What Laptop from these two options

[stevetrigger]

Torn between these two

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-213-AS&groupid=959&catid=1828

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-210-AS&groupid=959&catid=1828

I can get them both for around the same price but want to make to sure I get the best value for money and a machine which will be able to cope with at least medium/high settings for the next 3 years+. Will be used for general use, light photo editing and gaming (depending what is in the Steam sales, but I'd imagine at most AAA title about a year after release)

Looking at the benchmarks the 780m is a lot better than the 965m but lacks Optimus. Aside from battery life does this make a huge difference. Also the CPU in the G771 is newer, is it much better?

 

[bootcher]

Neither will guarantee being able to play all games at medium/high settings for next 3 years, though I don't think this will be a problem with either. The 780m performs better than the 965m, so that laptop will perform better in gaming and programs that can use the gpu (photoshop for example). The cpu's are pretty similar performance wise. With both laptops being huge powerhouses, neither will have long battery lifes, depending on what power profile you are using and how much the gpu/cpu is being used, I would say either will last about 2-3 hours on battery, and about 1 hour if under heavy cpu/gpu load.

Personally I would try to get a laptop with the 970m, which outperforms the 780m and also has a very efficient power usage.

 

[stevetrigger]

Thanks Bootcher. Trust me I would love a 970m but that is going to stick an extra £200 on top and I'm at my limit already. It will mainly be used as a desktop replacement (2 x 3yr olds and a lack of space prevent a desktop) with only really web browsing when not plugged in. In a few years time I should be able to build a desktop and actually get real value for money!

Would the benefits of Optimus be outweighed by the superior 780m performance along with the additional SSD.

I have been looking at the 780m model for a while but I guess I need confirmation the newer is not necessarily better with respect to the 965m one

 

[bootcher]

Optimus is good when you are using the laptop a lot on the battery. I think the 965m with optimus will result in having a longer battery life if compared to the 780m. So you will have to evaluate if you are going to use this laptop alot on the battery, or will it be used mainly plugged in?

If used as a desktop replacement I guess it will be mainly used plugged in, in that case the 780m will be the better choice. If you will use it a lot on the battery the 965m will result in longer battery life, though I think neither will last very long on batteries. The 17.3 screen eats a lot of power.