Hardware suggestions for large Revit file.

I'm looking for advice on a Revit workstation for a rather large Revit file I'm currently working with. The building has been modeled architecturally in Revit and we're about to add the M, E, P, and FP systems into the model in RevitMEP for an owners FM needs. The complete architectural model is approximately 1.3 GB currently. I'm running the architectural model on my current laptop (specs below) in Revit 2013 and due to the size it can be rather sluggish. My concerns are that once the mechanical systems are added in the file is going to become unusable with my current hardware. The building is a university research facility with rather involved systems. I'm looking for suggestions, given the size of the file, what type of minimum hardware/specs I need to be looking at to make this model functional for myself and eventually the owner on the FM side of things. Any help is appreciated.

Processor: i7-3820QM
RAM: 16GB
Video card: GEForce GT 650M
Windows 7

That's a huge file, even by revit standards. First I'd tell you, you're going to need 32Gb of ram.
I'm currently working on a project with over 50 links. 32Gb covers my current needs. But I'd consider splitting the furniture out or something like that, into it's own link. We try to split our models to keep them down to about 400-500mb. The HP Z-220's are nice workstations for the price.
Processor speed will be the best thing to increase. But you'll need more ram as well. Ram should equal 20 times the file size. SSD drives help, but don't get you a big increase in speed. However if you start to run low on ram and you want to use swap file, SSD is kind of like a requirement.
My current project is a 1.4 million SQFT Pharma Production / Lab / warehouse / Admin facility. Still running ok for me.

jeebus that's a huge file...might want to do some QC on it too. total agreement with asimpson. also big thing to remember is core-speed. might want to look into a desktop rather than a laptop for typical production. the new i7 4770k with watercooling can push 4.2ghz reliably.

The new Boxx Systems push them to 4.75Ghz and guarantee it works.
I've heard that you can run an i7 up to 4.5Ghz before water cooling is required. I've heard they they work well at that range as well.
The other big rumor that's been going around is for the next chipset release. I've heard that the new version of the i7 chipset will allow for 64gb of Ram. Right now that's my biggest issue. If I could get an over clocked i7 that could take up to 64Gb of Ram, I wouldn't be looking any further.
On the Video card side. I've found that the video card gets the most usage while drawing revision clouds. 2nd would be Plotting and I've never seen mine push more than 50% GPU usage. Rendering doesn't touch it. IMHO get something with capability of at least 32Gb of ram, the cheapest stock video card that comes with the system, and the fastest chip.

david there are a few boards running 8 slot with 64gb max...just need a LGA2011 - i7 3820 or 3930k...spendy

Hope your workstation is connected to the network via gigabit connection. We noticed that large models run slower, if the users are connecting via a megabit Ethernet connection.

I've also since been upgraded to a better box. i7 overclocked to 4.5, no liquid cooled, very stable, very fast.
A lot of performance issues can be solved depending on work flow. For example, I've opened a very, very large file over a home internet connection, took for ever to open. Once open, I checked out all the worksets (after 5pm, I was going to be the only one working on it). After checking out all the worksets, model ran very fast. Once you own everything, revit doesn't need to bounce back to the server to figure out what you might be getting effected.
If you use the "borrow" only method and never check out a workset, every time you place an object revit needs to do the following. First, check to see if you have a license, 2nd check to see if that object is owned by anyone or borrowed by anyone or if your new object effects another object and if that object is owned or borrowed by anyone, then it allows you to modify the object or place a new one. So it's hitting the network 4-5 times to simply place a door in a wall that's already been modeled. If you checked everything out (you own it) and you're on a stand alone license, once opened you should really see any revit related network traffic. Or at least that what we've found out.