ASUS ROG Chimera vs Alienware Area 51

Greetings,

I've been lurking here for some time and find the community here very courteous, helpful, and knowledgeable. I figured it wouldn't hurt to present my query for feedback, in hopes to help me decide on a good gaming laptop for my business trips. In return, I promise to be on the lookout for an opportunity to return this favor in the future, by continuing to contribute to this community. Here's my copy/paste:

General Questions
1) What is your budget?
Unlimited, but reasonable.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
17”

3) Which country will you buying this notebook?
USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Prefer Asus ROG or Alienware Area 51. I’ve narrowed it down to two choices (see below).

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
No.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Gaming only. Maybe watch a movie, but less likely, or important.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
I travel for business approximately 2 weeks per month. I get bored in the hotel room and watching TV is so meh. It will be solely for gaming in the hotel room, so travels often, thus looking for solid build quality, though I do intend to be cautious and protect it with a nice case, etc.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? (If so, please state which games or types of games?)
Assassin’s Creed Origins/Odyssey, Subnautica, Far Cry Primal, Ancestors: Humankind Odyssey, Batman Arkham City, Witcher 3, Osiris: New Dawn, MMOs like Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online, etc. and possibly some newer games, now that I’ll have a decent rig.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Inconsequential. It will always be plugged in when in use.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
The latter (online is fine).

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, etc.
Windows.

Screen Specifics
12) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer?
At least 1080, though I’m to understand higher resolutions can be detrimental to gameplay? So guessing 1080 is sufficient, but higher is always nice as an option should I decide to watch a movie, for example. It seems my two choices, below, only go up to 1080, anyway, so that’s probably more than sufficient.

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Matte.

Build Quality and Design
14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Looks are inconsequential, but my two choices look nice, anyway. Build quality is important.

Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you need?
About 2TB should be sufficient.

Timing, Warranty and Longevity
16) When are you buying this laptop?
ASAP

17) How long do you expect to use this laptop?
Forever! Or until it completely dies.

18) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail?
“If he dies, he dies.” –Ivan Drago. INO, as long as necessary.

19) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage?
Either? Sorry, I’m not sure about this one.

========
I've narrowed it down to two choices:

1) Asus ROG G703GI with GTX1080. The build quality looks intriguing. I’ve had great success with Asus products. However, it appears the GTX1080 comes overclocked, which concerns me. I'm not into overclocking due to fear of increased component degradation, i.e.; reduced hardware lifespan.

2) Alienware Area 51 with RTX 2070. I doubt I’ll need that much video card, but I’m one of those guys that would buy a Hellcat and use it as a daily driver, never seeing a strip or track, if you know what I mean.

So, I feel like that G703GI would be good, but I’m curious if the Area 51 is worth the extra cost. Based on various reseller configurators I’ve tried, the difference would be roughly $600 more for the Area 51.

Thanks for any time you take to consider my query.

TL;DR: Asus ROG G703GI with GTX 1080 vs Alienware Area 51 with RTX 2070. Price is of minimal concern if it's worth it... but is it worth it?

Best Regards,
PDub72

 

Although, seeing threads like this one has me hesitating.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/after-3-asus-laptops-i-am-never-buying-another-one.826829/

 

Additionally, should I be open to RTX2060? Or stick with GTX1080 or RTX2070? I'm not up to date on the latest offering of GPUs. The last card I purchased was a desktop GTX1050 Ti several years back.

 

I would choose the Alienware over the Asus, just from a service standpoint. They continue to publish drivers and bios updates long after the machine is released, not to mention have on site repair service (rare for gaming laptops) and you may be able to upgrade to a newer generation GPU as they are modular. The RTX 2070 should be a relatively safe card. I find that high end cards like the 1080 / 2080 are usually more likely to fail because they constantly push more power and have higher temperatures than the lower end cards.

 

Thanks for that. Exactly the kind of info I was hoping for. Area 51 it is, then. Now to decide where to buy

 

Dell direct is nice because no hassles or restocking fees if it's DOA or you didn't like it. There is also a best buy config that may work, or XoticPC or HIDevolution if you want aftermarket upgrades.

 

Never knew best buy had a config, but I'll most likely use one of the resellers for the extra love they impart.

Since you're a mod, would it be inappropriate to ask about configurator options on this thread of should I start a new one? Things like the pros and cons of delidding, for example, or "standard" vs "premium" RAM options. Come to think of it, those are my only questions.

Thanks, again, for posting.

 

Delidding / repasting / repadding can always help with temperatures. The factory quality control can be hit or miss so having this done can ensure that you will be shipped something that will perform acceptably. Premium ram may at lower latency which for the Area 51m is all you can improve as the current bios only supports 2400MT/s.

 

What about RTX2060 vs RTX2070 for the Area 51? It seems the 2070 is only a skosh faster than the 2060, from what I gather, for a huge jump in price. But is the build quality better? Or runs cooler, or something to justify such a huge price difference?

After further reading on these forums and others, I think I'll skip buying from a reseller and get it straight from the source, but Dell prices the two over $1000 apart. Crazy. I would pay the extra if I feel it's worth it, though.

 

I got an area 51m with a 9700k and rtx 2080.
The temps do get high stock but with some undervolting I can stay in low to mid 70c. It's a fantasticly beautiful machine. Much better in person that in pictures. I spent quite a bit myself but got almost $800 off using discount codes so make sure you use em and they help alot. I'll see if I can find one that works but it'll be a few hours before I can put in the time.

EDIT : coupon "lcs10off" works for 10% off. I'll check to see if I can find others for more off when I wake up in around 8 hrs

EDIT 2: coupon code "TRAVIS10OFF" also works for 10% off