planning on buying an m17x r3

Just wondering if you guys would recommend it to me.

I have never done PC gaming before but I plan on doing some if I end up purchasing this notebook. I have a few questions though.

Should I upgrade the gpu to the 6970? <not sure if that it but the one that costs the most
Or should I wait and see how the stock one performs and then possibly switch it on my own if needed?

Is there any problems with this computer that I should be aware of before purchasing?

How does it perform with everyday tasks other than gaming? I've never owned a gaming PC and I don't know if that's the only thing they're good at or not haha.

Would it be a better idea to not upgrade the hdd that dell offers and just buy and ssd to put the OS on and a few major applications that I will be using?

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

Go 6970 off the bat unless you want 3D, 460m is a bit weak in terms of performance.
No problems to be aware of, I'd really suggest re-pasting the CPU off the bat and thoroughly testing everything before you get into heavy use on it, though.
It performs every day tasks like any other really powerful laptop, its light and doesn't make a lot of noise (outside of gaming), It is a bit large though.
IMO your best bet is to just get one HDD and put in an SSD yourself, yeah... I was going to do that but need to put money in other places (like a car). I HAVE had an SSD before though and it is stupidly nice for windows / a few games and can see it being even more useful on a laptop, where I personally (at least) tend to need faster bootups.