In most of the cases, the workstation laptops are found to be stronger than the gaming laptops.
The gaming laptops may not be as durable as a workstation laptop.
Which is Better – Gaming Laptop or Workstation?
All these differences between a workstation and a gaming laptop indicates that each of them has a distinct purpose and market to serve. Each are optimized differently to handle specific tasks.
To determine which is better between a workstation and a gaming laptop, you will need to consider whether or not you will be doing more professional work on your computer.
A workstation laptop is a computer that is designed specifically keeping the professionals in mind.
These are intended for performing intensive tasks for:
- A data scientist for doing their research work
- An engineer for designing a 3D modeling program or
- A professional digital artist to render better animations.
Whoever uses it, these workstation laptops are designed for more powerful performance in quick time as compared to any other average computers.
The features of these high-end computers include:
- A very powerful processor
- A top-notch GPU and
- Lots of RAM.
You will also notice a significant difference in the build of these computers as compared to any average computer. This is to make sure that:
- The bottlenecking of one component with another is prevented and
- A more durable and stronger computer is created.
The parts inside the computer are also specifically designed for the purpose of perpetual use and more sustained performance of the system on the whole.
The workstation laptops can process magnanimous amounts of complex data in quick time with the highest level of accuracy. This is the reason it is extensively used for handling:
- Animation
- Engineering design
- Scientific computing
- Multimedia creation and, yes, for
- Gaming.
The powerful GPU will help in all these jobs but for gaming you must make sure that the workstation supports running AAA title games.
A gaming laptop, on the other hand, is also stronger as compared to any ordinary PCs.
These are the computers that come with high specifications and most complicated technicalities.
This is because all modern games are software intensive and the laptop should support playing such games.
These computers are also not for the regular computer users because these computers follow the specific type of procedures that are required to run a high-end game on it.
A gaming laptop is optimized to meet the diverse needs of all modern games specifically.
In short, a gaming laptop is a powerful gaming device that comes with hardware parts that most non-gaming computers are found lacking.
Both these computers have independent performance tiers when it comes to gaming and handling complex and large projects and data.
In that case a workstation laptop will be a far better option for you, if you can afford it that is, because it will be able to handle huge amounts of data and complex models.
On the other hand, a gaming laptop is the best option to choose for you if you are a student or if you have a tighter budget.
This is because most of your jobs will not involve complex animation, Computer Aided Design, or large amounts of engineering designing so that you will need to buy a costlier workstation laptop.
To Sum It up
While both gaming laptops and workstation laptops are optimized differently for specific tasks, a workstation laptop is more suitable for professionals who need to perform intensive tasks such as CAD, animation, rendering, and 3D modeling.
Workstation laptops have more powerful CPUs and GPUs, a lot more RAM, and better strength and durability, making them perfect for data scientists, engineers, digital artists, and other professionals.
On the other hand, gaming laptops are designed to provide high-quality audio and graphics, making them perfect for gamers.