new build Gaming Laptop Questions

quote Zuidy

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Mobile Processor (4x 2.4GHz/6MB L3 Cache) Probably one of the biggest downsides for me, wish I could have more speed. Max is a 2.8 GHz quad core i7 processor........ Tips on how to boost speed possibly? Overclocking isn't likely on a laptop...... or is it in this case?

Nah, to my knowledge no laptop can be overclocked and trust me CPU speed is barely noticeable especially with an i7 - very few games are CPU intensive enough to make a big difference especially goinf for 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz i7 that'd make very little difference.

quote Zuidy

Memory
8GB [4GB x 2] 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM [Laptop Memory] - Corsair or Major Brand Changing to 16 GB most likely, will it be necessary for simply gaming and minor web surfing, etc?

Gaming would barely require more than 4GB tbh - but 8GB is becoming a trend due to how intensive some games and backgound apps are starting to get. I would just stick with the 8, even in the next couple of years 16GB will most likely still be overkill, even if it becomes an issue you can upgrade at a later date quite easily.

quote Zuidy

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M 2GB GDDR5 Video w/ NVIDIA Optimus [CZ-17] Could upgrade to 675m w/ 4 GB or 680 w/ 4 GB. Which should I go with?

Go with the 680M if you want the best performance overall if you want to save money just keep the default - the 680 will drain battery A LOT quicker especially playing games - they default has Nvidia Optimus which is a neat battery saving tech iirc.

quote Zuidy

Internal Wireless Network Adapter
802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo [CZ-17] Upgrading to Intel Ultimate-N 6300 802.11 a/b/g/n 450Mbps Dual-Band Wi-Fi. Good?

You will notice very little difference changing your wifi since they all do the same job - the only time they would do any different is if you had a Gigabit connection in your house, for that case you would need a card that supported up to 1Gbps. But nah I would go with stock on that.

As for the SSD - Yes what hiigaran says is true but if the stuff you put on the SSD is to stay then it won't really matter.
Install your OS to that, a couple of programs you use a lot (eg in my case Photoshop) as well as games you play VERY often.
For the standard HDD put EVERYTHING else on that.

Or just skip an SSD and get a second HDD to keep the OS separate from all your clutter which will help boot times and make defrags MUCH more efficient.