My notebook needs are pretty different than yours, but I'll second GX1_Man's suggestion that you look at the Dell Precision models. With what you're asking for, I'd think maybe either the M70 or M90 might be worth looking into.
For what it's worth, I don't buy notebooks to compete with desktops, so I go for cheap and light, rather than super powerful. Never made much sense to me to spend a fortune on a notebook, which has a much better chance of being banged up in your travels or even ripped off. Therefore, I might not be speaking to your needs very well. Recently, though, I've been looking hard at the Precisions. since a hurricane evacuation with a big fat CPU in the trunk got real old, real fast. I've never been able to stand Dell desktops, but their notebooks have always seemed to work very reliably.
Last point: In keeping with my "buy it cheap" philosophy, I've bought three Dell notebooks as refurbs over the years - from the Dell Outlet Store, not a third party vendor. Each time, the thing worked like a champ and was reasonably well supported by Dell. Before writing this, I went and took a look at M70's at the Outlet, and found a few in the $1300-1400 range that looked pretty nice. Might be worth a look. Of course, someone else might have horror stories about Dell refurbs. Maybe I've been just very lucky. But they seem to be pretty carefully prepared before being sold. Might save you a few bucks.
