Decent pc for the money?

crpgnut

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October 18, 2006
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Hey Guys, I'm way too lazy to build my own machine anymore, so I'm looking to get a new desktop. What do you think of this pc? It's $1399. I'll definitely wait for them to move it to Windows 7 before purchasing, but other than that is this a good machine? I should note that I prefer Intel and Nvidia over AMD and ATI.

General Spec
Brand Gateway
Model FX6801-01
Recommended Usage Gaming
Processor Intel Core i7 950(3.06GHz)
Processor Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Memory 9GB DDR3
Hard Drive 1TB SATA
Optical Drive 1 18X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive featuring Labelflash Technology
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285, with 1GB Discrete Video Memory
Audio High-definition audio with 7.1-channel audio support
Ethernet 10/100/1000 LAN
Power Supply 750W
Speaker Amplified Stereo Speakers (USB Powered)
Keyboard Premium Multimedia Keyboard
Mouse USB Optical Mouse
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Motherboard
Chipset Intel X58
CPU
CPU Type Intel Core i7
Installed Qty 1
CPU Speed 950(3.06GHz)
L2 Cache Per CPU 4 x 256KB
L3 Cache Per CPU 8MB
CPU Socket Type LGA 1366
CPU Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Graphics
GPU/VPU Type NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
Graphics Interface PCI Express 2.0 x16
Memory
Memory Capacity 9GB DDR3
Form Factor DIMM 240-pin
Memory Slot (Total) 6
Memory Slot (Available) 0
Maximum Memory Supported 12GB
Hard Drive
HDD Capacity 1TB
HDD Interface SATA
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD Super Multi
Optical Drive Spec 18X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive featuring Labelflash Technology
Write max: 18x DVD-R, 18x DVD+R, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 8x DVD-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-R, 32x CD-RW
Read max: 16x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-ROM
Audio
Audio Chipset Integrated
Communications
Modem 56K
LAN Chipset Integrated
LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Front Panel Ports
Front USB 2
Front IEEE 1394 1
Front Audio Ports 2
Card Reader Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
CompactFlash (Type I and II), CF+ Microdrive, Secure Digital (SD) Card, Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) Card, miniSD Card, MultiMediaCard (MMC), MMCmobile, Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC), xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, SmartMedia
Back Panel Ports
COM 1
PS/2 2
Video Ports 2 DVI
TV Out 1
Rear USB 6
Rear IEEE 1394 1
eSATA 2
RJ45 1 port
Rear Audio Ports 6 ports
Mouse
Mouse Type USB Optical Mouse
Keyboard
Keyboard Type Premium Multimedia Keyboard
Physical Spec
Dimensions 17.7" x 7.5" x 19"
Weight 31 lbs.
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 1 year limited
Labor 1 year limited
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
8,821
Its this one from Newegg, right?
From what I can see, It's a pretty badass piece of hardware. If you want to go top of the line this seems a good choice.

You should consider, though, that this machine has more power than it needs for current games, and it's still going to be dated in 3 years. Personally i like to buy medium-high specced hardware and upgrade more often instead. I would most likely set my eyes on the $999 one instead, although for some reason that one seems to get worse customer reviews.

9GB DDR3 ram? Insanity.
I remember upgrading my first computer to from 4 to 12MB ram, cost me and arm and a leg at the time.
 
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Oct 19, 2009
Messages
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Location
Norway
Thanks, Jimmith. I was wondering if there was any benefit to buying the high-end card. I'm not sure how much difference there really is between a 260, 270, 295, etc. The 285 looks like a better card than the 295 on paper, but the 295 scores higher on benchmarks....
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
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No brand nor model for the psu/mobo/ram/hard drive? That's kind of important info as the first 3 are extremely important for system stability and also affect performance.

As for the gtx285 vs gtx295 I'd say that unless you're eyeing some game where the gameplay experience between the two is significantly different(crysis?) then you're better off sticking with the cheaper single card solution, fewer issues.

The box looks kinda cheap, might run hot and noisy. Is gateway support any good? Only point to paying extra for a brand, really.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
527
If you dont care about physx and 3d vision then buy a dx11 ati card (5850?). DX11 isnt useful yet but it will be in future so buying dx10 card now is short sighted. Also the new dx11 ati cards run silent and cool iirc.
 
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Europa Universalis
Can't stand ATI cards. Their drivers are always lightyears behind Nvidias. I work for a huge company and I can't tell you how much software we have that doesn't play well with ATI cards/drivers. Almost anything that draws in 3D will not work with ATI. If I can find a dx11 Nvidia card, I might go that route. If it was only a gaming rig, then ATI might be acceptable, but that's not the case.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
8,821
Thanks Captain, I'll gook around over there a bit.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
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Thanks, Jimmith. I was wondering if there was any benefit to buying the high-end card. I'm not sure how much difference there really is between a 260, 270, 295, etc. The 285 looks like a better card than the 295 on paper, but the 295 scores higher on benchmarks….

The difference between 260 and 285 is around 10 FPS (or about an additional 18% performance) in Fallout 3 with everything maxed for about double the price.

You get better value from 1156 processors and motherboards (i7 860 and i5 750 CPUs and P55 chipset) than with the socket 1366 (i7 900 series and X58 chipset) stuff. I'd only go for 1366 if you don't mind paying a hefty premium for higher performance. The i7 920 performs about equal to the i7 860 and costs about the same, it's just that X58 MoBos start out at twice the price as that of P55 ones without really providing much extra worth to the average user. Three memory channels are nice and all, but do you need it?

I also second the question about the MoBo as such, 12 GB memory maximum sounds a bit cheap, as even ASUS' and MSI's cheapest socket 1366 MoBos have the limit at 24 GB memory, and Gigabyte's cheapest is at 16 GB.
 
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
525
Location
Sweden
I ended up getting a Dell XPS something or other. I bought Dragon Age with it, so I'm a happy camper. The Dell is pretty nice but has a cheapy video card and power supply. I'll probably upgrade those in the near future.
 
Joined
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