Unbalanced laptops?

Im sure this has been discussed and I did some searching to find partial answers in other threads, but would just like some advise about this. I will soon be purchasing a laptop for work, but want to play games on it too.. I have seen dozens of i7 laptops with geforce 540m gpu. (ussually $700 to $900) This set up seems to be the standard "low end" gaming configuration. it just seems like the obvious bottleneck is the video card, and the processor is there only to sell more computers...

am i looking at this wrong? or am i correct that the processor severly outpowers the video card? and if I am right, what is my best option for a sub 1k laptop that will give me the best fps in games.. do i go the i7 / 540m route, or are there better balanced machines out there that would produce as good or better fps in games for less money...

(dont get me wrong, the i7 is nice,, just overkill maybe??)

also know that i do need to be able to easily transport this machine but battery life is not a priority.. it will be plugged in everywhere. (so sagers ARE in the mix)  

thanks, any good advise will be appriciated!
dave