Gateway P-6831 FX: Best Midrange Gaming Notebook Ever
by Jarred Walton on March 28, 2008 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Gaming Performance — Resolution Scaling
Considering the rather low-end CPU, you might expect that there are many situations where the GPU is held back. With the initial native resolution benchmarks out of the way, let's look at performance scaling at higher resolutions. Since we become more GPU limited, the Gateway P-6831 FX actually closes the gap with some of its more expensive competitors.
There are obviously a few titles where we are still CPU limited even at 1920x1200. Battlefield 2 and Far Cry for example have virtually flat resolution scaling curves. Other titles — Bioshock, Crysis, Oblivion, and Unreal Tournament 3 — show a pretty sizable gap between the 8800M GTS in the Gateway and the 8800M GTX in the AVADirect notebook. However, it's not entirely clear whether that gap exists primarily because of the discrepancy in CPU performance or if the added Stream Processors are the culprit. While it certainly would have been interesting to test with an upgraded CPU, we didn't have any Core 2 Duo processors readily available (nor the time to rerun all the tests).
Regardless, the net result is that we can't help but be impressed by the Gateway system. In some of the titles, the difference between the 8800M GTS and the GTX is virtually nil, particularly at higher resolutions. Since the GTS and GTX both have the same amount of memory, the same memory bandwidth, and the same number of ROPs, it's not all that surprising that some games hardly show a difference between the two graphics chips. It's unfortunate that we haven't seen any manufacturers giving customers the choice between the GTS and the GTX; we wouldn't be surprised if more than a few people would be happy to sacrifice a bit of performance in order to save a couple hundred dollars. Since that isn't an option, we recommend the Gateway P-6831 FX as a very reasonable alternative.
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JarredWalton - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - link
You'll need to connect an external LCD and run at 1280x1024 to get comparable 3DMark06 scores. Without an external LCD, 3DMark06 will drop the resolution to 1280x800. I'll test that right now to let you know how the system I received benchmarks.JarredWalton - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - link
FYI, here are my results for 3DMark06 at 1280x800 (the default using the laptops LCD):Overall Score: 7005
SM2.0 Score: 3282
SM3.0 Score: 3430
CPU Score: 1448
JarredWalton - Saturday, March 29, 2008 - link
Could be that Gateway is just going to upgrade the CPU for free. I'm sure the T5550 will improve performance slightly in some situations, but after all it's only a 10% CPU performance increase. I really wish you could customize the build a bit; I'd want a T8300 and the 1920x1200 LCD personally. That would probably increase the price to $1700-$1800, but that's still better than the alternatives and you wouldn't have to sacrifice in those areas. Although, I do wonder what type of LCD they use for the upgraded model... hopefully the same LG.Philips as the Clevo, as it's quite good.marsbound2024 - Friday, March 28, 2008 - link
I work at Best Buy and I am very sure that the batteries typically installed on our FXs do NOT jut out from the back. They absolutely are flush with the unit. However, I do believe it is a smaller mAh obviously. The last time I dealt with an FX at Geek Squad I absolutely do not remember a jutting battery pack. Not sure if others can speak to this or not, however.ap90033 - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - link
I dont work at best buy, but I HAVE ONE AND IT DOES STICK OUT. Silly head... I bet you work in Geek Squad. LOLmarsbound2024 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
I do work in Geek Squad... not that I like it or even think it is true IT. I have bigger plans, but for now I'll take what job I can get at my age. I realize the jokes about Geek Squad, but I don't care. My intelligence is greater than what may typically be represented by GS Agents.Anyways, I verified for myself that the laptop's battery is flush. In fact, I will take a picture with a digital camera to prove it.
JarredWalton - Friday, March 28, 2008 - link
I'd love it if you could check on this. If the standard battery is 2600 mAh instead of 7800 mAh, you'd be looking at 1/3 the battery life that I got in testing. :|marsbound2024 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
By the way, the Gateway FXs could have been upgraded, but I am sure our display remained the same as far as what battery it has.marsbound2024 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
I checked on this already and am 100% positive that what we have at Best Buy, at least on display, is a battery that is flush with the unit. I will take it out and tell you what mAh it is.JarredWalton - Friday, March 28, 2008 - link
Note that Gateway's website lists 2600 mAh for all the batteries on all the P-series FX notebooks, and obviously I received a 7800 mAh battery. Since they Gateway pictures show the battery poking out, and given the power requirements, I have to think they really are shipping larger batteries. The only 2600 mAh batteries I've seen are for 12" and smaller ultra-portables, which end up offering less than two hours battery life on those laptops. Who would want a 20 minute battery life on a larger notebook!?