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Posted By
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Message
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Scott S
Heavy Metal
Registered
21/03/2008
Points
51
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31st August, 2009 at 16:04:05 -
So I'm getting a new computer today. And I would like to ask your opinion on this computer here:
Gateway Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Computer (FX6801-09H)
Base Features
Processor Type Intel Core i7 920
Processor Speed Core I7 2.66 GHz
RAM 12GB DDR3 SDRAM
Hard Drive Speed/Capacity 1TB 7200RPM
Optical Drives 18x DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX285
Pre-loaded Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
Graphics
Dedicated Video Memory Yes
Shared Video Memory No
TV Tuner No
Video Memory 1GB
Display
HDCP Compliant No
Native Screen Resolution No
Screen Size/Type No
Audio
Audio Output HD Audio with 5.1 Channel Audio Support
Digital Input No
Digital Output No
Integrated Microphone No
Line Out No
Line-In input Yes - Back
Microphone Input Yes - Front And Back
Sound Card Intel X58 Chipset
Speaker Wattage Not Applicable
Networking
Ethernet Port 10/100/1000
Integrated Bluetooth No
Integrated WiFi No
Inputs/Outputs
Card Reader Yes
Component Output No
Composite Output No
DVI Output Yes
E-SATA Yes
FireWire (IEEE 1394) 1 - Front; 1 - Back
HDMI No
S-Video Output Yes
USB 2.0 2 - Front; 4 - Back
VGA Output Yes
Webcam No
Computing Features
Available AGP Slots Not Applicable
Available Hard Drive Bays 2
Available Memory Slots 6
Available Optical Bays Not Applicable
Available PCI Slots 2 - PCI 2.3
Available PCI-E Slots 1 - PCI E X1; 1 - PCI Express X16
Power Supply 750 Watts
Processor Cache 8MB L2 Cache
Removable Storage No
or here for the link. http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10124869&catid=27564&logon=&langid=EN
So what would you say good buy or not? (Doesn't matter about price as long as its under $2000)
Rockin' it.
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OMC
What a goofball
Registered
21/05/2007
Points
3516
      
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31st August, 2009 at 16:09:41 -
Well, it's not hurting for good specs, that's for sure.  Whether it's the best value I don't know, because I haven't even bothered to look at tricked out desktops lately since I can't afford one. But I've seen many desktops and laptops that price with lower specs... The Core i7 is pretty extreme. And 12GB RAM? Yeah...
Strange though that it only comes with Home Premium. O_o Of course you could always slap Ultimate or XP in that puppy. Also notice it has no Wifi, but you may not need that.
 Edited by OMC
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Silveraura
God's God
Registered
08/08/2002
Points
6747
        
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31st August, 2009 at 18:10:24 -
Ultimate is just an unnecessarily expensive version of Home Premium with no real extra features that most of us care about. I'd say it's really only for computer enthusiasts.
http://www.facebook.com/truediamondgame
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Lazernaut
Registered
08/09/2002
Points
1103
 
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31st August, 2009 at 21:06:23 -
The main difference between Home Premium and the "better" editions is that you can't join a network domain on Home, but you don't need that as a private user anyway as it's mostly for schools and companies. And there sure as hell isn't any performance gain in going with a "better" Vista.
n/a
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Silveraura
God's God
Registered
08/08/2002
Points
6747
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31st August, 2009 at 23:27:13 -
Vista had an ugly set of editions.
You have:
Home Basic which was an abomination.
Home Premium, a media edition with media center, Aero, but no real useful features.
Business, pretty much all the useful features with nothing that Vista boasted about having, like media center or aero.
Ultimate, the most expensive operating system to date, with nothing more than both Home Premium and Business combined.
Fortunately, Windows 7 is set up like Windows XP was. Home < Pro < Ultimate
http://www.facebook.com/truediamondgame
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OMC
What a goofball
Registered
21/05/2007
Points
3516
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31st August, 2009 at 23:35:32 -
I thought the complete disk imaging and a few other administrative tools were exclusive to Ultimate... Windows Backup wouldn't let me image the hard drive on Home Premium.
Oh well, it doesn't really matter.  I like Ultimate the best because it looks better to have it say "Ultimate" than "Home Premium" on the logon screen.  I only installed it because I got it for $6 from the campus store. 
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Scott S
Heavy Metal
Registered
21/03/2008
Points
51
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1st September, 2009 at 00:22:35 -
Wow this got kinda derailed pretty fast. >_>
Rockin' it.
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Neuro
Ludologist
Registered
29/10/2006
Points
437
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1st September, 2009 at 00:42:45 -
I have a Gateway myself, an FX4710. If this one is anything like the one I have, the cooling will be awful - we had to send it in for repairs. Still, great bang for buck, mine ran almost every possible game on super-high settings, beautiful and smooth. This one looks to have at least twice the power of my FX4710, you'll be sailing for years with it! It looks to cost only ~$400 more than mine did. Compared to everything else I saw in Best Buy, the FX4710 was the best value besides building a PC myself. This one doesn't look much different.
Go for it, man. I hope the cooling is OK for it, or you can add your own stuff in. At least point a fan at it. I don't know how good the GTX285 card is, but it sounds new and powerful. Hopefully 750watts is enough power for it. With the FX4710, the power supply was only the minimum required for the video card, but it worked fine (apart from the overheating).
So yeah, hope it works out for you. Get a warranty or repair coverage thing or whatever in case it does burn out, the parts seem expensive to replace.
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UrbanMonk
BRING BACK MITCH
Registered
07/07/2008
Points
49667
     
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1st September, 2009 at 01:26:56 -
Originally Posted by Scott S
Wow this got kinda derailed pretty fast. >_>
Yeah that happened after the 2nd post.
Good going OMC! You always mess everything up!! 
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OMC
What a goofball
Registered
21/05/2007
Points
3516
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1st September, 2009 at 02:08:44 -
Oi! It is NOT my fault! I answered the question!
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Ricky
loves Left For Dead 2
Registered
28/12/2006
Points
4075
 
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1st September, 2009 at 09:55:26 -
Your Computer has almost as much Ram as my netbook has disk space
Edited by Ricky
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Scott S
Heavy Metal
Registered
21/03/2008
Points
51
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1st September, 2009 at 19:47:18 -
Also now I just made enough money to buy a tablet too!  So my question here would be: Is the Wacom Bamboo a good tablet and if not could you guys and quite possibly girls direct me to a different one that would be good. Thanks. 
Rockin' it.
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GamesterXIII
Registered
04/12/2008
Points
1110
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2nd September, 2009 at 13:16:12 -
I don't understand why you would post an obviously top of the line computer and ask for opinions on it before you buy it. Easy to tell that you know what you are looking for. Hell it even comes with a damn GTX285. Seems more like a self plugging post to me =/.
If you want something to whine about, then I could tell you that the processor included is the lowest end core i7 there is. . . at least as far as I am aware. 12 GB of ram may be overdoing it, but who cares. Ram is cheap and the pricetag reflects that.
@Neuro
If your gateway was overheating, then the processor probably wasn't installed correctly. Applying the thermal paste is different than installing the paste for a single core processor. Newer processors run cool as fuck opposed to something like a pentium 4 as well. Many duals and quads can even be overclocked a bit on stock cooling. Good luck doing that on older stuff =p.
Edited by GamesterXIII
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Scott S
Heavy Metal
Registered
21/03/2008
Points
51
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2nd September, 2009 at 15:24:44 -
Wasn't really whining about anything. But if you think that way thats fine with me bud.
Rockin' it.
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Kirby Smith
Resident Slacker
Registered
18/05/2003
Points
479
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3rd September, 2009 at 06:29:08 -
Looks like a good system. I personally would've added a second hard drive so that you could use one for the operating system / apps, and one for storage and media (plus the benefits of a built-in backup solution and/or the performance/reliability gains of RAID).
12GB of Ram should be more than sufficient unless you're into some REALLY heavy motion graphics work. Also, good call on getting the lowest end i7. Performance gains in the higher models don't justify the jump in price, but the performance-per-clock and cache increases over the Core2 line are definitely worth it.
Also, this close to the release of Windows 7, I probably would've just waited and bought a system with it preloaded, but that's a matter of laziness more than anything.
XBL Gamertag: Rampant Mjolnir
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Silveraura
God's God
Registered
08/08/2002
Points
6747
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3rd September, 2009 at 07:37:26 -
Doesn't Microsoft have something on their site where you can Windows 7 for free if you bought Windows Vista within a specific window prior to release? No pun intended.
http://www.facebook.com/truediamondgame
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OMC
What a goofball
Registered
21/05/2007
Points
3516
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3rd September, 2009 at 14:30:04 -
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/upgrade.aspx
Between June 26th and January 1st.
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Knockturnal
Nothing to see here turn back
Registered
11/04/2008
Points
354
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3rd September, 2009 at 17:32:02 -
Well I'm not sure if "top of the line" is the right thing to say here. NVIDIA... In my opinion you get more for the cash with ATI. Also 7200 RPM? 10000 RPM makes your compo go alot faster. But what I reacted most to was the processor. 2.66 Ghz?? I have 3.16, and no, it wasn't really that expensive. Also, where is the case? I'm getting the Cooler Master Cosmos Silver... Otherwise, 12gb RAM is just plain sick, but nice setup anyway. On a side note, did you know that a program has to be written for the purpose to use multiple cores of a processor? Like if you have 8 cores it wont make any difference except if the program actually is made to use all eight cores. PROTIP: Assemble you computers yourself. Better specs and prices.
Professional vaporware developer
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Silveraura
God's God
Registered
08/08/2002
Points
6747
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3rd September, 2009 at 20:05:08 -
I never liked ATI's drivers, but I haven't used them since AMD took over so who knows, maybe they've changed.
http://www.facebook.com/truediamondgame
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GamesterXIII
Registered
04/12/2008
Points
1110
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4th September, 2009 at 04:26:51 -
Man ATI drivers can be a pain.
Originally Posted by Scott SWasn't really whining about anything. But if you think that way thats fine with me bud.
Thats not what I was saying. I was saying it is kind of retarded to ask opinions on a high end computer, when you obviously know at least a little about what you're looking for. It seems more like you're just wanting to boast rather than ask opinions - no offense.
The whole whining thing wasn't referring to you. Re-read it. I said IF you want something to whine about, then I could tell you that the Core I7 included with this computer is the lowest Core i7 that I know of. I'm just saying that a perfectionist/completist/elitist whatever MIGHT bitch at the fact that its the slowest core I7 processor to boot - not you.
@ Jaguar
Your argument about NVidia vs ATI boils down to pure personal preference imo. NVidia and ATI fangirls will always clash. Personally I've had more luck out of Nvidia cards in terms of stability and performance vs ATI cards. I will use either though =].
"A 3.16 isn't that expensive" A 3.16 core i7 is way more expensive than a 2.66 core i7. A 920 2.66 is 200-300 USD? A 3.16 is almost 1000? Yea . . .not really that expensive in comparison huh. Also compare performance(referring to charts, no clocking). . . not worth the price difference right now. A 2.66 ghz processor(p4+) will run pretty much any game out right now with the right vid card to back it up. Also you are right about software having to be written to utilize multiple cores, BUT when running multiple programs your computer should automatically distribute the processes evenly between the cores. . . Not to mention multiple core processors run MUCH cooler than single cores. Windows vista has multi core support, and as far as I remember, XP SP 3, regardless of the problems it has, added support (or further support?) for multiple core processors on Windows XP Systems.
A 2.66 ghz core i7 processor is approximately 22% faster BY AVERAGE than a low end -q6600 core 2 quad. - Theres more to it than just raw clock speed. a core2quad running at 2.66 would probably only be a few % faster than a 2.4 q6600. My brother runs a q6600 stock with about 6 gigs of ram and it is plenty fast
Edited by GamesterXIII
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