Gateway FX

[Ruckas]

Anyone have the laptop or the desktop? I have the P-6831 laptop which I think was the first one they released. I've had mine for nearly two years and mine still runs like a champ for the price I paid.

Horror stories are welcome. I'm planning on using this until I kill it and I've been attempting to since I bought it. It's made LAN parties occur much more often as 4 of my friends bought one after I led the way.

In terms of some tech talk, I've been attempting to record some videos whilst playing COD4. I have not found a program to use or found settings that allow me to play and record without unbearable frame rates. I can play COD4 with nearly everything maxed out but I tone down everything but the resolution to make for smoother game play.

As much of a nooby tech question this may be, what needs some beefing up in order to more easily record videos. Here are the specs to my laptop. Mine has 3GB of RAM however.

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3273&p=2

Any feedback is much appreciated.

 

[Maj.Emish]

the only thing you can really do is optimize windows and more ram to record vids

 

[PewPewBangBang]

more ram would help.........a better CPU definitely as that one is outdated. Your GPU is so-so now, not bad but not the best as mobile GPU are much slower than desktop GPU's.

You can opt for the newest FX-budget gaming laptop =)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway...logy/9605365.p?id=1218130485627&skuId=9605365
Its got a good CPU and GTX 260m GPU

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+...lack/9568149.p?id=1218125774394&skuId=9568149
This one has a quad-cpu and GTX 260m GPU

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...lack/9575532.p?id=1218127626403&skuId=9575532
This has the new i7 CPU but the GTS 250m lacks compared to the ones above.

 

[shadows5631]

My brother bought a Gateway FX last year.


They're really nice, especially for the price and support they offer.

 

[Ruckas]

I'm running 32-bit so more RAM isn't really an option for me and upgrading the GPU isn't really an available option. I could see if there is some better RAM and replace what I have perhaps. Upgrading the CPU is something I've thought about, just a tad on the expensive side if there isn't a big boost in performance for me.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

I'm running 32-bit so more RAM isn't really an option for me and upgrading the GPU isn't really an available option. I could see if there is some better RAM and replace what I have perhaps. Upgrading the CPU is something I've thought about, just a tad on the expensive side if there isn't a big boost in performance for me.

dont upgrade your ram.......it won't make a big difference going to like ddr2-1066 or something.....keep your 3gb of ram.

Im not sure you can upgrade the CPU on a laptop that isn't custom built from scratch.....im pretty sure ur stuck with that old CPU.

From what i can see, your only option is to get a better gaming laptop =/

Thats the problem with laptops, you can't really upgrade them like a custom built desktop so if you wanna upgrade you gotta get a whole new one most of the time

 

[Ruckas]

Apparently the CPU isn't too bad to upgrade I did some searching and found an interesting page with a guide to upgrading the specific laptop I have.

http://www.overclock.net/laptops-notebook-computers/293505-gateway-fx-laptop-series-thread-mods.html

I'm going to look into the CPU upgrade, and I'm stuck with 667 for the RAM. I thought about upgrading my LCD to a WUXGA but that's a bit of work and a tad expensive too .

 

[reflex99]

On the FX i've heard it is possible to upgrade the CPU

BAM...well sorta

 

[Ruckas]

It appears there's no real easy and inexpensive upgrade that would make much of a difference for me. Prices are a major deterrent. I may just wait until this thing dies until I think about buying anything computer related for now and then I'll make my way towards Clevo gaming laptops. I shall just stare and drool for now.

 

[pillar]

may i ask who this clevo company is? what exactly is so special about their laptops? i noticed a really awesome dell gaming laptop @ best buy, but doubt its there anymore. besides, my main priority is gettin a car. tired of drivin my dads buick rendevous w/ its really poor gas mileage, but its better than riding a bike to work (which is 20 mins away by driving).

**EDIT** so i take it that the laptops are better than the desktops?? ive heard some really big time horror stories bout the desktops.

 

[Ruckas]

The desktops aren't all that great because you can build one of your own for about the same price. The laptops are a very nice budget gaming laptop and they have plenty of power to run games easily. The Clevo laptop I was talking about I'm not too familiar with but I think they own the rights to the base build to it. They are a little elusive on the web but the laptops seem to be general ones that you would see from Cyberpower etc. This site outlines the options available for them pretty well I think.

www.sagernotebook.com

 

[blizbiggy]

I actually have the Gateway P-7809u FX Edition laptop and I am impressed. Plays all the games that are out today on high-max settings with minimal lag! I use it now for when I travel to lan parties.