First time posting, long time lurking. I just ordered one of these laptops after searching for hours for a gaming laptop. Originally I bought an MSI A6200 core i5-430 from Office Depot and i loved the laptop except it cant play any current video games except world of warcraft. the Intel HD graphics totally suck -- crashes and locks up frequently while gaming. (many others with this chipset have reported problems on intels website) I was hunting for an AMD N620 cpu bundled with an ATI 5650 or better for under $800. I couldnt find one so i started looking at other options. Found an asus core i7-720qm with ati 5730 for $950 but the 5730 is just an overclocked 5650 and still MUCH weaker then a 9800M GTS. I was not excited about the Core 2 duo P7350 but its the video card why this laptop is a good deal. Two years ago maybe I had a Gateway 6860 FX with geforce 8800M and it played every game on max settings with no problems. I expect this new one to do even better while also being $400 cheaper.
Specs: Geforce 9800M GTS scores 16,500 on 3dmark05 Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2.0ghz 500gb 5400rpm hard drive Display Type: HD Widescreen WXGA+ Ultrabright™ LCD Display Screen Size: 17" Maximum Resolution: 1440 x 900 Memory Size: 4GB (2x2) Memory Speed: DDR3 1066 Condition: New Operating Systems: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Expansion Ports: 1 - Express Card Slot/54 Graphics Description: Dedicated Graphics GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS 1gb ddr3 256bit Optical Drive Type: DVD Super-Multi Dual Layer Supplemental Drive Type: Media Reader Capacity: 5-in-1 Media Types: Memory Stick xD Memory Stick PRO Multi Media Card Secure Digital Audio Description: Integrated Audio Audio Chipset: Hi-Definition (HD) Audio Support Audio Channels: Built-in Stereo Speakers USB Ports (Total): 3 HDMI Ports: 1 - with HDCP eSATA Ports: 1 Interface Type: RJ-11 Phone Connector RJ-45 Ethernet Connector 802.11b/g/n Wireless Networking Weight: 9.05 lbs Keyboard Type: Fullsize with Numberpad Battery Type: 9-Cell Lithium-ion Battery Life: Up to 3.6 hours Webcam Resolution: 1.3MP
dg12345 said: Granted the price is decent, but what self-respecting "gaming" laptop contains a 5400RPM hard drive?
I am not excited about the 5400rpm hard drive myself either, but at least its 500gb which means higher data density which carries with it more performance. I plan to throw an OCZ SSD 60gb drive into my gateway and then just keep the 500gb full of movies for when I have to travel. Besides Once the game is loaded into memory HD makes little difference in gaming.
Flagg said: mainomega said: the same 9800 mobile chips that nvidia declared a failure ? Those chips last about 1 year before they start artifacting.
I google searched this and found no results. I did find nvidia sued over their earlier chipsets (8600GT) Like any computer make sure you have adequate airflow. keep drivers / bios up to date that controls GPU fan speed and such. I never keep a computer more then nine months before i replace it. that way I always have warranty and stay ahead of the curve. Plus if i bought it for good enough deal i sell it for almost what i paid for it.
bgl2687
Member
posted: Jun. 17, 2010 @ 7:20p
Are these the same FX's that came with 1900X1200 resolution, but on the box they listed it as 1440x900?
bgl2687 said: Are these the same FX's that came with 1900X1200 resolution, but on the box they listed it as 1440x900?
To be honest with a 17" screen I consider that 1440x900 is a more practical resolution.
I also have a Dell Inspiron with 1900X1200, which is great for photos and videos but it's really not good for reading text.
The other thing is that you have more chance of running games at native resolution with 1440x900 rather than 1900X1200
I have the older Gateway 6860-FX with the 8800GTS card and I've never noticed any problems with the card, I did have (..and continue to have) a few issues with the installed copy of Vista but that's a temperamental OS at the best of times
$150 for a much better CPU and GPU seems like a good deal, but if i was spending that much money id probably get a core i7 equipped laptop. I based my decision off of checknotebook.net reviews because they showed the 9800M GTS and 260M GTX having the same 3dmark05 score. Now that i think about it there must be some mistake because the 9800M has 64 pipelines and the 260m GTX has 112. Both the 9800M GTS and 260M gtx use 256bit ddr3 so should have equal memory bandwidth the 260m GTX should perform right on par with a desktop version of 9800GT which is pretty good for a laptop. Still I know the 9800M GTS will get the job done for me and i needed to keep the price low as possible. The extra 500mhz on the processor wouldnt hurt either
I am also glad the resolution is 1440x900. that should keep framerate up with settings on high and text easy to read.
Terin
Tired Member
posted: Jun. 18, 2010 @ 9:19a
I have one of the 7908u FX with this card and the 1980x1200 WUXGA screen.
Graphics card is still working fine -- after 1.5 years -- it was also one of the displays on the floor, so it was running even longer. Have played Left 4 Dead 2 fairly often -- have at least 1,000 hours on the card and no issues/artifacting yet. I actually had to move from an HP that had a fried card in it. Won't ever be going back to HP, since their crap is STILL failing. None of the symptoms in this machine that were in the other card-dying devices.
Machine is nice -- still keeps up with some of the latest/greatest. But if you're investing in a gaming laptop, I highly recommend at least getting an i7, because the physics/etc processing is highly dependent on the CPU. Left 4 Dead 2 has started getting a little choppy lately (graphics work fine, but tracking zombie movement, etc, sometimes lags it a little bit and I lose frames). I don't expect this to be able to play games past June of next year on the best/high settings, though.
Terin said: I have one of the 7908u FX with this card and the 1980x1200 WUXGA screen.
Graphics card is still working fine -- after 1.5 years -- it was also one of the displays on the floor, so it was running even longer. Have played Left 4 Dead 2 fairly often -- have at least 1,000 hours on the card and no issues/artifacting yet. I actually had to move from an HP that had a fried card in it. Won't ever be going back to HP, since their crap is STILL failing. None of the symptoms in this machine that were in the other card-dying devices.
Machine is nice -- still keeps up with some of the latest/greatest. But if you're investing in a gaming laptop, I highly recommend at least getting an i7, because the physics/etc processing is highly dependent on the CPU. Left 4 Dead 2 has started getting a little choppy lately (graphics work fine, but tracking zombie movement, etc, sometimes lags it a little bit and I lose frames). I don't expect this to be able to play games past June of next year on the best/high settings, though.
What I love about the I7 besides its great architecture is that its flexible. I read on single threaded apps it runs 2.8ghz, dual threaded apps it runs 2.4ghz and other apps its 1.6ghz quad core. So it does a great job for any task. However that processor bundled with a highend graphics is just way to expensive for me. The only two games I can think of that really utilize a quad core is supreme commander and battle field bad company 2. Also your gateway has a much higher resolution then the one ive linked so that also will hit your framerate a good deal.
I just got my gateway today and first impressions are very good. it seems very snappy, i ran HDtune and this WD 5400rpm 500gb hd is 50% faster then my Dell desktop WD 120gb 7200rpm drive. 80mb/s maxium 60mb/s average 17ms access time 95mb/s burst. will run some gaming benchmarks soon as their installed. This 7815 seems a good deal nicer then i remember my 6860 (despite same color scheme)
call of duty MW2 never dips below 60fps. current settings:
1440x900 resolution everything on AA = off textures all = high sync everyframe = on going to try some AA settings tomorrow.
3dmark06:8592 SM 2.0 4061 SM 3.0 4149 CPU Score 1788
I dont think any new laptop can beat this score for the price. im curious what the more expensive gateway would score.
TheBS
New Member
posted: Jul. 1, 2010 @ 11:21a
I have one of the 2008 units, P-7811FX, one of the very few with the full 1920x1200 LCD. The processor is the P8400 (2x2.26MHz, 3MiB L3) and the GeForce 9800M GTS 512MiB (not the latter 1GiB models).
The P8700 (2x2.56MHz) is as fast as an i3, but has 10W less power consumption. The GeForce 260M brings the GPU TDP down to 38W from the 75W of the GeForce 9800M GTS, while performing the same -- the extra pipes (260M) v. faster clocks (9800M).
I can speak from experience on my P-7811FX, the 9800M GTS sucks the heat, and needs to have good, external ambient and flow. Works fine on planes and in a cold room. But in a warm room, the older 9800M GTS can hang.
The kicker that keeps me from buying is Gateway dropping back down to 1440x900. The P-7811FX is virtually the only model (or one of a rare few) that had 1920x1200. The earlier P-68xx series and most of the P-78xx series have been only 1440x900.
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