Is even a 960m good enough? I'm sort of in the same boat and considering the dell XPS 15 (refurb) since it has a wide color gamut panel, but the 960m is hard to swallow given the 970m is so much better. But at this price range you pretty much have to prioritize what's most important.
Get at least a 860M or 960M, anything else isn't really with it if you are planning on using a modern game engine like UE4, Cry Engine, or Unity with the settings cranked up.