$2500-$3000 budget for 17"-18" gaming laptop

[Steven Mal]

I'm looking for a new gaming laptop
- $2500-$3000 budget
- Country of purchase: United States
- 17" or 18" screen with 1080p
-Windows OS
- Looking to play games on Max/High settings with 60fps with a GTX 1070
- 16GB RAM
- Weight is not an issue
-Battery life is irrelevant because I will remove the battery and be plugged in whenever in use.
-256GB SSD
-2-4TB HDD, although I'll go with a 1TB HDD laptop if I can just replace it for a larger capacity
-Optical Drive optional
-Must have a built in mic
-Webcam optional
- At least two USB ports, with one USB port on the right side of the laptop
-Backlit keyboard necessary
-I use headphones most of the time so loud fan noise isn't an issue as long as they keep the laptop cool.

Currently I'm looking at the Sager NP9175 (Clevo P775TM-G)

From XoticPC.com for $2393

17.3" 1080p screen
i7-8700K
NVIDIA GTX 1070
16 GB RAM
250GB SSD
2TB HDD in each bay (4TB total capacity)
No optical for the P775TM so I'll get an "External USB 2.0 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive"

From hidevolution.com for $2742

17.3" 1080p screen,
i7-8700K, Delidded - Unlocked, Under Volted and Overclocked 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8700K 6 Core-12 Thread Processor, 4.7 GHz (HIDevolution Overclocked to 4.8GHz)
NVIDIA GTX 1070
16 GB RAM
256GB SSD
2TB HDD in each bay (4TB total capacity )
No optical for the P775TM so I'll get an External DVDRW drive

My last laptop (Sager NP-9377) came from XoticPC.com and I've never bought from hidevolution.

According to this thread,

http/forum.notebookreview.com/threads/official-sager-np9175-clevo-p775tm-owners-lounge.809621/

some are worried that temperatures will be too hot, saying that i7-8700K is too much, and others are not worried about heat. Still, the delidded CPU is supposed to help with temps so is it worth paying the extra ~$350, or can I go with XoticPC without worrying? The thread contains positive comments about HIDEvolution and their work with Clevo laptops.

Any other laptop recommendations similar to my criteria are welcome. This is what I came up with so far but I haven't settled yet. Thanks.

 

[vapour]

-Battery life is irrelevant because I will remove the battery and be plugged in whenever in use.

Then why do you want a laptop? You can build a much better spec PC and have a very good monitor, better cooling and last much longer than gaming laptop.