GS60 Ghost Pro versus GS70 Stealth Pro: do I really need Thunderbolt?

I'm trying to decide between the GS60 Ghost Pro and the GS70 Stealth Pro. Both are pretty similar, except for the size of the screen of course. And also the Ghost Pro has Thunderbolt 3 while the Stealth Pro does not. If the Stealth Pro had TB3, I would choose the Stealth Pro in a heart beat. But since it does not, I'm trying to figure out if I really need TB3 or not.

Do I?

 

Stealth Pro might run ever so slightly cooler, but otherwise they perform similarly and are of similar construction quality. I guess one glaring question is: Do you need Thunderbolt 3 for anything (now or in the foreseeable future)?

 

I've been trying to reason this out in my mind. The only thing I see TB3 being useful in the near future is being able to use those eGPU Thunderbolt docks like the Razer Core that are due out Any Day Now(tm). This way, the machine remains useful as a gaming machine for a long, long time. However, that tethers me to a desktop and the whole point of a gaming laptop in my mind is to be able to game on the go. And truth be told, I'm not that much of a hardcore gamer any more anyway. I suspect that 970M in the Stealth will be good enough for me for a long time. So with that reasoning, that sort of nullifies the Ghost's TB3 advantage over the Stealth.

 

@asincero - Ah, yes, the Razer Core. That's a hot commodity, but unfortunately compatibility across other OEMs is hearsay (it seems like you were alluding to some info you came across that suggests we might see wider compatibility, though, which would be neat).

The 970M is definitely a capable chip. NVidia may be revealing its next generation of GPUs this year, possibly very soon, even, so that might sway your buying decision and/or timing, also. Personally, I like both models, so I'm not of a lot of help. Lol. If you're after portability, go with the Ghost; smaller footprint and you gain the TB3 port, for whatever it's worth (now or in the long haul). If you're not very concerned about the external graphics possibility and are interested in a bigger screen, the GS70 is about as nice.

Tough call, either way.