Need a new laptop for school/gaming Purposes

Hello,

  I am looking to spend $1,000 - $1,100 total on a Laptop capable of running most to all modern games at high graphics while also being able to do 3D renderings such as blender or Maya.  I plan to use this laptop quite a bit for gaming and also game programming intensive activities like rendering 3d worlds using rasterizers etc.  I have already looked at the xm15 with the specs pasted below but it is a bit more pricey than I was looking for.  I would like this laptop to last my 4 years in Game Programming school also.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks everyone!

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15 Laptop (Model: 9130)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Glossy Surface) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 3610QM (2.3 GHz Turbo Mode to 3.3Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache) <b></b>
Thermal Compound: Stock CPU and GPU Thermal Compound
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
Primary Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: DVD/CD 8x Multi-Drive (Writes and Reads DVDs, CDs)
Wireless Card: 802.11 B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M 1.5GB with NVIDIA Optimus Technology
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty




p.s. I hope I didn't leave anything useful out of this post if so please inquire more of my intentions if unclear.

Hey guys, I recently purchased a Marauder level 3 last week, and it's currently being shipped. I was just wondering, does digital storm use OEM reference design graphics cards or specific brands [eg: Sapphire/XFX/HiS/EVGA] in their configs?