New Laptop, four choices

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JB52

Apprentice
I want to get a new laptop and have narrowed it down to four choices: alienware M14x, dell xps 15, 15z, or 14z. I want an all around good laptop as I'm going to be using it for casual gaming (Starcraft 2 and Heroes 6 of Might and Magic), web surfing, and basic office apps. Price is not much of a concern, so if possible I can have it custom made to get the best stuff. I like taking my laptop with me on trips so portability is key; the laptops I've narrowed it down to should be good but if not let me know. The only limitations for the laptop are the recommended configuration to play Heroes 6 and it is:

Processor: 2 Ghz Intel® Pentium® Core 2 Duo E6400 or higher, 2.8 Ghz AMD Athlon™II X2 240 or higher
RAM: 2 GB for Windows® XP, Windows® Vista®, Windows® 7
Video card: NVidia™ GeForce® 8800GTX (1 GB VRAM) or ATI™ Radeon HD 3870 (1 GB VRAM) or better
512 MB DirectX® 9.0c–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (See Supported List for more information).
Hard Drive Space: 8 GB

Now I know this might take the 14z and 15z out of play, but like I said I can have it custom made. While going over the customization options at the dell website, I came up with a 14z with the following specs:

Processor: 2nd gen intel core i7-2640M processor 2.80 GHz with Turbo boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz
RAM: 8GB, FFR3, 2 DIMM, 1333 MHz
Video card: NVIDIA GT 520M, i7-2640M (L412Z)
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard drive

Now would the 14z be able to handle the game or would I have to go for the XPS 15, 15z, or Alienware M14x? Would cramming that much stuff into the 14z cause it to overheat quickly or would it be fine? Anyone have a personal preference for one of them? I'm not a big gamer, I'd just like the laptop to be able to handle it when I want to play it. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a different laptop from another brand that would be better suited for my purposes let me know.
 
Dell XPS 15 is good for casual gaming. But it loses out on portability to its 'z' siblings.

Again, 14z has a weaker GPU compared to the XPS.

Among these, I would narrow it to XPS ANS 15z.
 
For the processor even a Core i3 2330M 2.2Ghz is faster than a C2D 2.8Ghz. So that isnt an issue. But on the GPU front the GT520M is very weak.

My recommendation from Nvidia stable is the GT525M or better and from AMD the HD6630M or better.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Dell XPS 15 Laptop Details | Dell India
 
If money is not an issue then I would say look at the Sony Vaio SE17.

Intel Core i7 2640M

4 GB RAM

15.5" Full HD IPS screen (notebookcheck rates its screen 94% the highest display score for a laptop this year, XPS 15 B+RG 86%)

Also XPS 15 and 15z have TN panels. IPS panels have very wide viewing angles and solid colors.

640gb HDD

AMD 1GB 6630M

Weight 1.96 kg

Upto 10 hour battery life with extended sheet battery (Optional accessory)

3 years warranty for 2490Rs.

VPCSE17GG : S Series : VAIOâ„¢ Laptop & Computer : Sony India
 
I have a Dell XPS 15 with 525M and can easily play any game at 1366x768 res on High-Very High..

Crysis 2, I have managed to get b/n 25-40 in High with DX11 and Ultra Textures..

All these with No OC..

So, you can check that
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I know I originally said that either a 14 or 15 inch screen is fine, but now I want to stick with a 14 inch screen that doesn't have a side keyboard since my current laptop is a 14 and I like the size; 15 seems too big after checking it out in a store. I never realized how big the XPS 15 is compared to the Z series, I prefer to get a slimmer laptop than the 15. The Sony looks great but unfortunately it's a 15.6 inch screen and has a side keyboard; same deal with the Asus' (except one is a 14 inch). Is there really that big of a difference between a GT 520M and GT 525M? Hard to believe there is but if so, then might as well get it. Any recommendations for a 14 inch laptop that has a GT 525M card or better and no side keyboard?
 
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