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I did see the other, similar, thread, but I've got more specific questions....
I'm after a desktop-replacement type laptop that I can pack up easily and move with it, and have some gaming capabiliity, I know it won't compare to a normal desktop but at the moment I'm on a 2010 desktop with 2013 graphics card so due an upgrade anyway. Due to budget (ideally LESS than £1300) I'm looking at a 970m gfx card, on the assumption that 960m will be just too puny .....I am not a big graphics whore but I want a bit of future-proofing, i.e. I'm not so bothered about running 2016 games on full ultra settings, more about being able to run 2020 games at all. Apart from GFX I'm mostly bothered about keyboard and general system quality, not bothered about sound (will use headphones), battery life (will be plugged in), case design (whatever) etc. Avoiding Win10 like the plague would be appreciated too.
General questions:
1. Are Cyberpower Fangbooks worth considering at all?? They seem to be an MSI rip-off design-wise, but the make seems an unknown quantity to me even after reading up as much as possible??
2. Is the MSI GT series a sensible option as they have the MXM graphics card that allows an upgrade in future. E.g. getting a GT72 with 970m now and upgrade to a 980m (or further, if new cards allow it) in a few years time (980ms are currently £600, but i'm assuming that will drop a bit, say it drops to £400, that's still cheaper than getting a new laptop then).
3. Is there any disadvantage to the older series with 5th gen i7 processor (i.e. i7-5700 , compared to 6th gen i7-6700 ), and with only DDR3 ram compared to DDR4 ram?? Obviously GFX card is the big deal for gaming compared to CPU and ram, but would it make much of a difference??
4. Is there any benefit to getting at 970m card with 6gb of vram rather than the standard 3gb vram?? Everything I've read says "no, 6gb of vram is just a gimmick as it's limited by the graphics chip anyway", but people also say it could be useful for future gaming (again an important consideration for me).
5. As an outside contender, I've occasionally seen refurbished Alienware 17s crop up, within budget, on the Dell Outlet site. One of these had a 980m which is quite appealing, would that be worth the gamble of refurbished (and the shame of owning Alienware)??
Main contenders:
MSI GT72 2QD:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GT72-2...8&qid=1461673253&sr=1-1&keywords=MSI+GT72+2QD
Pros: MXM upgradable, good specs, GSync, Win8
Cons: 5th gen i7, DDR3 RAM, slightly cramped KB
ASUS ROG G752VT:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...tx970m-3gb-gddr5-gaming-laptop-lt-225-as.html
Pros: Keyboard better spaced out, 6th gen i7, DDR4 RAM
Cons: Keys almost invisible, not upgradable, Win10
Gigabyte P57W:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...r4-256gb-m.2-ssd-1tb-hdd-win10-lt-075-gi.html
Pros: 6th gen i7, DDR4 RAM
Cons: Keyboard looks horrible and recessed, not upgradable, Win10
Cyberpower Fangbook III_BX7-300:
https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Fangbook_III_BX7-300/
Pros: MUCH cheaper, cheaper storage additions, Win8
Cons: Unknown quality, 5th gen i7, DDR3 RAM
Other contenders:
MSI GE72 6QF:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GE72-6...&refRID=0Q75SHS2G8JV75KYWDXJ&ref_=pd_cp_147_2
Pros: 6th gen i7, DDR4 RAM
Cons: Not upgradable, Win10, slightly cramped KB
ASUS G751JL:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/G751JL-Not...VHG?ie=UTF8&ref_=psdc_429886031_t1_B015OG3SAS
Pros: Quite a bit cheaper, keyboard better spaced out, Win 8
Cons: Keys actually invisible, not upgradable, 4th gen i7, DDR3 RAM
Any feedback appreciated, especially if it is general principles rather than personal experience (which I know can vary!).
I'm after a desktop-replacement type laptop that I can pack up easily and move with it, and have some gaming capabiliity, I know it won't compare to a normal desktop but at the moment I'm on a 2010 desktop with 2013 graphics card so due an upgrade anyway. Due to budget (ideally LESS than £1300) I'm looking at a 970m gfx card, on the assumption that 960m will be just too puny .....I am not a big graphics whore but I want a bit of future-proofing, i.e. I'm not so bothered about running 2016 games on full ultra settings, more about being able to run 2020 games at all. Apart from GFX I'm mostly bothered about keyboard and general system quality, not bothered about sound (will use headphones), battery life (will be plugged in), case design (whatever) etc. Avoiding Win10 like the plague would be appreciated too.
General questions:
1. Are Cyberpower Fangbooks worth considering at all?? They seem to be an MSI rip-off design-wise, but the make seems an unknown quantity to me even after reading up as much as possible??
2. Is the MSI GT series a sensible option as they have the MXM graphics card that allows an upgrade in future. E.g. getting a GT72 with 970m now and upgrade to a 980m (or further, if new cards allow it) in a few years time (980ms are currently £600, but i'm assuming that will drop a bit, say it drops to £400, that's still cheaper than getting a new laptop then).
3. Is there any disadvantage to the older series with 5th gen i7 processor (i.e. i7-5700 , compared to 6th gen i7-6700 ), and with only DDR3 ram compared to DDR4 ram?? Obviously GFX card is the big deal for gaming compared to CPU and ram, but would it make much of a difference??
4. Is there any benefit to getting at 970m card with 6gb of vram rather than the standard 3gb vram?? Everything I've read says "no, 6gb of vram is just a gimmick as it's limited by the graphics chip anyway", but people also say it could be useful for future gaming (again an important consideration for me).
5. As an outside contender, I've occasionally seen refurbished Alienware 17s crop up, within budget, on the Dell Outlet site. One of these had a 980m which is quite appealing, would that be worth the gamble of refurbished (and the shame of owning Alienware)??
Main contenders:
MSI GT72 2QD:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GT72-2...8&qid=1461673253&sr=1-1&keywords=MSI+GT72+2QD
Pros: MXM upgradable, good specs, GSync, Win8
Cons: 5th gen i7, DDR3 RAM, slightly cramped KB
ASUS ROG G752VT:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...tx970m-3gb-gddr5-gaming-laptop-lt-225-as.html
Pros: Keyboard better spaced out, 6th gen i7, DDR4 RAM
Cons: Keys almost invisible, not upgradable, Win10
Gigabyte P57W:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...r4-256gb-m.2-ssd-1tb-hdd-win10-lt-075-gi.html
Pros: 6th gen i7, DDR4 RAM
Cons: Keyboard looks horrible and recessed, not upgradable, Win10
Cyberpower Fangbook III_BX7-300:
https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Fangbook_III_BX7-300/
Pros: MUCH cheaper, cheaper storage additions, Win8
Cons: Unknown quality, 5th gen i7, DDR3 RAM
Other contenders:
MSI GE72 6QF:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GE72-6...&refRID=0Q75SHS2G8JV75KYWDXJ&ref_=pd_cp_147_2
Pros: 6th gen i7, DDR4 RAM
Cons: Not upgradable, Win10, slightly cramped KB
ASUS G751JL:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/G751JL-Not...VHG?ie=UTF8&ref_=psdc_429886031_t1_B015OG3SAS
Pros: Quite a bit cheaper, keyboard better spaced out, Win 8
Cons: Keys actually invisible, not upgradable, 4th gen i7, DDR3 RAM
Any feedback appreciated, especially if it is general principles rather than personal experience (which I know can vary!).
yeah yeah okay whatever homie. I think that I posted a couple of OC links and would have posted a 3rd one if the GT72 hadn't just gone out of stock means I'm seriously looking at OC. FWIW my current desktop is a OC one 
