looking for advice to build new kernel/config from calc inst

[blain3]

Ok so as i have said before, you guys have no doubt the best community of any distro i have come across since i made the final move to Linux. Now I'll not lie, I'm working with a new SSD, and SATA HDD combo atm, not to mention that my graphics card is a GTX 660M using PCIe x16 ( NOT ONBOARD GRAPHICS ). This is very new to me, as well as the new 3630Q i7 ~8 Core 2.4ghz - 3.4ghz on boost ( I believe ). The laptop is an ASUS G75 ROG. I have upgraded the ram to 16G DDR3 running 1600 mhz stock. Now this is very much out of my league at the moment, as the technology is fairly new and somewhat unsupported. In fact almost every binary distro I've tryed doesn't like recognizing my GFX card. Now That I have broken down and instead tossed a calculate 13 install on the machine with my own fdisk partitions and an edited fstab. /var/tmp/portage is running tmpfs, as well as /tmp. my /boot, / are the only partitions on the SSD, 512M /boot and 32G /. On my SATA HDD i have a 32G /swap, 32G /var, and a fairly large /home partition, the other half is dedicated to ntfs for whenever i get around to installing windows again. Now all in all my system is running outstanding, i have not run eix-update && eix-sync, nor have i run emerge --sync. Now i understand configuring (manualy) a kernel hasn't gone well for me yet. For my Question, I must ask, and also say, I am using this install because it is extremely stable for my school laptop, and I am also getting into bash programing / scripting more and more. I use XFCE, and i use vim for editing, cant stand nano or anything else, i use Geany for my bash programing, its very simple, and i like it. personal choice i suppose, vim is also good as well but im not entirely comfortable using it all the time yet. So here is my question is this i suppose. I wish to add *xfce-dev and possibly *pentoo overlays and remove the calculate overlay. Now I find that i will need to create my own make.conf file as calculate seems to use binarys or some such? I know how to set this up, the problem is, i can even get the pentoo, or gentoo sources and compile the kernels with genkernel. What the problem is is that i need a new make.conf file first. I have been told calculate => gentoo isn't hard. Now please dont take this as the easy way out as its just that i needed a stable system for school stuff, and also the dev tools for my bash programming. Internet and all that setup quick and fast, now i would like to build a custom kernel, create my own make file (without a million use flags i don't need, it needs to work with my pci graphics card, xfce / fluxbox / openbox, conky and the new nvidia drivers as old ones do not work. Now if i read page after page i may be ok, but i wish to ask first, how little use flags would i need to use for a base xfce, with python, gtk support for programs, nvidia graphics, opengl (or the best display use flags for nvidia GTX 660m ) a working xorg / x11, i do not mind manualy editing config files with vim, im very comfortable doing so for the most part. but as i said, i would like to add these overlays, possibly build a new kernel and configure my windows so that. if needed i can fall back on the calculate kernel. If this was my older laptop or even my desktop, which i use for games / windows and basicly a glorified blue ray player / xbox / ps3 all in one, I could surely get this up myself, as i said tho, the newer hardware in my system is becoming a problem and im not sure how to figure out what exact use files, and modules to load in the kernel. Im not great with gentoo installs but not terrible, but id rather not have calculate dictating my system, and i have heard its nothing like sabayon in those terms. I have learned much but if anyone could toss me a few quick suggestions i would so much appreciate it. and as i said, this system is VERY stable, i have it setup as i like, and its fast as all hell. what are my options here? and i know, do a gentoo stage3 is going to be some answers but i look at Gentoo as more of an idea and or blueprint of a custom distro. So i figured i would ask. Otherwise i do not mind learning, but as i said, i've done the install before, but the newer hardware is giving problems, and im not good with loading modules and use flags. I also need a working system to work with while i do these things, so i went with this for the time being. Please also note this isnt me asking how to transfer to gentoo, when i wouldnt know how to keep it running as that wouldnt be a problem. just could use some help with these config files and advice on compiling a new kernel, as last time i did, i think i added to much and it wouldnt work correctly. ( yeah, finding my chipsets isnt something i know well, nor loading modules, nor any special tweaks i should use as my system is fairly new and (no its no supercomputer) its not the adverage laptop. Thanks if anyone can help, ill list any info asked if anyone feels like helping me out here. btw my nvidia settings at this time are perfect. if using current system config files as a resource would help maybe? i know an emerge -uavDN world would probably ( with a cleaned world file, deleted calculate overlay ) put me into a base and mostly broken gentoo system if not done correctly, id rather build the system right, but with my current to use in the meantime and as backup. make any sense?, again thank you if anyone feels up to helping, i can get an irc handle if needed as well, and like i said, i dont want to *convert* i just want to build a new kernel, new use flags (make.conf) and find the modules i need to use to get a stable (if ~x86_64) system kernel built and configured so i can basicly build my custom gentoo from there. figured it wouldnt be so hard with the system im on, and as i said, its stable and works which is what i need. thanks again, and sorry for a bit of rambling, but you guys have been nothing but helpfull in the past, and i respect this community over any other, and portage is my only love.
_________________
#uname -s -m -i -p -v -o -n
Linux
x86_64
GenuineIntel
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
#1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Nov 19 11:17:39 UTC 2012
GNU/Linux
xobtihs

[blain3]

Also i would be more then willing to create another 32G ext4 fs to build this kernel / system on, and either share the /home partition, or shrink it and split it? symlink? as i said, not looking for an easy update world, but rather to build a working kernel with its own make.conf, its own overlays etc, but as i said, i need this calculate install to be usable while doing so, and if at all possible keep it for backup. thanks again guys
_________________
#uname -s -m -i -p -v -o -n
Linux
x86_64
GenuineIntel
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
#1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Nov 19 11:17:39 UTC 2012
GNU/Linux
xobtihs