Here's another good reason to dump your desktop for a laptop — boutique content creation specialist finds that laptops perform and cost almost the same as their desktop counterparts

Puget Systems has found laptops are now performing almost as well as their desktop counterparts, providing a compelling reason for users to consider switching to a more mobile option.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it’s important to point out that Puget’s findings were based on comparing its own mobile workstation with similarly specced desktops for content creation, and that comparing other systems from other manufacturers might deliver entirely different findings.

Puget Systems, which makes custom-built PCs tailored to individual workflows, recently delved back into the laptop market after exiting in 2016 due to a lack of laptop hardware “that met our quality standards”. It has now announced the launch of a new mobile workstation.

Similar performance

The Puget Mobile 17″ laptop, equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile GPU, is designed to deliver desktop-level performance in a compact, mobile package. It’s a powerful machine, capable of driving a 24-core CPU and RTX 4090 Mobile GPU and allows for up to three NVMe M.2 SSDs and 96GB of RAM.

In testing, the new mobile workstation delivered around 80% of the performance of a desktop system equipped with an Intel Core i9 14900K and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GPU. When compared to an AMD Ryzen 7900X system with the same GPU, the mobile workstation performed even better, delivering around 88% of the desktop’s performance.

For many of the workflows tested, the laptop performed on par with the desktop running an Intel Core i7 14700K with an RTX 4070 GPU.

While pricing for the laptop came in at more than the desktop equivalents, the price includes components such as a screen and battery backup, not included in desktop pricing.

Puget Systems’ findings indicate that laptops are closing the performance gap with desktops, offering comparable performance at a similar price point, with the added benefit of portability. This presents a compelling case for users to consider making the switch from desktop to laptop.

While this study focused on the performance of the new mobile workstation when connected to a power source, Puget Systems says it plans to conduct further tests to assess battery life, performance on battery power, and comparisons to the Apple MacBook Pro.