Help me decide how best to spend £700

[DNG7]

I am currently torn between 2 specs

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Glossy FHD LED (1920x1080) (Special Offer)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
ENIGMA GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Enigma III Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,100/5,200 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £700.00 including VAT and delivery.

and/ or

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2430M (2.40GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £702.00 including VAT and delivery.

I will mainly be using Photoshop/ Painter and a little DAZ Studio. i also heavily play MMOs but would like to be able to tackle the latest PC games.
I really love the idea of having the i7-2670QM but also want GT 555M - 2GB and cannot get both for under £700 unless I buy a really cheaply built alternative I've seen floating around online.
I am still saving but please help

 

[Rakk]

The one with the better graphics card will make games playing better since games are mostly now GPU intensive.

Also on most of the laptops the GPU's are not upgradeable I believe (though I could be wrong)

Edit: I don't know much about laptops so I'd wait for some more advice first

 

[Music Guy123]

I'D go for the second one as it is a better gpu. The i5 proccessor has hyperthreading so will still be very fast. The second will be better all round but the first one would be better for most other things apart from gaming where it will be brought down by the gpu. Overall I would go for the second one but both are good and I am sure you won't be dissapointed. Best of luck!

 

[DNG7]

The one with the better graphics card will make games playing better since games are mostly now GPU intensive.

Also on most of the laptops the GPU's are not upgradeable I believe (though I could be wrong)

Edit: I don't know much about laptops so I'd wait for some more advice first

That's actually what I was thinking regarding gpu. thanks

 

[DNG7]

I'D go for the second one as it is a better gpu. The i5 proccessor has hyperthreading so will still be very fast. The second will be better all round but the first one would be better for most other things apart from gaming where it will be brought down by the gpu. Overall I would go for the second one but both are good and I am sure you won't be dissapointed. Best of luck!

Cool. So the gpu will make it a better all rounder, games included

 

[Music Guy123]

Well, the gpu difference is quite big, they will both be fast laptops, the first one will be faster due to a quad core. The extra ram will make it better for video editing and similar. However, it would fall down a huge amount when it comes to gaming. Are your programs gpu dependent or not? If do get the second laptop if not, if you can cope with less gaming, the other laptop would probably be faster. Best of luck!

 

[DNG7]

My main main program is Photoshop and there's a debate wether Photoshop uses gpu for renders or ram. I am admittedly not a big gamer but I would like to be able to keep up somewhat with games like Skyrim and new mmos
How much productivity would i lose with the i5 compared to the i7 in general?

 

[Music Guy123]

I personnaly believe that Photoshop uses ram but I could be very wrong. I think I would suggest the first one as the more ram will definately help along with the better processor. The graphics card is definately slower but I think you should get away with it. If you possibly can, what I think I would do is take out the optical drive and buy a cheap external one. I would then put an SSD in as this makes the computer much more snappier, the drawback is the cost but it us your choice!!!