#MOTHERBOARD H57H AM2 GATEWAY FX 6840 03E PC#
The problem for the Gateway is that we have a feeling most consumers shopping for a performance-and-gaming-capable PC in this price range put gaming first. If we were shopping for a home PC with entertainment in mind, we'd happily sacrifice the Gateway's superior CPU performance for the Dell's more complete feature-set. It also provides a Blu-ray drive, more hard-drive space, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. You'll pay $50 more for the Dell above, and it won't complete productivity-oriented tasks as quickly, but it will play games faster, and at higher resolutions. The Gateway has a midrange 3D card, a standard DVD burner, and only wired networking. You'll see below that the Core i7-based Gateway posted strong application performance scores, but the AMD-based $1,149 Dell Studio XPS 7100, a built-to-order system, offers better gaming performance, along with a better selection of features. Heavy data archivers should consider the convenience of the front-panel hard-drive access, and either accept or overlook the Gateway's "gaming PC" looks.īlu-ray drive/dual-layer DVD burner combo
If you're particular about the look of your hardware, you may have some reservations about picking up the distinctive Gateway.
#MOTHERBOARD H57H AM2 GATEWAY FX 6840 03E FULL#
It's also large enough to qualify as a full tower system, as opposed to the midtower PCs that have dominated our recent retail desktop roundup. The case design has some polarizing elements to be sure, its red accent lighting chief among them. Not everyone will need the front-panel drive access, but it's a rare enthusiast design touch that is actually useful. We're more used to seeing that feature on gaming desktops from boutique vendors. We like the Gateway case primarily because it introduces front-accessible hard-drive bays to a relatively mainstream PC. We do like certain aspects of this Gateway system, but there's not enough value in this PC to recommend it. We'll give the Gateway some credit for its strong application performance scores, but a $1,149 Dell system offers a more versatile configuration for only a nominal price increase. Heavy data archivers should consider the convenience of the front-panel hard-drive access, and either accept or overlook the Gateway's "gaming PC" looks.We're documented fans of Gateway's latest FX case design, at least for the most part, but we have reservations about the FX6840-03e, a specific $1,099 configuration.
It's also large enough to qualify as a full tower system, as opposed to the midtower PCs that have dominated our recent retail desktop round up.
We're documented fans of Gateway's latest FX case design, at least for the most part, but we have reservations about the FX6840-03e, a specific $1,099 configuration. Gateway's FX line offers some strong configurations, but this isn't one of them, and you should look for more-complete PCs in this price range.This review is part of our 2010 retail laptop and desktop back-to-school roundup, covering specific fixed configurations of popular systems found in retail stores.
The bottom line: The unique-looking Gateway FX6840-03e offers respectable productivity speed, but it's relatively limited in gaming and multimedia, ironic considering its flashy appearance. The bad: Gamer-oriented case not for everyone lacks gaming performance to back up its looks weak connectivity with only 5.1 audio and no FireWire or eSATA jacks. The good: Useful front-panel hard-drive access strong application performance.