1050ti vs 1060 Laptop

[Insomniator]

Need a semi-gaming laptop for Overwatch, SC2 -- basically Blizzard games only. Will mainly be for travel so I'm looking at 14" or lighter 15.6".

For only 1080p I'm thinking the 1050ti might be the better choice due to less heat and power consumption. It looks like on load the 1060 uses nearly 2x as much power? Is this any different for mobile versions? I know the 1060 is much more powerful overall, but I don't mind having to turn settings down if it means a laptop battery that last longer and is cooler otherwise. The difference in prices is only $100-200 so I'm debating between better GPU performance vs temp/battery.

Basically I could get something like this MSI with a 1060 --

http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GS43VR-6RE-Phantom-Pro-Notebook-Review.172721.0.html

Or a new Dell Inspiron 15" or (Alienware 13) with a 1050ti for similar money.

 

[crisium]

Desktop GPU power consumption isn't a great comparison here. The 1050 Ti will use less, but you cannot draw a ratio from that TPU chart since mobile will be different. You will have to use laptop reviews, and specifically look at the exact laptops you are considering. It's possible there are 1060 laptops with a better battery life than 1050 Ti laptops from a different brand because of battery size differences, among other things. You must have apples to apples.

 

[DidelisDiskas]

Choosing a gaming laptop based on battery life seems like a pretty bad idea to me. Even if they do somehow manage to last 5-6 hours of browsing the web, they have to pack in huge batteries that charge very slowly. The 1050ti alone is probably eating up more energy than a whole small laptop with integrated graphics.

 

[IEC]

Gaming on battery also tends to lead to poorer performance as the heat generated from discharging the battery (among other things) can increase throttling. Not to mention boost clocks will likely be lower.

If gaming is a primary concern, I would always pick the better GPU (within reason). You can always Vsync/limit frames and turn down settings to increase effective battery life if you have to.

 

[Insomniator]

I'm not gaming unless I'm plugged in -- not worried about that. The battery life is more about plane rides I suppose and even most of those have plugs these days. Gaming aspect is really just for the occasional LAN party 3-4 times a year when I'm sick of taking my desktop over.

 

[ElFenix]

1050ti uses hardware based framerate limiting to clamp down on micro-stutter while on battery. i don't *think* the 1060 has the same tech, so the 1050ti could provide a better experience while on battery than the 1060 does, even though the 1060 will be faster (and likely just fine while plugged in).

nm: i see that's not an issue for you, go with the 1060 if you can swing it.

also, keep in mind that the mobile 1050ti should be quite a bit faster than *stock* desktop 1050tis are.

 

[Insomniator]

also, keep in mind that the mobile 1050ti should be quite a bit faster than *stock* desktop 1050tis are.

Because its clocked higher? In reality, 3 months ago I'm talking about the 960M in the same price range, which is... much worse than both of these new chips. So if I were thinking that was going to be good enough, maybe I can wait for a smokin deal on a 1050ti system Need to pin down my use case. Might not be worth $1200 to use at a Lan party 3x a year.

 

[Headfoot]

I'm not gaming unless I'm plugged in -- not worried about that. The battery life is more about plane rides I suppose and even most of those have plugs these days. Gaming aspect is really just for the occasional LAN party 3-4 times a year when I'm sick of taking my desktop over.

If you're not worried about battery gaming life, then I suspect it wont make much of a difference going to a faster card, since most of the time it will be idling. Look up some specific battery tests. I dont think its a fair assumption at all to say that the faster card will have significantly less battery life in an idle vs idle scenario

 

[Bacon1]

Look up some specific battery tests. I dont think its a fair assumption at all to say that the faster card will have significantly less battery life in an idle vs idle scenario

Yep, it completely depends on the system software config and battery size. Laptops with the same exact hardware can have massively different battery lifetimes just because of how the software is tuned and especially battery size. The larger laptop will often have a big bump in battery lifetime even though the screen is bigger because of a larger battery.

So look up reviews of the a few models that you want to see how they compare, its not like desktops where you can say in 99% of the cases this will work better.