P-7811 FX (Gateway)
Originally heralded as the "best bang for the buck" gaming laptop on the market. It comes with:
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
- NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
- 17.0" WUXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
- Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
- 4GB (4096MB) DDR3 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 x 2048MB modules)
- 200GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 16MB Cache
- 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash Technology
- Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam
- 9-cell 11.1v 7800mAh battery, 120w power supply
It has since shown a flaw or two. The biggest flaw is keeping the damn thing cool. The HDD's and CPU get pretty hot, but the worst offender by far is the graphics card. I'm not sure it could be adequately cooled with twice the heat sink and fan. The temp can climb above 100C. I hear there are tuning apps (Rivatuner) to help alleviate this issue through tweaking. The fact that this is possible seems to indicate that the source of the problem is poor driver software programming, especially considering the chip has a built in temperature sensor, along with marginal cooling hardware. Poor software programming in general seems to be an issue these days. As of right now, I just have to turn down the graphics settings in the games. I thought I would warn others of Nvidia's apparent lack of quality.
Last edited by Kenyth; 12-29-2009 at 04:23 PM.
"some people are like slinkies, they're not really good for anything but they can bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs." –Unknown
"He did for bullshit what Stonehenge did for rocks." -Cecil Adams
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