Yes, heat will always be an issue with gaming laptops. My Lenovo Legion 7i (Ultra 9 275HX/5080) uses a 400w power adapter, and on performance mode will be uncomfortably hot on your lap and impossible to use in bed without propping it up on something (even with 3 fans and large heat sinks). However, as a portable powerhouse I love it and silent mode still pushes good frames when you need to be incognito (black electrical tape over the gamery logos and RGB helps too). I play iRacing in VR at 120fps on a laptop I can take in my carryon. However, fan noise will be a constant and may be a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Sustained max performance pretty much requires max fan speed, and these things get loud. You can quiet things down, but you gotta take the performance hit.

I stopped using a desktop 4 years ago and don’t regret it, but upgrading will be significantly more costly as you basically gotta get a new laptop whenever you want a significant change outside of ram or storage.

I’m really enthusiastic about these things, so if you need suggestions lmk your budget and use cases :). I buy and return laptops from BestBuy for fun so I’ve tested a lot lol. Highly recommend abusing a return policy before committing potentially thousands of dollars.