Gaming Laptop?

[SouleD]

Hi, I have 2300$ to spend on a gaming laptop and I'm really confused on which will be the one. I have been building desktops but I've never owned a laptop so I'm not sure what to do.

I've had my eyes on the m18x from alienware as they're having a 575$ discount right now for this particular model and even without the discount it seems like a pretty good gaming laptop.

There's also the Valkyrie CZ-27 Gaming Laptop from ibuypower which seems even better but what do i know about laptops

Spoiler

1 x Case ( Valkyrie CZ-27 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080 LED-Backlit Display Laptop w/HDMI Port, E-SATA, USB 3.0, Illuminated Keyboard, Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter - Original Metallic black )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7-4900MQ Mobile Processor (4x 2.8GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )
1 x Memory ( 16GB [8GB x 2] 1600MHz DDR3 SO-DIMM Laptop Memory - Corsair or Major Brand )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5 Video w/ NVIDIA Optimus [CZ-27] )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 64 GB ADATA SP900 SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 750 GB 7200rpm Serial-ATA Super Slim Laptop Hard Drive - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [CZ-27] )
1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( Built-in 4-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Laptop] )
1 x Sound Card ( HD Audio with THX TrueStudio Pro )
1 x Network Card ( Killer E2200 Gaming Networking )
1 x Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo [CZ-27] )
1 x Operating System ( Windows 8 + Office 2010 Trial [Free 60-Day !!!] - 64-bit )
1 x USB Ports ( Built-in 2x USB 2.0 Ports + 3x USB 3.0 Port [Laptop] )
1 x Extras ( Laptop Stand - Golf Ball Style )
0 x Carrying Case ( None )
1 x Video Camera ( Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera )
1 x Warranty ( Standard Warranty Service - Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )
1 x Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

this would cost me 2200$+100$ for shipping.

 

[SteveLord]

I bet you can save a lot dropping the CPU down to another i7 and performance won't really suffer at all. Same with the video card. I hate to see $2200 thrown at a laptop that has a measly 64GB SSD in it.

 

[madhatter256]

That's a re-branded MSI GT70, so you can easily compare that with the official MSI branded GT70 to see if it is indeed a good deal.

Look at xoticpc.com or gentechpc.com (google that as I don't remember the site outright).

 

[SouleD]

I bet you can save a lot dropping the CPU down to another i7 and performance won't really suffer at all. Same with the video card. I hate to see $2200 thrown at a laptop that has a measly 64GB SSD in it.

What would be your alternative?

 

[SouleD]

Small update; the Valkyrie CZ-27 so far has more for my money than what the other competitors are offering, I've compared many brands from many different resellers and ibuypower in my eyes seems the way to go.

Can I disassemble it later on to add a second 780m in SLI though? Or upgrade it?

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

 

[madhatter256]

The MSI GT series or the barebone equivalents do not have the capability for SLI.

If you want SLI, look into the high-end Sager/Clevo laptops.

 

[SouleD]

The MSI GT series or the barebone equivalents do not have the capability for SLI.

If you want SLI, look into the high-end Sager/Clevo laptops.

would you say the alienware 18/ m18x with dual 765 is better than a single 780m?

 

[madhatter256]

While I never SLIed before, general consensus is that SLI scales well with certain games.

I think the 780m would be better overall.