Please explain the benefits of each build with regards to my needs.

[xstalkrx]

I am looking at the Alienware MX17-3 and there are several options for CPU and GPU.

What I want from the build is a laptop that is capable of playing the latest games on at least decent settings. I want to be able to use a HDTV tuner as well.

The processor options are i7 2630qm, 2720qm, 2820qm

The GPU options are 1.5 GB GTX 460M and 1GB HD 6870M

Trying not to spend useless money too obviously.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[enzo matrix]

According to this site, the video cards perform extremely close. Unless someone has hands on experience, I would not spend extra money on one over the other:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

That said, many games are Nvidia optimized, so if the price is close, the Nvidia card might be better. If you are into folding@home, the Nvidia card is better.

As for the CPU, they should all be able to handle gaming. The video card would be the limiting factor. That said, if the price difference between the 2630qm and the 2720qm is close, I'd upgrade. But the performance difference between the 2730qm and the 2820qm does not justify much more than $20.
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52219&processor=i7-2630QM&spec-codes=SR02Y
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=50067
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52227

As a side note, 4GB of memory should be enough but I would definitely not go over 8GB.