NP9150 best performance config for $2000

Hi, I'm trying to get the best performance for $2000 and am likely going to throw Newegg into the mix for the SSD. Here's what I came up with. Will it work, and are there better options?

Processor: i7-3610QM (standard)
Vid Card: Radeon HD 7970M (+$200)
Thermal Paste: IC DIamond Thermal Compound (+$35)
RAM: 8GB 1600Mhz DDR3 (standard)
**HDD: keeping the 500GB (standard) but planning on switching it for the 256GB Crucial M4 SSD from Newegg, and installing the 500GB into the optical drive bay using the hard drive caddy
Optical Drive Bay: Remove DVDRW Drive and Install Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy Only (+$15). This is where I'll put the 500GB drive - will this option work?
**No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy: this is a little confusing... I already chose to remove the drive and install a hard drive caddy, which I assume this does not contradict?
External USB 2.0 Slim DVD R/RW Drive: (+$19) - I already have Win 64-bit Home Premium DVD's I'll use so will need this.
Wi-fi Card: Intel Ultimate-N 6300 (+$35) - Mostly will wi-fi game but am not a competitive gamer in FPS

Price as configured @ XoticPC: $1673.00
Crucial M4 256GB SSD @ Newegg: $239.00 (do I need the transfer kit if I'm not cloning?)

Grand Total: $1912 + tax - cash discount of roughly $50 if I choose to do it. It might come out a little over $2k with tax but this is still in the ballpark.

Thoughts?
Thanks--

 

It looks pretty solid What are you planning on doing with the laptop? If games, then you're set. If video editing and photoshop, all that, then the processor is also good, but if you want speed, then you might want to upgrade that.

Otherwise, you're fine.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Looks good to me too.
For "**No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy: this is a little confusing... I already chose to remove the drive and install a hard drive caddy, which I assume this does not contradict?"

You dont need it with how you have it set. If you were getting an internal optical drive and wanted to swap back and forth between that and a hard drive then you'd want that.

You wont need the transfer kit for your SSD if you plan on doing a fresh install, which is best for SSD.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. Basically I'm... correct that, my wife is going to be mostly gaming... this will actually be my wife's PC, and work stuff as well but that's not a consideration as any gaming laptop will be good enough for her needs.

So just to be clear, the Optical Bay Hard Drive caddy option I chose with removing the DVD drive is not the same as their other "extra optical bay hard drive caddy", that happens to be $45? Seems like I'm already getting one with the removal option (and that I need it for my 500GB) (+$15) and am not sure what that other option does...

 

The other option is if you DONT select to remove the optical drive. Say you want the laptop with an optical drive PLUS an extra bay to have spare.

 

I see, thanks. Interesting that actually removing the DVD and installing a caddy is just $15 where as not doing anything and just providing an extra caddy is $45... less work for more money?

 

No. The difference is including the Optical Drive or not In the first, no optical drive, and in the second, you do get an optical drive.

Mr. Mysterious

 

The optical drive is worth $30.

 

The spec looks good to me

 

You can by that Crucial SSD drive on Amazon for $199.99. Save the $39