FAQ/Mod/Upgrade/Support Thread: GATEWAY P-6831 FX\ P-171S/X/XL FX

P-6831FX Base Specifications: (Best Buy Exclusive: Retail MSRP Price $1,349.99)

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66GHz, 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)1
3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
250GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 8MB cache2
17.0" WXGA+ Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1440 x 900 max. resolution)
FX Design with Copper Core Accent
Intel® PM965 Chipset and NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash™ Technology3
Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam

__________________________
P-171S FX Base Specifications: (Gateway.com exclusive: MSRP $1,599.99)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)2
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)
3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
250GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 8MB cache3
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer Slot Load DVD-RW w/ DVD-RAM
Intel® PM965 Chipset and NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
17.0" WXGA+ Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1440 x 900 max. resolution)
Integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam
Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking (for Windows Vista®)
Fingerprint Reader

____________________________
P-171X FX Base Specifications: (Gateway.com exclusive: MSRP $1,999.99)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.40GHz, 800MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)2
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)
3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
250GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 8MB cache3
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer Slot Load DVD-RW w/ DVD-RAM
Intel® PM965 Chipset and NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
17.0" WUXGA TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
Integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam
Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking (for Windows Vista®)
Fingerprint Reader

___________________________
P-171XL FX Base Specifications: (Gateway.com exclusive: MSRP $2,999.99)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor X7900 (2.80GHz, 800MHz FSB, 4MB L2 cache)2
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)
3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
400GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 16MB Cache (2-200GB)3
1x HD-DVD w/ DVD-RW and CD-RW Drive
Intel® PM965 Chipset and NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
17.0" WUXGA TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
Integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam
Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking (for Windows Vista®)
Fingerprint Reader

Compatible memory:
SIZES - 256MB/ 512MB/ 1024MB=1GB/ 2048MB=2GB

FREQUENCY - PC4200 DDR2 533MHz or PC5300 DDR2 667MHz 200pin SoDimm (RECOMMENDED). *800MHz RAM is not supported in this chipset

MAX RAM SIZE - 2x 2GB PC5300 667MHz 4GB TOTAL



- Unplug AC Adapter and remove battery. Press the power button for 3 sec to remove any stray power

- Flip the laptop over and locate the memory/cpu/wifi cover. It has 5 screws.





- Locate the 2 RAM modules. The laptop only has 2 slots



- Push the tension arms out to remove the memory sticks





- Insert the new RAM and make sure the arms have clicked into place.



- Replace plastic cover, plug the battery and AC Adapter back in and fire it up.

- Run a memory testing software like the bootable memtest86 for at least a couple of runs.

Hard Drive requirements - Serial ATA (SATA) Laptop 2.5" Drive, Sizes up to 320GB so far or Solid State Hard Drives. Chipset supports SATA 150MB/s so far although SATA 3.0GB/s is compatible but will not utilize the full bandwidth. 4,200rpm, 5,400rpm, 7,200rpm speed compatibility. 8MB and 16MB Cache compatible.

Hard Drive slots - 2 Hard Drive slots with 2 hard drive trays included. Second empty hard drive tray does not come with screws. Requires laptop hard drive screws. Up to 640GB total so far (2x 320GB)

RAID 0 and 1 Compatible which is accessible through the BIOS and Intel RAID screen after POST.



- Unplug AC Adapter and remove battery. Press the power button for 3 sec to remove any stray power

- Flip the laptop over and locate the hard drive cover. It has 4 screws.



- Remove the hard drive tray sled using the plastic lip to pull





- Screw in the new hard drive to the tray





- To insert the hard drive tray back in, line up the nubs with the corresponding holes and drop it in carefully, then slid it into place by aligning the SATA interface





- Screw the plastic cover back on, plug in ac adapter and battery and if you are installing an OS for RAID, enter the BIOS to enable RAID. If you are using the second hard drive as a storage drive, just format it using your OS

- Compatible with slim drive laptop optical drives, 5" Form Factor, IDE

- You will need to remove the face plate from the stock optical drive to the new drive. Laptop face plates are not universal so you have to match the attaching clips to make sure the new drive can properly attach to the Gateway face plate.



- Unplug AC Adapter and remove battery. Press the power button for 3 sec to remove any stray power

- Flip the laptop over and locate a rubber piece near the hard drive cover. Use a small clip to pull the rubber piece out to expose the optical drive screw. The rubber piece has an adhesive in the bottom.





- Use a screw drive to leverage the screw adapter and push the optical drive out, or you can manually eject the drive and pull from the front.

- Upgrade the new drive. (HD-DVD drive is pictured). Screw the screw adapter to the new drive.



- Remove the faceplates by unclipping it. Clip the Gateway faceplate onto the new drive.





- Insert the new drive and screw it back down. Insert the rubber piece and plug the laptop back in and start it up. Use various optical drive tests like Nero CD/DVD Speed.

- Intel Processors - Socket P compatibility

- Intel Core 2 Duo, Merom (T5450 2MB L2 Cache 667MHz~T7300 4MB 800MHz~X7900 4MB 800MHz[65nm]) and Penryn (T8300 3MB 800MHz~T9300 6MB 800MHz~T9500 6MB L2 Cache 800MHz [45nm] for example)

- New thermal paste (Artic Silver recommended)




- Unplug AC Adapter and remove battery. Press the power button for 3 sec to remove any stray power

- Flip the laptop over and locate the cpu/ram/wifi cover. It has 5 screws.



- Locate the CPU heatsink, it has 5 total screws.



- Each screw is numbered, untighten and tighten in the order 1 to 5. Remove the CPU heatsink

- Use a flathead screwdriver and turn the CPU screw socket counter clock wise about half a turn to loosen the CPU. Lift the CPU and insert the new CPU.

- Clean the CPU die and heatink with rubbing alcohol 90%+

- Spread a rice sized thermal paste over the CPU die with a latex glove evenly then place the heatink over the the CPU and tighten by order. DO NOT remove the thermal pad on the heatsink over the northbridge or apply any thermal paste to it.

- Screw back the CPU plastic cover, plug in the ac adapter and battery and start it up. Test the CPU thoroughly with programs like Prime 95 (Google on how to test dual core CPUs) for a long time, overnight is recommended.

- 17" glossy or matte LCD Panel compatibility

- Resolutions from WXGA 1440x900, WSXGA 1680x1050, WUXGA 1920x1200

- Compatibility is not guaranteed since different laptop manufacturers use different screens so stick with Gateway replacement LCDs





- Unplug AC Adapter and remove battery. Press the power button for 3 sec to remove any stray power

- Flip the LCD open and locate 6 rubber circle bump stops.



- Use a small clip to remove the rubber pieces to expose the screws.



- After removing the screws, start at the top and pry the bezels open carefully, then use a plastic card like a credit card and slide it across the borders to help unclip the bezels.

- Locate all the screws that attach the LCD panel to the brackets.



- Unplug the inverter cable (2 wire, one white and one pink)



- Unplug the backlight cable and webcam cable and remove the LCD panel. Be very careful with the LCD panel since it is very delicate.



- Install the new LCD panel, plug in all the cables and tighten all the screws. Place the bezels together and screw them down, then place the rubber bumpstops.

- Plug the laptop back in and start it up. Verify that the LCD is displaying the full picture and colors and verify in your OS that the resolutions are correct.

Not enough USB ports? Pick up a laptop cooler with a built in USB hub and have a total of 6 USB ports and help cool the laptop during your intense gaming sessions with your 8800GTS video card.




My Personal Rig Specifications:

Current Video Card Driver: NVIDIA 174.74 Vista 32 bit (get it here www.laptopvideo2go.com)
Current Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit Service Pack 1
Current CPU Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 2.40GHz/3MB/800MHz (had T5450, T7300, T7500 in there. T5450 had about a 1700+ score on 3DMark06 CPU, T7300 had a 1900+, T7500 had a 2000+ and the T8300 has about a 2100+ CPU score)
Current RAM Memory: OCZ 2x2GB PC2 5300 667MHz dual channel (Stock was 1x1GB Samsung and 1x2GB Samsung PC2 5300 667MHz in single channel mode)
Current Hard Drives: Stock WD Scorpio 250GB 5,400rpm + another one for RAID 0
Current Optical Drive: Panasonic UJ-110 2x Blu Ray Drive (Had a Toshiba TS-L802A HD-DVD Drive in there)
Current Sound Card: PCI ExpressCard Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Laptop
Current LCD: Samsung LTN170WU 17" WUXGA 1920x1200 Glossy LCD

The x7900 seems to be the only CPU that has an unlocked multiplier so far so it would be the only one that can be overclocked.

I did get a slight increase in speed with the 4GB RAM, even though Windows reads that same 3GBs, the 2x 2GB actually runs in true dual channel which helps since the CPU FSB is 800MHz and single channel mode RAM is 667MHz. Since RAM is so cheap now, a second 2GB stick can be had for about $30.

Hopefully I'll fully disassemble the laptop soon to check out the video card interface and see if it's MXM III or not. I wanted to put some artic silver 5 on the gpu but so far I haven't had the need to. The gpu temps are pretty good and overclocking the gpu is not needed for most games yet.

I have a feeling the the video card is a proprietary one since it is not very accessible. My old Gateway 8510gz had a MXM III card and it had an accessible cover on the bottom.

I'm still skeptical about the slot load drive on the P-171 series. If you go to Gateway's site and zoom on a side picture, it still has a tray drive. Then again it doesn't show a finger print reader also so I'm betting it's just a picture of the P-6831FX. I guess we won't know until someone gets their shipment.

I had a Pioneer slot load drive once and it was great. I had to sell it because it would scratch up my blank taiyo yuden dvds for some reason. I think it didn't have a good load clearance; especially if you have CD/DVDs with labels on the top.

Oh by the way, the stock optical drive gave errors at 8x during the end of the disc. I had to burn them at 4x to reduce the errors.