The Performance of Lenovo Legion 5 with RTX 3060 Laptop Graphics Compared to Desktop Desktop

To test the performance of the Lenovo Legion 5 with RTX 3060 laptop graphics, I used a variety of benchmarking tools and software. In order to compare it directly to its desktop counterpart, I ran tests using popular gaming software such as Unity, Unreal Engine, and Adobe Premiere. In these tests, the desktop card was able to outperform the laptop graphics in some areas, while in others, there wasn't much difference.

In a test of Unity, the desktop card scored 40% higher than the laptop graphics. This suggests that even though the laptop's RTX 3060 is capable of handling demanding games and applications, it still has some limitations when compared to its desktop counterpart. However, it's worth noting that the processor also plays a significant role in these tests, as most modern gaming software relies heavily on CPU processing power.

In another test using Unreal Engine, I found that the laptop graphics were only able to score 10% higher than the desktop card with CUDA. This suggests that even though the laptop's GPU is capable of handling some demanding tasks, it still has a significant performance disadvantage compared to its desktop counterpart.

On the other hand, when testing Adobe Premiere with the Puget Systems benchmark, I found that the processor was the primary factor in determining the score, rather than the graphics card. This means that even though the laptop's RTX 3060 is capable of handling some demanding video editing tasks, it still has a significant performance disadvantage compared to its desktop counterpart.

DaVinci Resolve is typically more GPU heavy, but again, the processor was also a significant factor in this test. The desktop card scored 40% higher than the laptop graphics in this one, suggesting that even though the laptop's RTX 3060 is capable of handling some demanding video editing tasks, it still has a significant performance disadvantage compared to its desktop counterpart.

It's worth noting that both laptops and desktops have their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to performance. If you need portability and don't mind sacrificing some performance, then a laptop may be the better option for you. However, if you don't need portability and have the space for a desktop PC, then that's what I would suggest.

The cost difference between laptops and desktops can also play a significant role in determining which option is better for you. The Lenovo Legion 5 with RTX 3060 graphics can be picked up for $1560 USD, but this model has a 6 core Ryzen 5 processor and a 2 plus month shipping time. On the other hand, the desktop 3060 I've used here has an 8 core Ryzen 7 processor.

Graphics card pricing has been all over the place in recent months, with Nvidia's MSRP for the RTX 3060 being $330 USD. However, sorting from cheapest prices on Newegg, we're currently looking at $800 just for the GPU, or about half the cost of the laptop. The rest will greatly depend on the other parts that you select.

If you already have a PC, just upgrading the GPU is an option that's not available with a laptop. I'm not going to go ahead and do an entire PC build because as mentioned, again there are plenty of different components you can put in here, which will affect the price. However, once you factor in everything else like case, power supply, RAM, motherboard, storage for instance, you're probably going to end up paying somewhat close to the laptop anyway.

In general, I think both laptops and desktops are comparable when it comes to cost, especially considering that there are plenty of cheaper desktop components and a cheaper 3060 laptop available. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to portability and whether or not you actually need to take your machine with you.

If you do need to take your machine with you, say to work or school then good luck taking this thing with you, or otherwise maybe you just don't have enough desk space to keep a full blown desktop PC sitting around. The point is there are different options for different people with different use cases.

Personally, what I was most interested to see was that the laptop 3060 could hold up in many games compared to the desktop 3060. If you are someone that does need to buy a laptop, I think you can rest somewhat easy knowing that the 3060 in the laptop isn't all that much worse compared to the desktop variant.

As we've seen, the laptop is still able to offer a pretty great gaming experience, and I have also heard of some desktop PC buyers resorting to buying laptops because it's all they've been able to find in stock. Which would you pick, laptop or desktop? Let me know down in the comments below, and check out these videos next if you want to get an idea of how well last gen laptop GPUs compare against desktop GPUs.

I think it's still very interesting to see how laptops have evolved over time, and I'm sure that we'll continue to see advancements in laptop technology in the years to come.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThe difference between Nvidia’s RTX 3060desktop and laptop is way smaller than youthink it is!The laptop actually wins in some games.I’ve compared both in 17 different gamesat 1080p and 1440p to find out all the differences.These are the differences in specs betweenthe 3060 mobile and desktop GPUs.Interestingly the 3060 for laptops has 7%more CUDA cores than the desktop version,but the desktop card has double the VRAM capacitywith 12 gigs.The desktop card also has a higher power limit,and can clock higher as a result.The laptop 3060 has to have lower power limitsbecause more power generally equals more heat,and thermals are obviously a much bigger considerationin a smaller laptop form factor compared toa desktop PC.Seriously, just look at the size differences,there’s way less space for cooling in thelaptop.To do this testing I’m using the LenovoLegion 5 for the laptop, it’s got an 8 coreRyzen 7 5800H processor and 16 gigs of x8memory in dual channel.I’ve chosen this model because it both runsthe 3060 at its maximum power limit and it’salso got a MUX switch so we can disable optimus- which is something that desktop PC’s aren’tsubject to.Now technically the Nvidia spec sheet doesallow laptop 3060s to go all the way downto 60 watts, so definitely expect lower resultsthere compared to what I’ll be showing withthis best case 3060 laptop.The desktop PC on the other hand seems kindof overkill comparatively, with 12 core Ryzen9 5900X processor as unfortunately I couldn’tget the 8 core, and with 32 gigs of DDR4-3200CL14 memory it’s got both faster CPU andRAM, but before you run into the commentsto type “unfair comparison, desktop is waymore powerful, unsubscribe!”I’ll give you a quick little spoiler andnote that the laptop can still beat the desktop.Alright let’s get straight into the 17 gamecomparison followed by things like pricing& availability, content creator workloadsand power draw afterwards.Let’s start out with Red Dead Redemption2, which was tested with the games benchmark.I’ve got the 1080p results below and the1440p results above.At 1080p the desktop 3060 was only 7% fasterthan the laptop 3060, then at 1440p the desktopcard was 11% higher, or just 7 FPS, but thelaptop was still capable of more than 60 FPSat high settings here.They both get an extra boost if we enableDLSS with quality mode, the desktop card nowhas a larger 17% boost to average FPS at 1080p,so it appears that the gap increases withDLSS on.Cyberpunk 2077 was tested in the same partof the game on both machines.At 1440p the laptop is actually slightly ahead,I mean it’s like one and a half frames,but hey winning’s winning, even if realisticallythis is probably margin of error stuff.At the lower 1080p resolution the desktopwas just 3% faster in terms of average FPS,however there’s a larger 13% boost to the1% low.It’s a similar sort of deal if we enableDLSS, the laptop 3060 was still slightly aheadat 1440p, at least in terms of average FPS,and again at 1080p the desktop was winning,but the 1% low difference increases to a 27%improvement now, so a more stable experiencewith the desktop system.Call of Duty Warzone was tested with all settingsmaxed out.The desktop graphics card was back in frontnow, but only by 4% or so, or about 3 FPSat 1440p, or 7% at 1080p, so although a win,it’s not that big of a difference, I wonderif you’d actually notice the differencein a blind test?This is another game that has DLSS support,and both systems are able to get a furtherspeed boost by enabling this simple setting.Control is a fairly GPU heavy game, even at1080p, though the desktop graphics card wasonly reaching 4% higher average FPS here.The gap increases much more significantlyat the higher 1440p resolution, with the desktopsystem now 26% higher in terms of averageFPS.Even its 1% low is now higher than the laptop’saverage FPS, though this is one of the biggestdifferences seen in all 17 titles tested.The margins don’t change too much if weenable ray tracing, though the performancedips substantially on both.If we instead use DLSS without ray tracing,well the differences are much less pronounced.Remember at 1440p stock the desktop systemwas 26% higher, now with DLSS it’s onlyhalf a frame faster, basically no differenceat all.F1 2021 was doing better on the laptop interms of average FPS at both resolutions,however it’s only a slight lead, and the1% lows from the desktop were consistentlybetter, so again overall a more stable experiencethere which could be down to the higher poweredprocessor.Watch Dogs Legion on the other hand had thebiggest difference out of all 17 games testedin favor of the desktop graphics card.The 1% lows were higher than even the averageFPS that the laptop was able to produce ateither resolution.At 1080p the desktop was reaching 33% higheraverage FPS, then a massive 52% gain at 1440p.I think this might be due to the VRAM differences,as the game was warning the laptop that 6gigs may not be enough for ultra settings.Like most of the other games that have DLSSsupport, the desktop also sees a further higherboost with this enabled.At 1440p for instance, the laptop only getsa 4 FPS boost with DLSS, while comparativelythe desktop was about 15 FPS higher now.Microsoft Flight Simulator was one of thebetter results in favor of the desktop graphicscard, reaching a 12% higher average framerate at the higher 1440p resolution and 10%higher at the lower 1080p resolution, thoughagain, there’s a larger difference in the1% lows.Metro Exodus should be fairly GPU heavy atultra settings, but regardless of resolutionthis game had one of the smallest differencesout of all 17 tested.The desktop graphics card was ahead, but withjust a 1 FPS difference or so in the averagesand a 2-3 FPS improvement in the 1% lows,it’s not a significant amount at all.Assassin’s Creed Valhalla saw above averagegains with the desktop graphics, 11% fasterat both resolutions compared to the laptop,granted in this game, I’d be surprised ifthe 5900X wasn’t helping things along.The differences were smaller in Fortnite,the desktop system was 8% ahead in averageFPS at 1080p, but then at 1440p this lowersto a 6% lead, perhaps the extra CUDA coresin the laptop are able to get utilized betterat higher resolutions in some games as we’remore GPU bound there.This game also has support for DLSS, and it’sa good way to further boost the performanceon both machines, even 1440p at max settingson the laptop is running very nicely.Instead of talking through the rest of the7 games in detail, I’ll just quickly skipthrough them so we can get onto looking atthe average differences of all games testedas that’s more interesting, just pause thevideo if you want a detailed look at any ofthese results.Some games had basically no differences, whileothers had much larger changes, it dependson the game which is why I decided to test17 titles to get a better rounded average.On average over all 17 games tested at 1080p,the desktop RTX 3060 was just 8% faster thanthe laptop, far less of a difference thanI was expecting going into the testing.Although only F1 2021 was ahead on the laptopGPU here, 6 other games were less than 5%faster on the desktop, so for the most partI’d say the laptop is holding up quite well.That said some of the games like Watch DogsLegion were able to see much more of an improvementwith the desktop card, and I suspect in thatspecific case it’s due to the extra VRAM,as the game was warning about 6 gigs on thelaptop not being enough for ultra settings.Stepping up to 1440p and on average the desktopcard is now 9% ahead of the laptop, but Ithink this is being held up by the massivegain in Watch Dogs Legion, which was now 50%ahead on the desktop card.Higher resolutions generally benefit morefrom extra VRAM, and given we were alreadylimited at 1080p in this game that makes sense.If we disregard Watch Dogs as an outlier,well the desktop card is just 6% faster onaverage.4 games were technically doing better on thelaptop now, though it’s close, and another5 games were less than 5% faster on the desktop,a minor difference.Although the desktop card has its extra VRAM,the higher CUDA core count of the laptop GPUseems to help offset this.The desktop system also seems to be usingmuch more power when measured from the wallwhen compared to the laptop, more than doublethe total wattage - at least in this one specificgame tested.I think it goes to show that although desktophardware performs better, it’s mostly dueto it being able to use more power as there’smore space for cooling.Best case in our 1440p test, control was reaching25% higher average FPS on the desktop comparedto the laptop, but with more than double thepower draw to achieve this there’s definitelyan argument to be had for the laptop beingmore power efficient.This might come as a shock to some of you,but there’s more to life than just gaming,so before we get into the price differenceslet’s see how well both compare in somecreator workloads.Blender was tested with CUDA, and the resultswere quite close together, which I supposeis down to the laptop 3060 having more CUDAcores than the desktop card, I’m guessingthe higher power limit of the desktop cardwas enough to give it the win though.Likewise V-Ray was also tested with CUDA,and the desktop card was scoring 10% higherthan the laptop graphics here.Adobe Premiere was tested with the Puget Systemsbenchmark, but this test relies on the processor,so the 12 core 5900X in the desktop is definitelyresponsible for the 48% higher score here,again it’s unfortunate I didn’t have the8 core 5800X instead.DaVinci resolve is typically more GPU heavy,but the processor definitely still factorsin.The desktop card was scoring 40% higher thanthe laptop in this one, but again, the differenceisn’t entirely due to the GPU difference.So the desktop 3060 is generally better asexpected, but what about the price difference?Prices will of course change over time, sorefer to the updates down in the descriptionbelow.Right now the Lenovo Legion 5 with RTX 3060graphics can be picked up for $1560 USD, butthis one has the 6 core Ryzen 5 processorand a 2 plus month shipping time - yikes.The 8 core 5800H model I’ve isn’t listedhere at the moment, presumably also out ofstock, though I have seen it on sale for about$1400.Not particularly cheap, but at least you geta full package ready to go with CPU, GPU,screen, keyboard and RAM.For a desktop PC, well, it’s no secret thatgraphics card pricing has been all over theplace.Nvidia’s MSRP for the RTX 3060 is $330 USD,but sorting from cheapest prices on Neweggwe’re currently looking at $800 just forthe GPU, or about half the cost of the laptop.The rest will greatly depend on the otherparts that you select, the 5900X I’ve usedfor example is another $570 alone, but honestlysomething like a 5600X for less money is considerablycheaper and probably a better match for the3060.Of course if you already have a PC, just upgradingthe GPU is an option that’s not availablewith a laptopI’m not going to go ahead and do an entirePC build because as mentioned, again thereare plenty of different components you canput in here, which will affect the price.But once you factor in everything else likecase, power supply, RAM, motherboard, storagefor instance, you’re probably going to endup paying somewhat close to the laptop anyway.So purely from a cost perspective I thinkboth are probably somewhat comparable.Again I’m sure you can find cheaper desktopcomponents and a cheaper 3060 laptop, I’mjust speaking in general.At the end of the day, to me personally, thecost difference isn’t even the major factor,it all comes down to portability and whetheror not you actually need to take your machinewith you.If you do need to take your machine with youto say work or school then good luck takingthis thing with you, or otherwise maybe youjust don’t have enough desk space to keepa full blown desktop PC sitting around.The point is there are obviously scenarioswhere laptops have a clear advantage.Generally though if you do have the spacefor a desktop PC and you don’t need theportability then that’s what I would suggest.Mostly because it’s way easier to upgradethis in the future compared to a laptop.If you want to upgrade a laptop CPU and GPUfor instance, you basically have to buy awhole new machine because they’re solderedto the motherboard.Anyway I guess the point I’m trying to makeis there are different options for differentpeople with different use cases.Personally what I was most interested to seewas that the laptop 3060 could hold up inmany games compared to the desktop 3060.If you are someone that does need to buy alaptop I think you can rest somewhat easyknowing that the 3060 in the laptop isn’tall that much worse compared to the desktopvariant.As we’ve seen, the laptop is still ableto offer a pretty great gaming experience,and I have also heard of some desktop PC buyersresorting to buying laptops because it’sall that they’ve been able to find in stock.So which would you pick, laptop or desktop?Let me know down in the comments below, andcheck out these videos next if you want toget an idea of how well last gen laptop GPUscompare against desktop GPUs.I think it’s still very interesting becausethat last gen hardware still performs greatand is more commonly available compared tothese newer 3060s.Get subscribed if you’re new to the channelfor more comparisons like this one, and comeand join me in Discord and get behind thescenes videos by supporting the channel onPatreon.\n"