Considering M17xR4 - Configuration Questions

I'm a serious campaign gamer and am currently using a 2 yo HP Envy 14 w/Radeon 5650M. It has played almost everything, at lower settings, except ME3 and Rage. So, I want to upgrade. A Sager 9170 and M17xR4 look best to me. At the Alienware site there is a $2099 config with Radeon HD7970M, 8 GB, and (2) 500GBx7200rpm RAID0 drives and this system is close to what I want. I have some questions about M17x issues and configuration.

1) After some web searching I've found some M17x users have problems with the 7970 not "kicking" in and trying to force in with FN F7 would not work either. Question: is this a prevasive or sporatic problem?
2) I am thinking of immediately replacing one of the 500GB HDD with a 256GB SSD and make it the boot drive. I've read that cloning a drive is not a difficult task. Can some one point me to an instruction set or video on doing this task. Oh, do you know if this would void a warranty? I'd probably buy a case and use the takeout drive as a backup drive. What would be a good, cost effective 256GB SSD for the M17x?
3) Would it be a good investment to upgrade (at $150) from i7-3630 to i7-3740 OR is this a waste of money.
4) Finally, I think I'd make my purchase at xoticpc.com because for the same money you seem to get a little extra. Is xoticpc a worthy VAR?

I'd appreciate your advice.

 

Don't bother wasting money going from a 3630 to a 3740. For the ssd you could look at the crucial m4 or samsung 830 or 840. Buying from xoticpc is fine.

 

I wouldn't bother trying to clone hard drives as it can lead into optimization issues with the SSD and cause other problems. A clean install is always the best way to go.

 

Nothing wrong with cloning a hdd to a ssd. Just make sure you use cloning software which supports ssd's. Acronis true image is my favourite.