Single Overclocked GTX 680M or Dual 7970M

Hey there folks. I've been obsessed with laptop configurations these past few weeks trying to figure out what I want. I had purchased an Alienware M14x R2 thinking it would do the job but I was wrong.

So after all the research, I've hit a few speed bumps.

I can't decide between:

Overclocked Intel Extreme Core i7 3940XM Quad-Core (4.1GHz-4.5GHz TurboBoost), 8MB Cache / Single 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M (also overclocked).

or..

Intel Core i7-3840QM (2.8~3.8GHz) w/8M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads /Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M - CrossFireX Enabled.


This will be primarily for gaming. I really only play World of Warcraft, but also want to try out more of the newer graphic intensive games as well. Really having a hard time with this and any help is greatly appreciated.

I apologize if I've posted in the wrong spot. I just found this gem of a website a few days ago, so needless to say I'm new to the ways of these forums.

 

Why not a slower CPU + 680M + SSD? The XM chips cost like $500 more than a 3840QM.
With a new VBIOS the 680M can really fly, reaching pretty sick performance. But not like 2*7970M. They will be faster. World of Warcraft is a game where Nvidia cards do better, but you will get insane FPS on both 680M and 7970Ms.

There was some concerns about 7970M in Crossfire due to some issues with it, but they might have fixed it now: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/678063-you-satisfeid-your-amd-7970m-crossfire.html

 

If you can wait a few months nvidia and AMD should be releasing their new cards soon. Supposedly the 8970m is already out there (upgradeyourlaptop has one).
Even if you don't get a new generation card the previous ones 680m and 7970m should be a bit cheaper

Also new Haswell i7 processors.

 

Good point ^

Haswell + 780M or 8990M, would be ideal if you can wait slightly longer than 1 more month.

GTX 780M is rumored atleast 20% faster than GTX 680M. Don`t buy the 8970M, its just an overclocked 7970M. Wait for 8990M or buy 780M. Haswell + 780M will be announced at Computex in early June.

 

Yeah I've also thought about this. How do you guys predict prices will be like?

 

Pretty much the same as they are now. I'd stick with the M14x until July, then pick up an M18x (or AW's equivalent) with 780m sli and an XM CPU. If you can afford it, the XM is an awesome choice... its overclocking potential puts it squarely in high end desktop processor territory, and it's the one processor available that doesn't bottleneck overclocked GPUs.

 

The 780M is not going to offer anything significant over an overclocked 680M. Interesting they don't list their GPU overclock, we let people know with ours so they know what they are getting.