Gateway P-7908u FX Review & Pics

There is very little firsthand information on the internet for Gateway's latest line of FX laptops at the time of this writing, so I'm hoping that this will shed light on some of the new features for all those interested. If there is any test not seen here you would like me to run, feel free to ask. This is my first review, so I'm using my own format and assuming you know a little about the FX series.


As a note, my setup is basically using the P-7908u as a desktop replacement. The laptop sits on a shelf connected to an external monitor--25" I-INC iH252 via HDMI @ 1920 x 1080 resolution--with external keyboard and mouse. I don't use the battery at all so I won't be commenting on battery life. However, this is my second FX laptop and third Gateway laptop. I used to have a P-7811 FX and loved it.


Specs:
• Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53 GHz, 1066MHz, 3MB L2 Cache)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• 4096MB 1066MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (2-2048 modules)
• 500GB 5400 RPM hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M (1GB DDR3 and Intel PM45 Express Chipset. Not underclocked like Asus does.)
• 9 Cell lithium ion battery
• 17" WXGA+ (1440 x 900)
• 8x DVDRW

Design:

The P-7908u is using the same recognizable chassis as all the other FX laptops. As such, all the multimedia buttons and external ports are exactly the same. It still has the high gloss black exterior with orange accents. Make no mistake, any slight residue on your hands or dust will stand out. It's an absolute fingerprint magnet. I recommend keeping a little microfiber towel around to keep it wiped down along with maybe some denatured alcohol.


One instantly noticeable change is that the old FX logo with the carbon fiber looking band has been replaced with a much more distinct radiant orange circle. The design reminds me of a solar eclipse and is carried through to the wrist area below the keyboard. It's very beautiful and I consider it a huge improvement. Instead of the old Gears of War sticker below and left of the keyboard we get a little reflective laptop spec sticker. This will probably get removed. Other than that, the P-7908u retains the same dated design that all the other Gateway FX series had. I will make one observation: users of the P-7811FX can tell you about the pesky disk drive tray that would open at the slightest touch while handling or moving the laptop. The tray on this computer, however, is very stubborn. Often I have to press the open button more than once before the tray will pop out. I don't know if this is Gateways response to criticism, or if it's just a finicky aspect of my particular unit.





Display:

Moving on to the display we find the first point of criticism. A 17" 1440 x 900 display really does leave something to be desired. Perhaps the main reason that people gripe about the display is that Gateway confusingly interchanges this display with a brilliant 1920 x 1200 screen in and out of the FX lineup. People recognize that Gateway has the ability to include the better screen and wonder why they chose to skimp out. I will comment that it is ample for gaming, but seems to be a tiny bit dim to my eyes. One time I found myself pressing the keyboard shortcut to increase screen brightness only to realize it was already at the maximum. If you choose to use an external monitor like me, the computer handles 1920 x 1200 with no problem as one would expect with Windows 7 looking great.

Performance:

Gaming is what the P-7908u was made for, and what it does very well. If you are looking for a powerful gaming notebook at an outstanding price point, look no further than the Gateway FX series. Most modern games can run on high settings with good, playable frame rates. The 1GB DDR3 GeForce GTX 260M combined with the moderate 2.53GHz P8700 is decent enough if you've been looking to crank up the settings in your favorite game. It has been noted that the GTX 260M is a slight but appreciable upgrade to the previous 9800M GTS, resulting in a 5 or more FPS improvement. I would say that in an effort to cut down on costs, the 7908u went big on GPU and cut back on CPU, but that isn't a knock on the CPU. While I like the 500GB storage capacity of the hard drive, I wish it came in 7200RPM. I am a little disappointed in the lack of a Windows 7 OS cd.



3DMark06 score @ standard 1280 x 1024: 10231
3DMark06 score @ native 1440 x 900: 10233
The benchmark test in Half-Life 2: Lost Coast gave me an average of 151 FPS.



Cooling:


Speedfan 4.38 shows GPU 40-43C, CPU 26-36C for normal tasks like web browsing, but quickly heats up during gaming. I observed peak GPU temps at 71C during the 3dmark06 test, and CPU touched 59C.

More importantly, the SpeedFan chart shows that heat dissipates well in the P-7908u. Temps returned to normal values within 3 minutes of finishing the 3DMark test. Fans were running at max during gaming while being fairly quiet. During normal operations the fans will cycle on and off which can be a little pesky.

Conclusion:

In closing, I must say that there is almost nothing out there that can beat the price/performance ratio of Gateway's FX series. The latest iteration of the FX lineup has a variety of options and prices depending on what you may want in HD space, RAM, or CPU. The P-7908u FX has a retail price of $1,279.99. It's worth noting that you can opt for the $1,099.99 P-7915u FX which is identical save for a smaller 320GB hard drive.

Pros:
• Great power for gaming
• Almost unbeatable price for the performance (except maybe Gateway's own P-7915)
• Good looks
• 9 cell battery

Cons:
• Design is getting a little dated
• No Windows 7 OS CD included (recovery program fixes this)
• Lots of bloatware (as expected)
• Ability to cool is stressed during intense gaming (yet managed well, Gateway handles this better than competitors)
• Quite large and heavy for a laptop

Sneekyseven

 

Great review + rep ..

 

Regarding the Windows 7 disks... I know Gateway's parent company Acer includes a utility to burn recovery DVDs that will restore the hard drive to the factory image (basically a DVD version of the hidden restore partition). Does the P-79xx series have a similar utility? As far as straight up OS disks... I don't think any system's included those since I worked at CompUSA back in 1999.

 

There is a recovery app that basically covers the issue, but the last two Gateway pc's I had included it. Minor gripe I guess

 

Love the new lids on the FXs.

Is the 3ghz CPU cap still in place? Love my 3.4ghz T9900 right now.

I would recommend using some good thermal paste on your CPU to drop the temps even more.

 

Not true - I think only Gateway practices this. Dell, Asus, Apple, etc etc all include either OEM discs or Recovery images.

 

I dunno... I've been a tech for many years and even as a tech we had to contact the manufacturer for the disk.

HP charges $19 for the disk if you order straight from them. It's not included with store-bought machines.

Dell does not as my in-law's laptop did not include such a disk.

 

Excellent Review. Thanks for posting this.

Now start OCing that GPU and see what you can get (j/k)

 

Awesome review. +Rep

 

Gateway says that this laptop has a DVI-d sub port on it, but I can't find it any of the pictures they have. Can you tell (and possibly show) me where that port is hiding?

I'd much rather prefer to hook up through DVI than HDMI because I've heard that the computer/monitor throws a fit if you hook HDMI to a monitor without speakers.

Monitor speakers are crappy and I'd much rather use a 5.1 surround sound systems through a Creative X-Fi card in the expansion slot.

 

Repped of course. (I have a feeling your rep will go up like 10 by the time the day's over. ) Great review. I would like battery info but I understand. A couple more gaming benchmarks would be nice, eg Crysis, but I am kind of curious about the keyboard and general usability, as I will be using this for school. That cooling is awesome though! Is there any easy way to get rid of the bloatware? Finally, what do you mean by the dated design?

 

There is no DVI-D port on the Notebook.

 

so gtx260 doesnt give you so much power
besides the display sucks
i will stay with my 9800gts and 1920 1200

 

I like the new design. I'm happy with my notebook, should still be pretty good for a few years. Love the 1920x1200 screen as well.

 

Its not ment to be a series that requires you to upgrade between each and everyone. The 8800GTS from the 68xx series still holds its own quite well (seeing as 8800/9800/260(280) are basically clones of each other)

Its ment to entice new buyers or those upgrading from 2+ generations ago. Its not all the sudden going to be posting 5000+ 3dmarks better, just a little bit better

The big upgrades will come from the 5000ATI cards and the 300series nVidia next year with the better cores and full DX11 sweetness (i really hope they will still be MXM3 compatible)

As to the screen, a decent 1920x1200 screen costs about 170 shipped so even factoring in that, this is the winner so far in price vs capability in the FX family

 

I'm rather new here and don't know too much about hardware. But, I have a question.

Which would be better 6gb of DDR2 memory, or 4gb of DDR3 memory?

I'm mainly deciding between these two laptops:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+FX+Edition+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Centrino%26%23174%3B+2+Processor+Technology/9605365.p?id=1218130485627&skuId=9605365&st=gateway%20laptops&cp=1&lp=7

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Black/9556125.p?id=1218124208054&skuId=9556125&st=asus%20laptops&cp=1&lp=5

The difference in the hard drive space and the 1440x900 vs 1600x900 isn't a huge issue for me.

Thanks.

 

its honestly about the same. 6GB DDR2 gives you more ram to preload programs in or run virtual machines with, 4GB DDR3 gives you enough ram to do anything on and faster speeds to back it up.

Its really according to what you want to do with the system, but for 98% of users 4GB is more than enough for anything you need

 

So... Wait... Is this a detail I've missed? MXM3 is the upgradable video card standard for laptops, is it not? Are you saying that the P-series laptops are upgradable?

 

Sorry, i was talking about my new rig (a bit of wistful thinking on my part)

As far as i know the 79xx series are still stuck with soldered GPU's, though we might could ask Seven if he's willing to disassemble it

 

I really like that new FX logo Gateway has adopted. Nice review! It'd be great if you could add some in-game benchmarks for comparison.

 

There is no DVI-D port. Your monitor will be fine with HDMI if it's got an audio out jack. That's what I'm using with 0 issues.

Crysis is about $15 on Steam right now so maybe I'll check that out. As for bloatware, removal is like uninstalling any other program but it's everywhere. Even Microsoft Works comes with built in advertising now.

Sure, I'll see about taking it to work and disassembling it. I'm pretty sure it's soldered, but MXM3 would be a nice surprise.

Want to recommend an app for capturing framerates?

 

Fraps is a good program.

 

Valve games have FPS stats built in. You have to go to the console and type in "net_graph" followed by a space and 1, 2, or 3. 1, 2, and 3 give three different levels of information about your FPS and connection.

 

There is no DVI. I had no problems with HDMI and USB audio (had my now sold 7805u hooked up to a 24" Gateway monitor via HDMI full time).

 

Maybe you`re right
I heard that this 260gtx is a clone of 9800gtx with higher clocks etc.

 

I doubt we'll see an ATI mobility 5x series until the 3rd quarter of next year. They are having problems supplying the desktop card right now due to high demands.

 

If this information is actually correct, its quite a bit more than a 9800M GTS.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-260M.14559.0.html
vs.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9800M-GTS.9918.0.html

GTX 260 M has 112 Stream Processors @
Core Speed * 550 MHz
Shader Speed * 1375 MHz
Memory Speed * 950 MHz

9800M GTS has 64 Stream Processors @
Core Speed * 600 MHz
Shader Speed * 1500 MHz
Memory Speed * 800 MHz

What that means is that the performance is quite a bit more than slightly faster. In terms of theoretical performance, the GTX 260M has a texel fill rate of about 20.5 Gtexels/sec, while the 9800M GTS is only 12.8 Gtexels/sec.

However, if you could do us a favor and run this program and give us a screenshot, we can test teh validity of that site's info!
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

 

Looks like 30.8 Gtexels/sec

 

I lol'd

*has 11k 3dmark06*

 

running an overclocked quad core so not really apples to apples....

 

Thanks for the review. +rep

I'm considering this laptop for school/work use (7915 model), so I won't be using it with an external mouse/keyboard. Can you give a quick overview of how the trackpad and keyboard feel.

I almost bought an Asus G72, but after i played with the trackpad of the demo model at BB I decided against it. I don't know why they put pimples on the trackpad surface, but it did not make for a nice pointer moving experience.

If the trackpad on this is better than the G72 or at least as good as the other Gateway display models at BB, than I think I'll be ordering one.

 

lol'ed at what. The base run for 3dmark06?

I will state it again, your not supposed to upgrade to the 79xx series from the 78xx series (or really even the 68xx series) its still the same basic machine with the same basic GPU core.

But its supposed to be an amazing gaming machine for a really amazing price. so far its offering the best hardware yet for an FX for 1050... thats a pretty big deal.

 

Have you tested the battery life? How is the battery life on lowest and highest settings?

 

There are differences. But, are they so significant?

 

But you have to remember, it took Gateway more than half a year to get a 260. If they do put a 5000 or 300 in it, it probably won't be until 2011. Hopefully I'm wrong

 

I like the updated chassis. Much more classy.

CLASSY CHASSIS!

 

it's mxm or not?

 

Not...

Even if it was, MXM cards are so hard to find and if you manage to find one for sale, chances are it will be very expensive, therefore not worth wild of a upgrade.

 

i have a question im not sure has been asked already but what bios version does you p79 run? i ask this because the hardware in the p78 and p79 is nearly identical but i suspect that the p79 would have slic 2.1 tables at least. but i really hope that if it can be crossflashed to a p78 then maybe just maybe we could get better support of other cpus like the quads or extreme series.

 

Great job on the review bro!
Had the first FX when it came out and loved it, it was my first "gaming" laptop(good times)
Any way if I was looking to get a new 17" laptop this would probably be it.
I also like the new styling but I do wish GATEWAY just used a solid black border around the keyboard( I don't know maybe it's just me but the copper trim always bugged me and looked out of place on the FX, but that is a minor issue).
A little disappointed about the screen, not really the resolution but on screen brightness, besides GPU and CPU the screen is the next most important part on laptops to me.If a good performing laptop comes with a mediocre screen that just does not cut it.( Will reserve final judgment until I see the screen in person).
Still a good laptop and good review just wish it had some more gaming benchmarks.
+ rep

 

My best so far is 10321 @ 1280x1024 vs your 10905.. not that much of a difference when you factor in the Q9000

 

Does the LCD look good? as in color and brightness? or is it like the old lcd's?

 

Is it me or nobody can see the pictures? Nice review though. I am planning to buy one myself.

 

Just you...

 

I have a question. How would you compare it to Asus G51Vx-X3A?

 

It's bigger!

 

I have a few questions if you manage to disassemble it:

Are there two hard-drive bays for RAID0 or RAID1 expansion?

Are the hard-drive bays compatible with SATA II drives?

Is the interface to the optical drive SATA or IDE?

 

So does anyone know the top end proccessor that can be installed in this laptop? quads?
Also....can the screen be upgraded to a 1080p screen?

Ive always been quite taken with the FX series....and currently

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115679

Is the other option.....but....if the FX can be upgraded then its in the running....and it could also satisfy my need to tinker with my gear lol

 

The screen can be upgraded (there are some on ebay), the best processor is the T9600 (I think. you can get an x one, but they have more heat). No quads. Some came with them, but I don't think any can be upgraded to one. good luck!

 

Actually the best two would be the p9700 and the t9900