Out of the loop. Have questions on The m51 or other solutions

I run a business where a laptop is way more suitable for many reasons but a desktop COULD work. I am debating taking out a few sticks of ram, using an RMA motherboard I received and haven't used and removing a 2080Ti. I am using the Godlike MB for the additional spacing for the PCI express spacing that the failed and RMA Aorus Master doesn't have which sandwiches the dual GPUs. Clearly dual GPU isn't worth it most of the time so I can save a lot by parting out aspects of my current rig. I'd need a case, AIO CPU which would be z390 if I stick with my MB and PSU. I have extra fans also.

I'm WILLING to go notebook knowing it is much more expensive but I have a hard time grasping a few things. I haven't gamed on my notebook here at work in a long time (7700HQ 1080 laptop GPU) but I know it's a good chip compared to the 2080s just missing the very little utilized RTX features on the current GPUs.

1. I don't know if a 2080 max Q is worse than a 1080 pascal laptop gpu but think it would be worse or even at best? I tried one max Q MSI notebook with great reviews but the thermals are horrible on an already weak GPU so I returned it. Undervolting for that machine wasn't even worth it.

2. Is the m51 just needing an undervolt on the CPU and the GPU and other quality issues pretty standard Dell hit or miss? I feel like I am reading a lot of negative things and am not sure if even purchasing a 9900k is worth it if I really am thermally limited with only a moderate fix of undervolt and mild temp drop from repaste.

3. Any notebooks in general from any manufacture that are good alternatives to look at like the ASUS ROG 703 x98? It seems like AW holds the crown for the most part but again my research is limited and also shows confounding results from reviews to what I peruse on forums.

Sorry for the long post but my assumption I am hoping is incorrect is just that it's a crappy time to buy a gaming notebook because most of the tech and issues with thermals is either from GPU feature rich options rarely used for gaming and maxing out 14nm clock speeds with limited thermal capacity for heat control.

The answers I get will greatly help me decide if I should just lower settings with current notebook, or choose a desktop as price outweighs aesthetics and the overall headaches of what many seem to struggle with some of these high end notebooks of today.