Budget 90k+ MSI GT80: 8 Go RAM and GTX 970M vs. 16 Go RAM and GTX 980M

O

Omega Force

Recruit
Hello.

I'm thinking about buying a MSI laptop.
I'm hesitating between these two:
http://www.fnac.com/mp24497709/MSI-...-8-Go-RAM-128-Go-SSD-1-To-HDD/w-4#bl=HGBPlsi4
http://www.fnac.com/mp24610580/MSI-...16-Go-RAM-128-Go-SSD-1-To-HDD/w-4#bl=HGBPlsi1

They are both GT80. They both have a screen of 18.4", a core i7 4720HQ and 128 Go SSD + 1 To HDD.
As far as I can tell, the only differences are:
- The first one has a RAM of 8 Go, a graphics card of "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M - 6 Go GDDR5 SDRAM", and a price of €2286 = $2560 (it's cheaper by €588 = $659)
- The second one has a RAM of 16 Go, a graphics card of "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M - 8 Go GDDR5 SDRAM", and a price of €2874 = $3219 (it's more expansive by €588 = $659)

And so my question is: Which one should I buy? The first one or the second one?

If you need to know some context and what I'm going to use this PC for:
I'm going to use this PC many many hours per day, maybe up to 14 hours per day when I'm on vacation.
I won't play any video games on it. But I will play a lot of chess (and some backgammon), and use powerful chess softwares for analyzing games.
I also often make some programs on MatLab and SharpDevelop.
Also an important note: I always have a few hundred tabs (sometimes even a thousand) constantly opened at the same time on Firefox (which makes it freeze and crash a lot). And many of those tabs are Youtube videos.

Thanks in advance for your answers.
 
Since you wont be playing any games on your laptop, the GT80 with 970M makes more sense. Even the 970m will be overkill for your requirements. I would suggest you pick something with a 960m/965m and use up the savings on extra RAM and fast storage(ssd).
 
There are far better machines you can buy for cheap that will serve your usage. Large SSD+High Capacity Faster RAM will serve you well.
 
Don't suggest me to buy some other kind of laptops. I have to buy a laptop in a specific shop, and the only two good 18 inch laptops that they have are the two MSI GT80.
Anyway, isn't the second MSI GT80 (the most expensive one) better for what I'm planning to do with it?
Because it has more RAM, and if I'm not mistaken having more RAM will help Firefox: Firefox will be able to handle hundred of tabs more easily and more solidly, and the big amount of RAM will make Firefox crash less often. A big amount of RAM might also benefit my chess softwares and my backgammon softwares.
On the computer that I currently use (it has 16 Go of RAM, a core i7-4800MQ and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M), in the "Task Manager" the "Memory" is frequently around 40% to 50% (half of which is due to Firefox and the other half to my main chess software), and the "CPU" goes up to 99% when I turn my chess software on.
So are the extra 8 Go of RAM and the better graphics card worth it?
 
The problem is that a more powerful gpu also means heavier battery drain and more heat.
given that 970m and 980m are the most high end mobile gpus one can get, you are basically paying $650+ for 8gb more ram.
you could just buy another 8gb stick of ram for ~$120 and pop it in. or better yet, get some massive 16gb sticks (for 32gb) for the same price.

cpu going to 99% isn't a bad thing. i guess the chess software is able to fully utilize all 8 threads. Is there any lag?

Also, going by the specs of your current laptop, i dont think you need an upgrade. at most swap out a drive for an ssd and put more ram.
 
As your main objective is about Matlab and other heavy duty software, why not opt for a workstation instead? MSI WT72, a 17in option is also viable.
 
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