How can i get my hand on a M17 with the HD7970m and or crossfire gpu instead of the gtx versions

I'm new to alienware but the dell site is just annoying i can see models on the m17 is the refurbished section with ATI gpu but none that i can buy new ?? I'd prefer the ATI due to using it with uni and engineering cad packages, such like solidworks and proengineer (creo).. Any Help on the matter would be awesome, or if you don't agree that the ATI gpus are better for Cad than NVIDIA then please mention how and why

just incase this is for the uk market..

 

ATI gpus are significantly faster in gpgpu. Anyone who argues otherwise is a noob.

i think only sager/clevo are offering the new AMD cards right now...and I'm not sure what the status of amd cards in clevos are. I've been away from these forums for a long time. THis time last year, there was much noise coming from Clevo owners about how enduro was causing performance issues in some games. I know that the new drivers have made great improvements but maybe someone else who is up to date on this can chime in

You can also go the professional card route like Quadro...seems the popular nvidia cards now (aka 680, 780) are pure gaming cards. i would not touch them if you were considering cad

Another option...get the alienware with the cheapest videocard option and upgrade it yourself with an amd card. This option i can definitely help you with lol

EDIT: I've researched the 7970m enduro/clevo issues and it seems that since the 13.1 drivers, enduro isn't an issue anymore. But maybe Jaybee or someone with a clevo can chime in here to confirm my findings

 

Thanks for the reply, good idea with just changing the gpu over if i can't buy one. How much roughly does the 7970m cost i can't seem to find it online. Or my other option is to wait and see if a amd gpu m17 pops on on dells refurbished outlet. I'm not wanting to spend over £1500 all in potentially stretch more if i feel its worth it and if i can get my hands on a windows 8 tablet cheap enough.

My only problem with the quadro cards is that you have to buy the top spec card to get a reasonable level of gaming quality.. tho on the other hand i'm not to sure how much gaming i will be doing tho... The main problem with most of the gaming or workstation laptops is that they are rather unpleasant looking in comparison to other laptops, hence being drawn to alienware