Laptop for college and gaming; form filled

[AhsomahS]

Budget: $2000 max

Size: 14" - 15" screen range

Resolution: 1440p or higher

Portability: I plan on carrying this thing around my quite large campus. A thick behemoth won't do.

Battery: I don't plan on gaming much away from an outlet, but I would probably need decent life whilst in classes for notes, presentations, etc. I don't have a lot of experience with laptops so I don't know a good battery life, maybe 5-6 hours?

Usage: I would probably only game an hour or two during weekdays, but weekends and holidays more.

Games: Yes, think Battlefield 1, Overwatch, Civilization V-VI, BF4. I would like to get a stable 60 FPS with medium-high settings.

Other tasks: Engineering major, so perhaps modeling software.

Storage: SSD for the OS and other critical software, a TB 7200rpm HDD for games.

Life: I plan to keep this laptop through college and perhaps beyond.

Optical Drive: No

Brands: Not too picky, have heard good things about ASUS and MSI but I lack good experience with laptop brands.

Country: USA

I'm relatively new to laptop buying so I don't have a good reference to compare choices to. I have an old 17" laptop at home (HP Pavilion dv7-1175nr) that I definitely feel is too big and heavy, but other than that I welcome advice from those that are in or were in similar situations to mine.

Here's one model that caught my eye:

https/www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-4K-238-i7-6700HQ-THUNDERBOLT/dp/B01AC40KSK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471315760&sr=8-1&keywords=MSI+GS+Series+GS60+Ghost+Pro

Also, would you recommend a laptop cooler?

Thank you all very much in advance

 

[Chugalug_]

Would you be open to getting a mid tower PC for use in your dorm and a laptop for work separate?
Typically what I recommend to Uni students as it provides the best bang for buck.

 

[Chugalug_]

If you're set on a gaming laptop, most either come at 1080p or 4k resolutions, I couldn't find any good value 1440p laptops, so go with this.
Has the new 1070 mobile card in it.
All of the new GPUs for laptops perform almost identically to desktop variants, so amazing leap in performance there, although battery life still struggles to work well in workstation application as well.
1060 laptops are thinner and more efficient, so i've listed one of those too.
1070: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233175&cm_re=Pascal_laptop-_-34-233-175-_-Product

1060: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154299&cm_re=Pascal_laptop-_-34-154-299-_-Product

 

[AhsomahS]

Would you be open to getting a mid tower PC for use in your dorm and a laptop for work separate?
Typically what I recommend to Uni students as it provides the best bang for buck.

I've considered that, but my dorm is quite small. Even a mid tower would probably be too big considering it would need a screen, power strip, etc, and my desk space is small. For my situation I think I would prefer the laptop.

 

[AhsomahS]

Thanks for your reply Chugalug, I'm looking at your recommendations now. Would you recommend or have experience in using a laptop cooler?

 

[Chugalug_]

I wouldn't bother using one.
More trouble than they're worth.
What are your thoughts on a mini ITX build?