You really want to push the processing and graphics limits of your new rig?

One game

Three letters

FTL

Depends where you shop, I guess.

Also of course I meant cheaper than a prebuilt desktop of similar good-higher performance.

Either way, the fact that many laptops are close to or actually impossible to upgrade much if at all makes desktops better in that regard.

I shop for parts.

I get why people buy OEM desktops, but I consider them non-portable laptops that are only slightly more modular.
My main use for a laptop is in my (very small) recording studio - where most of the processing is done externally.

If you have a laptop you can upgrade then that's fine....but for some parts I believe you cannot upgrade(motherboard iirc and a few others) easily. Also some laptop models do things like glue/solder parts in place(or so I heard), making it impossible to upgrade them or do so easily.

I also have a laptop BTW....but I love desktops as well for various reasons.

(Addition: I love OEM desktops that are cheap because it gives some a decent base to build on....just upgrade a few things and you usually have a good PC for not too much and some stuff can be left as is to make it easier on newcomers to the upgrading scene)

A misunderstanding there; my main/gaming system is a desktop, self-built (from parts).

The recording studio PC is a laptop, a Dell Latitude - a lot more modular than most laptops nowadays. But, like I said, it doesn't matter much because most processing is done externally.

1. I also built one of mine from parts and a cheap OEM pc(it had a decent mobo and cpu at the time and I added vid card, extra HDD, better power supply, cpu cooler, etc).

2. Damn, I just checked wikipedia....is yours from 1994 or so or is it more recent?

Also sadly most laptops aren't good for upgrading as in the past...which sucks.

It's from 2012 (you mean the Dell Latitude, right?).
https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/latit/en/latitude-e6520-specsheet.pdf
The screen is the FHD one, of course.

Back when I was still using mainly desktop, I generally ended up replacing the whole system, instead of giving it artificial respiration by replacing bits here and there. Quite often that included even replacing the monitor, as at least back then the display ports kept changing quite often (VGA, DVI, display port HDMI, what have you...), and/or the newer monitors had better resolutions.

Well ok yes I did quite often e.g. buy more memory or add/replace a hard drive with a bigger one, but those can be done quite easily on (gaming) laptops as well. E.g. I just recently expanded the RAM to 16 GB and replaced two 2x 750GB hard drives with 3 (THREE!) 2TB hard drives on my aging main gaming laptop.

Of course if one wants to be on the bleeding edge all the time and upgrading something twice a year or more, then yeah maybe upgrading single parts in the system one by one makes more sense.

Anyway, nowadays I am 99% a laptop gamer, and loving it. I just find the portability such a huge advantage. It also helps that I tend to be behind the curve, when it comes to playing games. Most probably I won't be playing Cyberpunk on release day either, I rather wait is gets all the expansions and important updates, instead of fighting with bugs.

It IS a huge advantage... if you use it. Me, I play games at home - no idea where else I'd want to do it.

For me the portability is important even inside my home. I just wrote this:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/about_to_buy_a_laptop_for_gaming/post21

I've read it. ;-)
Do you like playing with headphones? (I assume you don't lug your speakers around...)

I still use my Logitech Z2300, since 2004. It's hard to find something better without spending a whole lot more.

I generally don't use headphones unless I have to be really quiet, like someone is sleeping or studying in the same room or I am trying to hide from my colleagues or boss that I am playing some game or watching some youtube on worktime or something.

Now I am connected to the TV, and its stereo system (some LG soundbar with a separate subwoofer) is the audio system I use now. If I move the laptop to the desk in the bedroom, there I connect some Creative Labs Gigaworks something something speakers to it.

If I took the laptop outside my home, there I'd use either my trusty portable USB speakers (Logitech V20, great sound for such small size and USB power, and fit nicely into the laptop bag), or use headphones.

I've said it before, I so wish Logitech would still make those great V20 USB speakers. If I had known they'll stop manufacturing them, I would have bought a couple of spare pairs in case my current ones would die at some point. No sign of that yet (these must be something like 12 years old USB speakers, and still working fine), but I will hate the day when that happens. Now all "portable speakers" seem to be about mono bluetooth (I have such speakers too, Bose Soundlink Mini, great sound for small size but I use it mainly with phones and tablets).

:-D That game runs on just about anything.

1) Have you tried Supreme Commander?
2) The Batman Arkham games are superb.
3) I've heard positive things about Kingdom Come: Deliverance.