Gateway FX 6831-03 Gaming Desktop PC Review

Really Gateway? 16GB of RAM and then an HD 5850? That system needs an HD 5870.

This is definitely a reasonable system for my purposes - thanks for pointing it out.

I learned along time ago with boxed computers that just because is says it has a "x" processor doesn't mean it runs at that speed. Oddly enough that experience was with Gateway. I had a custom built 233 MMX (hey I said it was a long time ago) a friend had a custom built 200 mhz processor and another friend and another friend had a 266 mhz gateway.

since the 266 had a cheep motherboard and other components it had the same speed as the 200 mhz. Which at the time made a huge difference. I other words it wasn't a 266 it was a 200 do to crappy components.

No SSD or option for one? Next.

I gotta say, the case looks nice, but of course, I'd much rather build my own.

LOL...really - you're going to have that kind of a rig with those little, dinky speakers?

That's not too bad of a rig for the price. I agree with the video card upgrade though.

The price is not too bad at all.

And - What?! 16GB DDR3... Super!

I want one of those; add a more powerful video card and I'll take it!

Current user of this rig for over a month now. It is definitely a solid performer. I'm not a gamer, but use it exclusively for web and graphic design, and it handles multi-tasking without a hitch! A lot of computer for the price for sure.

this review should include the rating system that windows has included!! To see how this bad boy compares to our pc's at home..

I'm slightly confused with what is says about the crossfire capabilities. I've read a load of reviews on this pc and they say it only supports one PCI slot, meaning no additional GPUs to add. Does crossfire technology not require another slot or something? Since the other reviews mention that one of this products major downsides is that there is little room for upgrading in the graphics department. Sorry, I'm new to things when it comes to dual graphics card, hopefully someone can clear this up for me!

Thanks for clearing that up.

very nice for the price. i would def see my self buying one of these for a friend or myself if needed.

I'm getting one of these and putting a ATI Radeon HD 5970 and a better sound card in it.

Unless you are doing video transcoding or 3D modeling and graphics design, a gaming rig or normal home pc doesn't need anywhere near that much ram. Money would be better spent on better graphics or an SSD. My homebuilt runs an overclocked Core i7 920 on an x58 motherboard with 6GB of ram and a Radeon 5870 that would run circles around this thing and have never come close to utilizing all 6GB even with 10 apps open and gaming at the same time. This is a marketing ploy for the ignorant...nothing more.

I think the level of RAM is not a marketing ploy but it is indicative of how cheap the manufacturers are able to get it. To be honest I am very much considering buying the cheaper model of this (the 8GB and no blu ray one) because it is 200 or 300 dollars less that the enthusiast PC, even without SSD and blu ray spinner. Seeing as multi-GPU offerings are never worth the price increase to me (40% increase in performance for 100% increase in price is a bit steep) the lack of 2 16 PCI ports is no issue. Furthermore Turbo boost offers a reason (however slight) not to overclock your processor. Can anyone give me a good reason to build your own PC over buying one of these? The price for what you're getting is very good indeed.

Just a quick question, I bought one of these systems based on the positive review but I cannot figure out how to get the TURBO BOOST feature to go past 2.93Ghz??.....They advertise this i7-860 as going up to 3.43Ghz??

Is this somehow BIOS crippled by Gateway?...if so, is there a way to unlock the FULL TURBO BOOST speed of this chip?


thanks

First off, 16GB of ram is not "cheap". Kit on Newegg sells for $710 - $890. You can get a Radeon 5870, 8GB of RAM (more than enough) and an intel X-25 M SSD boot drive for pretty much the same cost and you've just made your computer much faster and more powerful than this one. More RAM above what your computer is utilizing doesn't make your computer faster...period. Its merely for E-Peen.

Why build your own? There are several reasons. (1) Quality: Retail components are far higher quality, more robust, perform better and last longer, have more embedded features for expansion, overclocking, tweaking etc, and longer individual warranties on components (3-7 years for core components). Essentially you are able to get exactly the computer system that you want and it is far easier to repair if something breaks or expand when you need more capcity. (2) Cost: It is inittially the same or slightly better, meaning you can build a far better computer yourself for the same price you are willing to spend on an off-the-shelf and your computer has more upgradability and expandability. In the long run it saves you money because you can change or upgrade individual parts instead of throwing your whole computer out to buy another. (3) Individuality and Fun Factor: It is more fun to build a model than purchase it already built. Likewise you can customize your rig however you wish. Since you choose every component you get exactly what you want and nothing you don't.

It's probably the case that the processor is always using all the cores, and you are not looking at what it is for just one. Look at the table partway down this review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2839