W541 as a high-end photography system?

I can't find the W541 owner's lounge thread in here, so I guess I'll have to start one. I'm looking at a top-end, high-resolution notebook for photography (and some video editing). I have a full description in the "which notebook to buy" forum, but also wanted to get opinions from owners of each of the machines I'm considering (W541, Dell M3800, HP ZBook 15). I'd get the W541 with the high-resolution screen, and add my own RAM and SSDs. I like the built-in color calibration, which is unique as far as I know, and I like that the W541 is thinner and lighter than the HP (it's heavier than the Dell, but the Dell is quite a bit slower). How do people like their W541s, and do you think it would be suitable for heavy use of the Adobe Creative Cloud plus Capture One? If I had the choice of upgrading either the CPU to the 4910MQ OR getting the 4810MQ but upgrading the GPU to the k21oo, which would make a bigger difference (they're within a few dollars of the same price)? Or, are both important, and worth the more expensive machine?

 

From what I've read, there is heat/throttling probelms with the 541 models. This is probably due to early design, im sure drivers and such will fix it. But honestly the 4710 to 4810 is not a big difference at all. Especially not for the $$. I have the 4810 in my MSI and the 4710 i think in my Dell, and no difference.

The k1100m vs the 2100m, HUGE!! Difference. That I'dd drop the extra $$ into.

As for the 541 itself, I'm not sure. I picked up the 550s, which i just absoluetly love. I have the 540, and the difference in the trackpad, and wieght i will almost more than likely be upgrading. I'll probably hold out a few months, and see what broadwell quad i7's look like or skylark even. But I was so close to getting the 541 over the 550s. I wanted something nice to travel with, and the size wieght between the two is so similar. Only reason i got the 550s was the smaller power brick and the dual batteries. But i still use and love my 540.

 

Don't forget about a docking station and whatever dual monitors you want for at home.

 

I like how you will add the ram and SSDs. I know you won't see a difference in cpu performance from the 4710. The 4810 and 4910's performance difference is more for benchmark enthusiasts I gather, or bragging rights really. You won't see a real world performance difference in most cases. The 4910mq isn't going to make your jaw drop...not much of a dramatic increase in clock speeds from each step up.

Save that money upgrading the cpu towards more ram or an extra SSD imo.

 

The difference between 4710 and 4910 should be between 10-20% depending on tasks. On battery power, the performance is limited so much you wont notice a difference (which is pushing me to wait on purchasing the 541) but on ac mode you will get that performance jump. Most tasks that dont 100% utilize the cpu, no you wont notice a difference. But tasks like rendering or major editing, you will most definitly notice a difference.

As your question on upgrading cpu or gpu, your biggest gain will be that k1100m upgrade to 2100m. So go with that without question. Performance gains (again depend on application) could be 50% or higher. But a 4810 and k2100m is a great setup. You can pick up decent ram 2x8gb for $100, x2, for $200 and have your 32gb. Either get a 256gb m.2 sata ssd and keep the stock hhd for data. With prices how they are i pick up a samsung 1tb 850 pro/evo for every notebook i have.

But ram/hhd can be upgraded by you, and at any time. CPU/GPU are soldered on, so you get what you pick now.

Hope this made it to you on time. Otherwise, i hope we can talk about your w541 after you get it. I'm really considering one to replace one if not two of my existing but need to know more first hand before i do.