Thank you for your input!
Is the 16 vs 8GB of RAM a big deal?
I assume RAM is pretty cheap these days and I could self upgrade to 16GB for under $100?
No, because 16GB is ridiculous and games are barely pushing 4GB to its limit. 8GB is still an incredible amount of RAM, in regards to gaming.
As far as upgrading the RAM, 8GB (2 x 4GB) is indeed pretty cheap. But I'm not sure whether the machine comes with two 4GB sticks, or four 2GB sticks. In the latter case, you'd be upgrading to 12GB total.
I also had a thought. If you go the GT70 route, you could buy through a reseller like XoticPC. Would that circumvent tax in your case?
Wow they're $1299 elsewhere.
To be honest, I don't really play AAA games often on here. Path of Exile is probably the most graphically-intensive game I've played lately, and it generally runs fine at 1080p except at the final boss fight.
Cool.