Laptop Build Help

Hey guys and gals!
First time poster, long time lurker here as DS. I love the site and the computers you offer. I've been shopping for a new laptop for a while now. Nothing too wrong with my current Sony, but won't be able to play the new Sim City.

Disclaimer: I'm a Console gamer, but I am looking for a good gaming laptop that doesn't necessarily have to be top of the line.

Budget: ~$2k.

Expectations: I won't be playing many games, But when I do venture into a game (specifically the newest Sim City), I want to run it without any hiccups.

Usage: Web surfing, watching movies, listening to music, playing Sim City.

Special Needs: 15" only. And a Blu-Ray Player. I just want a new laptop that will last me 4+ years with good specs.

Here are 2 Configs. I would love feedback and suggestions. Thanks guys!!

Config #1
Ticket Number: 791115
Total Price with Instant Savings: $2,024.00
Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15E Laptop (Model: 9150)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Glossy Surface) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 3740QM (2.7 GHz Turbo Mode to 3.7Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Stock CPU and GPU Thermal Compound
Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz (4x4GB Sticks) <b></b>
Primary Hard Drive: Intel 240GB SSD (520 Series) (SATA 6Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Player (Blu-Ray 6x) & DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Card: Intel Ultimate-N 6300 Wireless LAN Module
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX 3GB with NVIDIA Optimus
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Config #2
Ticket Number: 791125
Total Price with Instant Savings: $1,823.00

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15E Laptop (Model: 9150)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Glossy Surface) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 3630QM (2.4 GHz Turbo Mode to 3.4Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Stock CPU and GPU Thermal Compound
Memory: 12GB DDR3 1600MHz (3x4GB Sticks) <b></b>
Primary Hard Drive: Intel 240GB SSD (520 Series) (SATA 6Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Player (Blu-Ray 6x) & DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Card: Intel Ultimate-N 6300 Wireless LAN Module
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX 3GB with NVIDIA Optimus
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!

Neither of those will have any trouble running Sim City, or any game in general. However, if you want a little more eye candy in your games, you should consider spending a little more for the 7970M, which is currently tied with the 680M as the best mobile graphics card out there.

Here's an example of a build with the 7970M:

Price: $1,990

Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15E Laptop (Model: 9150)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Glossy Surface) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 3740QM (2.7 GHz Turbo Mode to 3.7Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Stock CPU and GPU Thermal Compound
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz (2x4GB Sticks)
Primary Hard Drive: Intel 120GB SSD (520 Series) (SATA 6Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: DVD/CD 8x Multi-Drive (Writes and Reads DVDs, CDs)
Wireless Card: Intel Ultimate-N 6300 Wireless LAN Module
Video Card(s): AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2GB
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

I would definitely stay with the 3740QM, it's a great processor that will be handling anything you throw at it for years.

8GB memory is more than enough, and you'll get even more with the free promotion.

Had to drop the SSD size down a little, but you can always replace that or buy more external storage. If you're not playing many games even 120GB should be enough space.

I got rid of the blu-ray drive, mainly because a slim type blu-ray drive is fairly expensive, and most people don't end up using them enough for it to be worth it (like myself). The money for a gaming laptop should really be put in to the GPU and CPU. If you do watch enough blu-ray movies to really need one, then you can put it in and the total cost comes to around $2040

The 7970M is a great card, approximately 30-40% better than the 670MX. The 7970 will play most games at 60fps on high-ultra settings, which the 670mx won't. If you want your GPU to last 3-4 years, the 7970m is definitely the card to go for.


Any build you go with will still play games like Sim City great, and you'll get a great laptop from a great company.

If you have any questions on that build or just on a DS laptop in general I'd be happy to answer them.

Edited by DomTheBomb - 22 Feb 2013 at 7:07pm

From looking at the laptop you picked. It has (2) 3.0 usb ports and (1) 2.0 usb port, 1 hdmi output jack. If you click on view gallery it shows all the ports and stuff on it.

Edited by ArkansasWoman777 - 24 Feb 2013 at 8:57am

The naming scheme for the mobile GPUs doesn't actually correspond to that of the desktop, even though it really should. It's very misleading, but here are what the mobile cards are in terms of their desktop counterparts:

The 670MX is an underclocked desktop 660.
The 675MX is the same but with a wider memory bandwidth.
The 680M is an underclocked desktop 670.
The AMD 7970M is an underclocked desktop 7870.

This does show though how much of a performance increase the 680M or 7970M will have over the 670MX.

Can't hurt to mention it, but they should take care of it.