Which gaming laptop should I get?

Alright, I’ve been bouncing between stores and scrolling through websites for a few days now trying to pick up a gaming laptop, and honestly, I’m stuck. Here’s the breakdown of my current dilemma.
Across all three options I'm looking at, the basics are the same: 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a 128-256GB SSD, and a 17.3-inch screen. But here is where things get annoying:

The $700-$850 range gets you an i5-7300HQ paired with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB.
Moving up to the $850-$1,100 bracket, you either get an i7-7700HQ with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB or an i5-7300 with a GTX 1060 6GB.
Once you cross the $1,100 mark, you're looking at an i7-7700 combined with a GTX 1060 6GB.

So, which one should I actually pull the trigger on? Is it worth dropping those extra hundreds of dollars? Personally, I’m leaning toward that second option—the i5-7300 with the GTX 1060 6GB—for gaming, but what do you guys think?

Also, build quality-wise, who wins? Is it better to go with an Acer Predator, an HP Omen, or maybe an ASUS ROG Strix?

Thanks!

Justin Johnson8 said:Alright, I’ve been bouncing between stores and scrolling through websites for a few days now trying to pick up a gaming laptop, and honestly, I’m stuck. Here’s the breakdown of my current dilemma.
Across all three options I'm looking at, the basics are the same: 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a 128-256GB SSD, and a 17.3-inch screen. But here is where things get annoying:

The $700-$850 range gets you an i5-7300HQ paired with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB.
Moving up to the $850-$1,100 bracket, you either get an i7-7700HQ with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB or an i5-7300 with a GTX 1060 6GB.
Once you cross the $1,100 mark, you're looking at an i7-7700 combined with a GTX 1060 6GB.

So, which one should I actually pull the trigger on? Is it worth dropping those extra hundreds of dollars? Personally, I’m leaning toward that second option—the i5-7300 with the GTX 1060 6GB—for gaming, but what do you guys think?

Also, build quality-wise, who wins? Is it better to go with an Acer Predator, an HP Omen, or maybe an ASUS ROG Strix?

Thanks!

I’d probably lean toward the i5 plus the 1060 too—but there are plenty of more experienced folks here who might have some actual wisdom to offer.

I ended up spending about $1,100 on an i7 7700hq paired with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB combo for my dad.