This article will discuss the Gateway P-6831FX which is designed as a Gaming Desktop Replacement Laptop. Gateway has created a beautiful notebook whose materials, finish and construction are more reminiscent of much higher priced notebooks. The FX should appeal to gamers that want to be able to play on the go without losing too much gaming performance.
System Specifications
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Features
The 17 inch WXGA+ with 1440×900 resolution screen is clearly targeted at gamers because the Gateway P-6831FX is probably the cheapest laptop on the market to include the very powerful GeForce 8800M GTS graphics processor. This processor provides very good 3D graphics in conjunction with Direct X 10. However, to provide this excellent graphics processor at such a low price they had to make some sacrifices. The first one is that the LCD viewing angle is shallow and you need to be directly in front of the screen to get the best effects.
The second sacrifice is that Gateway used the older Core 2 Duo T5450 processor. This processor provides decent performance but is still slower than the newer T7000 graphics processors. The T5450 Core 2 Duo processor is a Merom-based dual core chip with 2 MB of level two cache that conforms to Intel’s 65 nm process. The 1.67 GHz processor speed combined with the 667 MHz front side bus speed is somewhat slow for a notebook designed for gaming. However, it is usually easier to upgrade a CPU than a GPU in most of today’s notebooks. In an effort to offset this deficiency, Gateway added 3 GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 running in dual channel mode so it can run well even with windows vista ultimate.
The Nvidia 8800M GTS graphics processor with 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM should let you run any of the latest games on this notebook. It comes with both HGMI and VGA outputs and has support for HDCP to allow high definition downloads. Another attractive feature for the movie buffs.
The Gateway FX series has a Socket P CPU which means there is a future upgrade path to the Intel T7000, T8000 and T9000 series CPU if you want to give the FX more power for better graphics performance.
The P-6831FX comes with a 250 GB 5400 SATA single hard drive setup that provides plenty of storage space. If you need more storage for your games or movies, the notebook also provides an eSATA storage connector for external storage.
A GB ethernet port is available and next to the WiFi mini-PCIe card is a vacant mini-PCIe slot. Bluetooth 2.0 with enhanced data rate (EDR) is included which makes it possible to use Bluetooth keyboards, mice and game controllers.
The 8x dual layer DVD burner also has the Labelflash feature for burning labels directly to compatible media…a nice addition for the movie crowd.
The manufacturer says the battery can last two hours but with heavy game playing an hour to an hour and a half is more realistic. You need to carry your AC adapter or extra batteries to do any extended game playing or movie watching
Another downside is the amount of heat produced which vents on the left side of the box which can get quite hot and might be a problem for a left handed gamer.
Conclusion
With its price tag under $1,400, it is an option for people who want excellent graphics rendering without paying an exorbitant price. For around $325 you can upgrade the CPU to the new Intel T9300 Penryn CPU which will let the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS graphics processor show its true colors. With the inclusion of a CPU upgrade, total price is still only about $1,700.
Since the price of memory keeps coming down, eventually adding faster RAM will give even better performance. If you are a gamer or movie aficionado, you owe it to yourself to take a close look at the Gateway P-6831FX. This high a quality of gaming in a notebook has never been so affordable.
The machine is also a good fit for all general purpose users. However, gamers and movie fans will probably get the most bang for their buck.
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