Browsing the Best Buy website the other day, the 17" Gateway P-6831FX, or FX for short, caught my eye, w/its Nvidia 8800M GTS video, and for $1349.99.
I had been just checking out everyone's 17" laptops for under $2000, just to see what's out there. Most had the Nvidia Go 8600M, and just one, w/the Go 8700M.
Anyway, when I saw the Gateway, I immediately did some research on it, and it looked very good, so I went and ordered it on their website, for a pickup at a local store on Friday. Saturday evening, pending rumors of a sale of the FX, when Best Buy posted their new sale prices, it was posted on sale for $1249.99, w/a free game, your choice, $49.99 or less. Sunday morning I called Best Buy and got the $100 credited back to my account. I picked the game Crysis, and it will be sent to me.
Looking at the laptop, the cpu is real easy to upgrade. The Intel 1.66 GHz T5450 Core 2 Duo that comes w/it, is really not that bad, and will do for now.
It has two hard drive bays built in, but w/only one is installed. With two hard drives, the laptop will support RAID 0.
The display is a 17.0" WXGA+ Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1440 x 900 max. resolution). It's the only thing that I'm a little disapointed with. It's too glossy, where an external light will effect the view, and as you move away from the screen, you start loosing the screen detail. Other than that, it's OK, and still shows very good detail, and considering the price, one can't really complain. The video out is a standard VGA connector, there's also a HDMI connector, but there is no DVI connector. On a good external monitor, the picture looks excellent.
The Intel chipset is the latest PM965, which supports Intel's latest laptop cpu's, including Intel's Extreme series.
The FX also supports Intel's new Turbo Memory card, but none is installed. I've read that there is no measureable benefit for having it.
Then of course there is the graphics card, the Nvidia Go 8800M GTS. In Vista, it is shown as an 8800 GT, but Gateway fixed that w/a newer driver, available as a download on their web site. It comes w/512 mb of built in DDR3 memory. The card appears not to be MXM, but appears to be soldered to the mother board, next to the cpu.
Anyway here are some benchnark numbers for the laptop:
Windows Vista Benchmarks w/the original Nvidia Driver 167.46
Vista Windows Experience Index Base Score - 4.5
Processor - 4.7
Memory - 4.5
Graphics - 5.9
Gaming Graphics - 5.8
Primary HD - 5.2
3DMark2001 - 20,049
3DMark03 - 23,269
3DMark05 - 10,060
3DMark06 - 7027
AquaMark3 - 86,673
Sandra Lite Benchmark (2008.1.13.12)
Processor: Dhry 14,187 Mips; Whet 10,488 Whet
Memory: Int 3670 mb/sec; Flt 3658 mb/sec
HD TUNE: 2x 60 gb Hitachi 7200 RPM, w/8 mb Cache HD's, setup as RAID 0.
Minimum - 37.8 mb/s
Maximum - 66.7 mb/s
Average - 51.4 mb/s
Access time - 15.0 ms
Burst Rate - 48.3 mb/s
CPU Usage - 4.9 %
Windows XP Pro Benchmarks w/the Nvidia Driver 169.32
3DMark2001 - 27,468
3DMark03 - 24,125
3DMark05 - 10,365
3DMark06 - 7155
AquaMark03 - 95,850
Sandra Lite Benchmark (2008.1.13.12)
Processor: Dhry 14,020 Mips; Whet 10,664 Whet
Memory: Int 3695 mb/sec; Flt 3696 mb/sec
HD TUNE: 2x 60 gb Hitachi 7200 RPM, w/8 mb Cache HD's, setup as RAID 0.
Transfer Rate
Minimum 9.7 MB/s
Maximum 63.0 MB/s
Average 49.8 MB/s
Access Time: 14.9 ms
Burst Transfer: 47.6 MB/s
CPU Usage 3.3 %
Update: Well I got my two hard drives (HD) installed.
First of all, in order to mount the HD's, you need some very small headed screws, just like the ones that come mounted w/the original mounted HD in the FX. With all my large assortment of various screws that I've collected over the years building my own computers, I couldn't find any w/a small enough head. I ended up holding each HD w/just two of the four screws that came w/the original HD. I'll have to stop by a computer store to see if they have any w/that small enough head.
When pulling the stock HD, be very careful, it's in there tight. There is a plastic pull Tab on it, that has a tendency to stretch, and possibly break, if you are not careful. Take the small screw driver you used to open the HD lid, and carefully use it to wedge the HD out in back of it, at the same time you are pulling on the Tab.
Once both drives were installed, I went into the BIOS, went into the Advanced Menu, then selected the SATA mode, and changed it to the RAID mode, Saved and exited.
Rebooted, and a RAID Screen Option comes up where you have to hit the keys < CTRL- I > in order to get in and setup your RAID (RAID 0 or 1) and save that.
I tried loading XP Pro twice, but when it came up to setting up the HD's in the Menu, XP didn't see the HD's. It appears I need a driver for XP to see the RAID drives.
I've got to go and see if I can find one someplace, but in the mean time, I tried loading up Vista, using Gateway provided CD, and it worked w/o a hitch. It saw the RAID drives and loaded the OS w/o a hitch, and very fast too. As for the hardware drivers, that was downloaded w/the Windows Update. No searching around for drivers. Vista was the easiest OS I've ever loaded, and very fast, thanks to the RAID 0, I'm sure. 
Update: I finally got XP Pro loaded, using another external floppy drive, which worked. The only problem w/XP is finding drivers for the soundcard, touchpad, webcam, and modem. I could find the rest.
Update 02/23/08: I just installed a T9300, using Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) as a thermal compound (T/C), and it is presently running 40C, for Core 0, and 35C, for Core 1, unloaded.
I do have to say, Gateway did a good job w/their installation of the original T5450, in that they used what appeared to be a Silver T/C on it, as well as it having a good complete coating. Some manufacturers tend to not put a sufficient coating of T/C on, much less even use silver, but rather the white silicon stuff. The standard white silicon T/C works, don't get me wrong, but silver has a much better heat transfer than silicon does.
The installation of the T9300 was very easy. I do recommend using a Philip's head jeweler's screw driver, for removing the heat sink screws, as well as for the case cover screws, which can be purchased at Radio Shack (RS), as well as a small straight edge screw driver, for unlocking the cpu from it's socket, which too can be purchased at RS. Of course you'll need the AS5, or if you can't find it, regular white silicon T/C from Radio Shake will do. Before disassembling, take a small magnet and run the Philip's head screwdriver that you will be using, across it a few times, enough to put a small magnet force on it. If you don't have a magnet, look around for some speakers. Reason, the screws on the heat sink are very small, as well as there being a couple of small springs on it too, that can all fall very easily off, and into the case. Rubbing Alcohol and a Q-Tip will be helpful for cleaning the T/C off of the heat sink, as well as a tooth pick for applying the T/C. Take the tooth pick and apply a "very" small coating of T/C on the CPU surface. Lay the heat sink down onto it and press it down w/your finger, then take it off to inspect the heat sink surface for a complete transfer of the T/C. If it wasn't complete, add just a little more to the areas that didn't get transfered, and then assemble. Tighten the screws according to the marked number sequence on the heat sink. Total install was maybe a half hour in my case, because of my dropping a couple of the screws into the case
, requiring me to look around myself, for a magnet for my screw driver. Other than that, it was a piece of cake. The system booted up and saw the T9300.
.
I had been just checking out everyone's 17" laptops for under $2000, just to see what's out there. Most had the Nvidia Go 8600M, and just one, w/the Go 8700M.
Anyway, when I saw the Gateway, I immediately did some research on it, and it looked very good, so I went and ordered it on their website, for a pickup at a local store on Friday. Saturday evening, pending rumors of a sale of the FX, when Best Buy posted their new sale prices, it was posted on sale for $1249.99, w/a free game, your choice, $49.99 or less. Sunday morning I called Best Buy and got the $100 credited back to my account. I picked the game Crysis, and it will be sent to me.
Looking at the laptop, the cpu is real easy to upgrade. The Intel 1.66 GHz T5450 Core 2 Duo that comes w/it, is really not that bad, and will do for now.
It has two hard drive bays built in, but w/only one is installed. With two hard drives, the laptop will support RAID 0.
The display is a 17.0" WXGA+ Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1440 x 900 max. resolution). It's the only thing that I'm a little disapointed with. It's too glossy, where an external light will effect the view, and as you move away from the screen, you start loosing the screen detail. Other than that, it's OK, and still shows very good detail, and considering the price, one can't really complain. The video out is a standard VGA connector, there's also a HDMI connector, but there is no DVI connector. On a good external monitor, the picture looks excellent.
The Intel chipset is the latest PM965, which supports Intel's latest laptop cpu's, including Intel's Extreme series.
The FX also supports Intel's new Turbo Memory card, but none is installed. I've read that there is no measureable benefit for having it.
Then of course there is the graphics card, the Nvidia Go 8800M GTS. In Vista, it is shown as an 8800 GT, but Gateway fixed that w/a newer driver, available as a download on their web site. It comes w/512 mb of built in DDR3 memory. The card appears not to be MXM, but appears to be soldered to the mother board, next to the cpu.
Anyway here are some benchnark numbers for the laptop:
Windows Vista Benchmarks w/the original Nvidia Driver 167.46
Vista Windows Experience Index Base Score - 4.5
Processor - 4.7
Memory - 4.5
Graphics - 5.9
Gaming Graphics - 5.8
Primary HD - 5.2
3DMark2001 - 20,049
3DMark03 - 23,269
3DMark05 - 10,060
3DMark06 - 7027
AquaMark3 - 86,673
Sandra Lite Benchmark (2008.1.13.12)
Processor: Dhry 14,187 Mips; Whet 10,488 Whet
Memory: Int 3670 mb/sec; Flt 3658 mb/sec
HD TUNE: 2x 60 gb Hitachi 7200 RPM, w/8 mb Cache HD's, setup as RAID 0.
Minimum - 37.8 mb/s
Maximum - 66.7 mb/s
Average - 51.4 mb/s
Access time - 15.0 ms
Burst Rate - 48.3 mb/s
CPU Usage - 4.9 %
Windows XP Pro Benchmarks w/the Nvidia Driver 169.32
3DMark2001 - 27,468
3DMark03 - 24,125
3DMark05 - 10,365
3DMark06 - 7155
AquaMark03 - 95,850
Sandra Lite Benchmark (2008.1.13.12)
Processor: Dhry 14,020 Mips; Whet 10,664 Whet
Memory: Int 3695 mb/sec; Flt 3696 mb/sec
HD TUNE: 2x 60 gb Hitachi 7200 RPM, w/8 mb Cache HD's, setup as RAID 0.
Transfer Rate
Minimum 9.7 MB/s
Maximum 63.0 MB/s
Average 49.8 MB/s
Access Time: 14.9 ms
Burst Transfer: 47.6 MB/s
CPU Usage 3.3 %
Update: Well I got my two hard drives (HD) installed.
First of all, in order to mount the HD's, you need some very small headed screws, just like the ones that come mounted w/the original mounted HD in the FX. With all my large assortment of various screws that I've collected over the years building my own computers, I couldn't find any w/a small enough head. I ended up holding each HD w/just two of the four screws that came w/the original HD. I'll have to stop by a computer store to see if they have any w/that small enough head.
When pulling the stock HD, be very careful, it's in there tight. There is a plastic pull Tab on it, that has a tendency to stretch, and possibly break, if you are not careful. Take the small screw driver you used to open the HD lid, and carefully use it to wedge the HD out in back of it, at the same time you are pulling on the Tab.
Once both drives were installed, I went into the BIOS, went into the Advanced Menu, then selected the SATA mode, and changed it to the RAID mode, Saved and exited.
Rebooted, and a RAID Screen Option comes up where you have to hit the keys < CTRL- I > in order to get in and setup your RAID (RAID 0 or 1) and save that.
I tried loading XP Pro twice, but when it came up to setting up the HD's in the Menu, XP didn't see the HD's. It appears I need a driver for XP to see the RAID drives.
I've got to go and see if I can find one someplace, but in the mean time, I tried loading up Vista, using Gateway provided CD, and it worked w/o a hitch. It saw the RAID drives and loaded the OS w/o a hitch, and very fast too. As for the hardware drivers, that was downloaded w/the Windows Update. No searching around for drivers. Vista was the easiest OS I've ever loaded, and very fast, thanks to the RAID 0, I'm sure. Update: I finally got XP Pro loaded, using another external floppy drive, which worked. The only problem w/XP is finding drivers for the soundcard, touchpad, webcam, and modem. I could find the rest.
Update 02/23/08: I just installed a T9300, using Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) as a thermal compound (T/C), and it is presently running 40C, for Core 0, and 35C, for Core 1, unloaded.
I do have to say, Gateway did a good job w/their installation of the original T5450, in that they used what appeared to be a Silver T/C on it, as well as it having a good complete coating. Some manufacturers tend to not put a sufficient coating of T/C on, much less even use silver, but rather the white silicon stuff. The standard white silicon T/C works, don't get me wrong, but silver has a much better heat transfer than silicon does.
The installation of the T9300 was very easy. I do recommend using a Philip's head jeweler's screw driver, for removing the heat sink screws, as well as for the case cover screws, which can be purchased at Radio Shack (RS), as well as a small straight edge screw driver, for unlocking the cpu from it's socket, which too can be purchased at RS. Of course you'll need the AS5, or if you can't find it, regular white silicon T/C from Radio Shake will do. Before disassembling, take a small magnet and run the Philip's head screwdriver that you will be using, across it a few times, enough to put a small magnet force on it. If you don't have a magnet, look around for some speakers. Reason, the screws on the heat sink are very small, as well as there being a couple of small springs on it too, that can all fall very easily off, and into the case. Rubbing Alcohol and a Q-Tip will be helpful for cleaning the T/C off of the heat sink, as well as a tooth pick for applying the T/C. Take the tooth pick and apply a "very" small coating of T/C on the CPU surface. Lay the heat sink down onto it and press it down w/your finger, then take it off to inspect the heat sink surface for a complete transfer of the T/C. If it wasn't complete, add just a little more to the areas that didn't get transfered, and then assemble. Tighten the screws according to the marked number sequence on the heat sink. Total install was maybe a half hour in my case, because of my dropping a couple of the screws into the case
, requiring me to look around myself, for a magnet for my screw driver. Other than that, it was a piece of cake. The system booted up and saw the T9300. .
)) and sound is on pair with it. You cannot do much in BB but click through vista desktop and run couple command prompt lines...even though pretty decent screen actually surprisingly vibrant (I have 1900x1200WUXGA now) with worse angles which I actually consider a plus since I do not really care for people watching my backup copies of Hollywood best. I have even lifted that "girl' 
= lighter than mine XPS. True, the battery is pulled out due to the security concerns... I will wait until it`s proven that I can swap for GTX(GTS=64 stream processors against GTX with 96 of them). Pair it with the quad core from e-bay and you`ve something BIG in front of you...And I simply do not have $3000+ for Aliens or Dell with nice lights...I wish I do but until than VIVA Gateway for their PRICE<Performance equation 
... Hope for GoHack to keep us updated.
