Krempop,
So is the alienware 17 r3 worth it.
Maybe to some people but not to others, depends on how much use the computer will get.
Its 980m and has a quad core intel 17.
How much RAM does the particular model have, 8GB or 16GB.
Will it be able to play modern games on high?
Let us know what particular games you intend playing and we can check what FPS to expect, can`t see it having any problems though.
Will it be good and play well for at least 2 years?
Hard to say as we do not know what system requirements for any new software or game are likely to be, with the CPU, GPU and 16GB of RAM spec version I would think that you will be all good for a couple of years though.
Is there a direct upgrade in the 2300 price range?
Hardware wise the only upgrade path atm is upping the 8GB of RAM version to 16GB, the screen to the 17.3" UHD (3840 x 2160) and on the same model again upgrading to the 1TB PCIe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage) options.