That ASUS G37 is nice and it will play the games you want if you're just a light gamer, but I still stand by what I said before. Desktops are the way to go if you're doing any gaming at all. Laptops were originally made for portability. Then it suddenly became a fad to buy laptops and set them on a desktop never move again... The ASUS G37 is 8lbs. May not sound like a lot, but throw it in a backpack or briefcase/shoulderbag and it will get heavy fast. Taking it to school daily (if you had planned on doing that) is not really a viable option in my opinion. Not to mention the screen size is limited.
We're talking about a $500 budget here, and the laptop comes with monitor, OS, keyboard, mouse, etc. Unless OP has all that stuff lying around already, there won't be a real improvement from moving to a desktop.
Ill most likely end up building a desktop anyways. im just getting this laptop to hold me over while i save up for awhile. Then ill turn to the expensive stuff
After the experience I've had with dell, there is no way in hell I can recommend that. Their recent stuff is truly awful.
Why are you looking at a xeon processor? The equivalent i5 or i7 should be fine. If youre doing a budget desktop, a 3570k is probably your best choice. Get that then put as much as you can into the video card if youre gaming. People here can give advice on other components.