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Gateway P-6831 FX Review - Page 2

post #21 of 146
1/31/08 at 8:01pm
I love FX value especially with the WUXGA screen ). One thing needs to be done though and that is exploring the possibility of swapping GTS for GTX. There has to be a way and I am emailing NVidia to find out what is their point of view...I just love to upgrade, not much to replace...be back with reply.

-LtR-
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post #22 of 146
2/1/08 at 1:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinitch View Post
Nice review.

CPU upgrade is very worthwhile though and the 8800gts is plenty fast. I don't think Gateway will have a 8800gtx anytime soon, considering Dell is charging almost $700 extra for an SLI upgrade for the GTXs. T5450 CPU (4.7 Windows score, 1m 17.798s Super Pi 2M, 1455 CPU 3dmark06), T7500 CPU (5.1 Windows score, 0m 54. 712s, 1937 3dmarko6 CPU)

For those who are wondering, since this laptop comes stock with a 1440x900 screen, the 3Dmark06 scores are not the standard. The score is from the 1280x800 test.

This laptop in stock form, it's 06 score is about 7000 points. With my upgrades I got 8254 but with a 1920x1200 WUXGA screen and with the standard 1280x1024 res, it hits 7640 points. Oh mine hits 12642 in 3dmark05 but that's an outdated test anyways.

All in all this inexpensive laptop has a very big bite and is definitely worth it. Just have fun upgrading.
I looked at your sig, how did you get it upgrade to 1920x1200? I don't see any option for upgrade the screen at BB
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post #23 of 146
2/1/08 at 1:55pm
The million dollar question for me is - could I buy the base model P-171S or P-171X and ADD an Nvidia 8800M to it? And if so how much? I'm pretty new to this whole gaming laptop thing, where could I buy the Nvidia mobile adapters anyway? I've never seen them on NewEgg or anything.
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post #24 of 146
2/1/08 at 7:05pm
I installed a 1920x1200 screen separately. The P-6831FX comes in only one config but I was able to upgrade it with the components I wanted pretty easily. The P-171X/XL FX from gateway.com is the only one that is configurable to include a 1920x1200 screen.

I remember my old Gateway 8510gx had a x700 card in it which I bought from Best Buy. It was exactly the same as Gateway's m680 series that had a 6800go in it which were MXM cards. I was able to upgrade my x700 to the 6800go so chances are if Gateway release a 8800gtx, it should be the same form factor if they keep the same case design. I haven't taken apart this laptop yet to see if the video card is removable.

I'm not sure what the base model P-171 video cards are. From the price ($800-1000), I would expect it to have an integrated video card which would mean it is soldered to the motherboard and is not upgradeable.
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post #25 of 146
2/1/08 at 7:30pm
Well, they're willing to deal so I'm really not thinking about upgrading the low end models anyway. They've offered me the Gateway® P-171S FX Edition for $1,399, 200 bucks below MSRP. Throw in the 3 year warranty for $149 and you've got one hell of a nice laptop plus peace of mind. The only trouble is I have to wait until March to get it...
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post #26 of 146
2/3/08 at 1:44am
Congrats on the purchase, Go Hack! The computer looks pretty sweet.
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post #27 of 146
2/7/08 at 6:11am
Hi, I am back with actually nothing new to say about the swap between GTS with GTX . GoHack, are you actually going to get better CPU and if/when you do so could you, please, post your 3D Mark 06 scores with the upgraded CPU? That would be awesome and if you could, anybody, find out about GPU swaps that would be just terrific ...
Regards,
LtR
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post #28 of 146
2/7/08 at 11:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Congrats on the purchase, Go Hack! The computer looks pretty sweet.

Thx.
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post #29 of 146
2/7/08 at 12:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Hi, I am back with actually nothing new to say about the swap between GTS with GTX . GoHack, are you actually going to get better CPU and if/when you do so could you, please, post your 3D Mark 06 scores with the upgraded CPU? That would be awesome and if you could, anybody, find out about GPU swaps that would be just terrific ...
Regards,
LtR
Hi,

For the price difference, is the GTX really worth it over the GTS, performance wise?

I plan to upgrade to the T9300 as soon as Newegg starts carrying them. I've been checking their site every day. It's surprising they don't have them yet.

I also finally got Windows XP Pro loaded. I borrowed an external floppy drive and used that to load the Intel SATA RAID driver, which was needed to load XP.

I've found, and have loaded, the Chipset, of course the RAID/SATA, the WiFi Card, the Network Card, the eSATA, and the Nvidia Video XP drivers, using a USB Memory Stick. So the laptop is functional. The touchpad and webcam work, but I need to find the XP drivers for them, as well as for the sound and modem. I don't ever use the modem, but it would be nice to have it installed anyway.

If someone could help me find the very latest XP Drvers for the Touchpad, WebCam, sound, and modem, I would appreciate it. I believe that's all I need, I'm not at home on that laptop right now.

I'll do the same benchmarks that I did on Vista on XP in the next few days. Xp certainly uses a lot less HD space.

.
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post #30 of 146
2/7/08 at 12:46pm
Good luck on finding the XP drivers. They don't have it on the gateway site?
Also, if it's not to much of a hassle for you, can you post some pictures of the lappy?? thanks, gohack!
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post #31 of 146
2/7/08 at 12:52pm
huh? He has several pictures posted.
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post #32 of 146
2/7/08 at 12:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Good luck on finding the XP drivers. They don't have it on the gateway site?
Also, if it's not to much of a hassle for you, can you post some pictures of the lappy?? thanks, gohack!
I already have pictures posted here at the beginning of this thread.

With the drivers, other laptops, not just Gateway, must use that same hardware.

.
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post #33 of 146
2/7/08 at 1:58pm
Oops, sorry I didn't notice it...arrgh Stupid! Some of them are too dark, IMO. or maybe it's just my monitor?
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post #34 of 146
2/7/08 at 10:52pm
There is a significant difference between those two and trust me it`ll be a wonderful power booster with the aging of the laptop. Just for the reference, according to one recent Alienware review is GTX able to spit out over 13000 in 3D Mark06 with 2.7 CPU in it...That is a great boost don`t you think :-)
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post #35 of 146
2/7/08 at 11:18pm
That's with 8800GTX SLI
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post #36 of 146
2/8/08 at 1:52am
Tnx Spinitch,

I`ve just put it down from the top of my head. Should have go to the review again and verify the facts. CPU different as well: Core™ 2 Duo T7700 2.4GHz instead of 2.7 as I posted above and GTX`s 3DMark Score: 9,451.00. Still over 2000 more than GTS. Well the extra processing power of GTX (74 GTS vs 96 GTX) is visible after all. I do realize that in Alienware`s case CPU accounts for some of that score too. I want FX to bring the power down to me who gets paid in ordinary ways ...

Tnx Spinitch for your attention
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post #37 of 146
2/8/08 at 1:59am
BTW, have you seen the Best Buy current price???

$1699

They have to be f.....g kidding me/us
C`mon BB
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post #38 of 146
2/8/08 at 2:02am
Gateway with a mobile 8800GTX is still a little iffy. So far they haven't had any top of the line mobile video cards in their notebooks yet. They had a 6800go but no ultra and a 7900gs but no 7900GTX. But now they have the FX line so there is a possibility since their FX desktops already have a 8800gtx option.

I would think the GTX would add 2000 points to a 3dmark06 score. I gained 1300 from going to a 2.2GHz CPU to around 8300 points, a gtx should be around 10,000 and a GTX SLI to around 12,000-13,000 with a 2.4GHz+ CPU.
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post #39 of 146
2/8/08 at 11:20am
You'll be fine. My Macbook has a native res of 1280x800 and I frequently run it on my 22" LCD at 1650x1050. You're only limited by the supported resolutions of the display adapter itself.
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post #40 of 146
2/8/08 at 12:09pm
Thread Starter 
For those interested, there are some Intel Extreme X7900's for sale on eBay. They're running for $509, w/free shipping. The problem is, they are an overseas seller, which makes me a little nervous. They appear to have a good record though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-CORE-2-EXT...QQcmdZViewItem

.
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