Gaming laptop

[BucNastyHater]

I'm sure you all see too many of these threads on here but I didnt want to jack anyones thread as I have my own demands and needs. So im about to throw my dell laptop against the wall now because it has trouble running a few tabs in mozilla and itunes (Intel Core 2 T5600 1.8ghz and 1GB of ram haha). So I had my eye on a dell xps 15 for a while with SSD and 540 graphics with 8gb of ram but found xoticpc.com and some of the sager units have the nvidia 670 units with up to 32gb of RAM. Im sorry but this is a legit question. What programs or computers can utilize that much power?

CPU: Not too picky, aiming for Intel quad core. i7-2760QM 3.5GHz seems to be common and plenty of power
Hard Drive: Definitely going for SSD, 128gb or 256gb
RAM: 8-16GB
GPU: Most important part of the system, im sure ill have trouble running far cry, crysis, stalker, NFS, dirt 2, hitman, L4D, splinter cell with the 540 on high settings. Is the 670 or going for the best GPU worth it at the moment?
Display: 15-16" 1920x1080...no if ands or buts lol
DVD drive: Prefer blu-ray but not a deal breaker
Keyboard: Illuminated would be very nice
Sound: Dell has an option for JBL 2.1 internal sound card so similar option would be preferred.
Battery life: It'll be used mostly for personal stuff and gaming, meaning plugged into a wall as I have an HP for school use. Maybe 2 hours is all ill need when im flying solo
PRICE!: My limit is $1,200 but id like to keep it closer to 1k if possible.

I know im partial to dell but with the bloatware and after discovering XOTICPC's website, i realized how much better options and deals are out there. Im very open to opinions and im starting to care less about aesthetics

[zanzabar]

look at getting an msi, do not buy one with an SSD already in it (your budget only allows a single HDD systems so no SSD stock.) then with any money you have left get a good SSD.

this one looks like what you want
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152339

there are other builds out there, i would look for that but with 8GB and the smallest HDD you can get. also the 570m and 670m are identical (the 6 series is listed with no 2x shade clock but 2x the shaders when compared to older cards, so they are the same clock and shader count if you convert them over and the same gf114 chip. that makes the 650 and 660 faster than the 670 and much lower power consumption) for the SSD get a crucial m4 or a samsung 830 they are about $100 per 120GB. msi has the best keyboard and it is non reference so the other ones with the same base (cleo i think) will not have the nice keyboard that has backlights and dose not need to be bottomed for the key press. msi also has a turbo button that disables power saving and runs at a reasonable fan speed so it dose not toggle from silent to vacuum while gaming.

there is this asus one for a bit more, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230404 it has better ram (symetric) and has a keyboard backlight, and a faster gpu but no turbo button.

[BucNastyHater]

The ones that ive looked at and customized on the one website didnt add much to upgrade to an SSD, Dell wants like $400 for it haha. Those are some nice models though. When I put the new SSD in there I can just use a windows restore disc to reload windows onto the SSD correct?

So what specs are you recommending? 650 or 660 for graphics, crucial m4 or a samsung 830 SSD, and non-reference keyboard? The turbo button sounds cool but not necessary so aiming towards the Asus for better performance

[zanzabar]

the 650 and 660 are identical, the high clocked 650m is actually 15mhz faster (i have no idea if the msi has the high or low clocked card in it). the turbo button is awesome, if you have never had a high powered laptop and tried to play games the fan will not kick on then it turns on way to loud then off and it just sucks, it is also nice to be able to press one button and unlock everything. i would go msi since the keyboard is so much better and it is cheaper.

[BucNastyHater]

The turbo button makes sense then. With the SSD, will it be plug and play then just load windows restore disc onto the SSD and play with the drivers later? Sorry im not too familiar with the laptop platform. I miss my desktop lol

[zanzabar]

there is a tool to make a set of backup dvds, you burn those (it dose not come with a disk but a partition so you have to burn your own). then you just run those disks affter you put the ssd in.

[BucNastyHater]

Sweet deal, thank you very much for your recommendation and help!

[BucNastyHater]

One of the reviews on the MSI states that he used the mSATA for an SSD. Is this internal or does he have an SSD hooked up externally?

Other Thoughts: Overall, I love this system. I researched several months for a system that I could use for moderate gaming and for school. It fits all of my needs. The mSATA connector makes this system a beast with a SSD installed, and even better I don't have to lose the large 750GB stock 7200 HDD.

[zanzabar]

msata is a slot that looks the same as mpce but wired for sata. crucial makes an m4, in that form factor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=4213%3a90501 . i would call msi or look inside the laptop before ordering an ssd for that as it is not listed in the specs so it may be optional. some times you cannot boot to the those as wll so you will want to check that too.

[BucNastyHater]

Emailed MSI Pre-sales support and received this:

Hello Derrick, Unfortunately MSI does not really support with any modification of notebooks although to answer your question the GE60 does support mSATA SSD drives, if configured for it to be the boot drive you may boot to it and you can make your regular sata as a storage drive.

[BucNastyHater]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152339

Just dropped $100 to $999 now

[BucNastyHater]

Doing some more research... found 2 versions of the MSI G Series GE60. There is the 0NC-006US and the 0ND-042US. Not sure how to decipher model codes like that but any difference that I missed other than what I listed below?

0NC-006US
-6GB RAM
-no free xbox, but has mail in rebate
-free shipping
-NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
-Full HD, Anti-Reflective screen
-Intel HM77 chipset

0ND-042US
-8GB RAM
-free xbox, no mail in rebate
-no free shipping
-NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M
-Non Reflection
-Intel HM76

Any pros/cons between the two to offset the $100 extra for "42" version?

[zanzabar]

the 42 gets you symetric ram (and more), and a free xbox (you can easily sell it for over 100). everything else is the same hardware from what you listed.

[BucNastyHater]

Okay just making sure there wasnt anything I didnt see. You have been a lot of help with this, thank you very much

[BucNastyHater]

Ha, just my luck. Waiting until my credit card to cycle, just paid bill yesterday and was going order laptop today...the xbox 360 deal disappeared a few days ago fml. This makes the GE60 0ND-042US much less appealing now than the 0NC-006US especially with the $300 difference now that wont be offset by selling the xbox for around $150. Is the $300 really worth it for you being that all receive is an 2gb of faster ram and the same gpu basically? (650 vs 660)

Also having second thoughts about not having a backlit keyboard although this is a solid machine