Alienware 17 vs MSI GT72 (i7 4710hq vs i7 5700hq)

[dogfox209]

I am looking at buying one of these. Specs and prices I can get them for included below:

Alienware 17: $1420 total

Ram - 16gb (comes with 8, adding 8 to it)
CPU - i7 4710hq
GPU - gtx 970m
Drive - 256 ssd (single 2.5 inch) (I have an OCZ vector 150)


MSI gt 72: $1550 total

Ram - 16gb
CPU - i7 5700hq
GPU - gtx 970m
Drive - 256 ssd (single 256 m.2 sata ) (comes with a HDD, replacing with a crucial mx200)


Other than CPU, biggest differences I care about are:

The Alienware from review videos appears to be slightly better build quality.

The MSI appears to be slightly easier to clean.

There are other things like ports and optical drive which MSI seems to win on, but these are non factors for me personally.


The biggest difference and the only real problem I have when deciding:

Is the i7 5700hq worth the $130 extra? I understand its newer and better. But I am still on the fence.

I will be using it solely for software dev, I won't be using it for gaming. I need something that will last me a solid 3-4 years - so any comparisons on Alienware vs MSI reliability and warranty is appreciated too

Thanks

 

[Hydroshot]

I would get the MSI even tho the alienware is a bit cheaper its still probley overpriced for the perfomance

 

[jaguarskx]

Do you need a GPU for software dev?

 

[dogfox209]

Do you need a GPU for software dev?

No I don't think so, I am fairly certain an onboard GPU can handle dev.

I realize these have quite good GPUs which are really wasted on me. But I couldn't find a laptop with specs similar to these that had a half-way decent return policy, warranty, good cooling, and the build quality that these do. It's also important that I can upgrade the hard drive and ram, and have easy access to other components like the fans. I did look at the new GE72 apache with the i7 5700HQ, but I came to the understanding that opening it up voids the warranty.

I also looked at the Asus Rog line, but the inability to open it up as easily as the others meant I took it out of consideration.

I did look at Sager/Clevo but I have read a lot of horror stories from resellers and these component brands. But I am very open to suggestions if you have any

 

[jaguarskx]

If I come across anything I will post in this thread. The problem is that all the 17" workstations that I can think of are more expensive than the two laptops you have chosen; many of them are really expensive.

Regarding the i7-5700hq vs the i7-4710hq for a difference of $130, that is actually not a big deal. The i7-5700hq is a Broadwell generation CPU so it will consume slightly less power and likely generation slightly less heat, but it is not a big difference. While the base clockspeed increases from 2.5GHz to 2.7GHz, the max turbo boost speed is still 3.5GHz. Lastly, the average performance increase from 4th gen to 5th gen assuming the same clockspeed is only about 4%. Performance boost is rather small and I would only recommend the i7-5700hq if you must eek out every bit of CPU performance you can muster.

 

[lvjcor]

I found a page showing the CPU performance. $130 to gain extra 10%~20% performance seems to be a good deal.
http/event.msi.com/nb/2015/bdw/index.html