Need help in choosing between GW 7510gx / compaq R4000...

Can somebody help me?
I'm new to this community.

I'm having trouble in choosing my first notebook. I'm looking for a nice desktop replacement w/ nice price.
You know, right now, HP is selling their R4000 seies which also use AMD athlon processor.
I'm confuse about which one to choose. Compaq presario R4000 or Gateway 7510gx? Which one is better?


compaq presario R4000 (customizable model):
1. Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2 (i'm gonna change it after)
2. AMD Athlon(TM) 64 3800+ (2.4GHz/512KB L2 Cache, WITH NO DUAL CHANNEL SUPPORT)
3. 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
4. 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(128MB dedicated. X300 128MB class of GPU.)
5. 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB PC2700 333MHz)
6. 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
7. 8x DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
8. 54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth
9. 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
10. Microsoft(R) Works/Money
11. "2-year HP Express Repair extended service plan" (100$)
12. "HP Sport Backpack" (50$)
The notebook itself costs 1293 USD for now (after 100$ instant rebate with free shipping).
+ number 11 and 12, it would be 1443 USD.
(note: modem, LAN, 6in1 Card reader, Complete ports, 1394, etc, etc are included already)

Keep in mind that dual channel memory support of AMD socket 939 is currently not available in R4000/zv6000.


Gateway 7510gx (fixed/standard model. I have some questions here):
1. Mobile AMD Athlon 64-bit 3700+ Processor (2.4 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache. Socket 754.)
2. 1GB 333MHz DDR SDRAM (expandable to 1.5GB)
3. Intel 915PM or ATI RX480 ?
4. 15.4" Widescreen Ultrabright TFT WXGA LCD
5. ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 with 128MB of memory
6. PC2001 Compliant AC '97 Audio with built-in speakers
7. 100GB HDD (4200 RPM)
8. Double Layer DVD reWriter
9. Built-in 802.11g broadcom Wi-Fi Wireless LAN Adapter
10. 1 year standard warranty.
+ 6-in-1 Digital Media Manager
+ 56K V.92 Fax Modem
++ Ports - 10/100 Ethernet, 4 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video, Microphone In, & Headphone / Audio Out
It would cost 1399 USD.

Now, my qustions are (about 7510gx notebook):
1. What is the 7510gx actual chipset ?
2. How fast will The system bus/Front Side Bus runs ?
Anyone try play HL2, DOOM3 or Farcry at standard spec ?
3. Is there any disturbance when playing the game above by using standard spec (100GB 4200RPM, 1GB DDR, x600 128, 3700+)
4. Does the Wi-Fi also support 802.11b ?
5. What can we upgrade from the current system beside memory or HDD ?

Well, my budget is only 1500 $. R4000 offers a nice deal. I can even have 2 years warranty, bag and an additional mouse (if i want to).
I'm gonna use it in Indonesia for at least a year and i plan to use it for maybe 3-4 years.

(next questions about 7510gx)
6. Will it be able to survive 3-4 years later (rather than R4000?) ?
7. Is the casing solid and strong (compared with R4000) ?
8. Will it be ok to go 3-4 years without extended warranty ?
9. Do you guys have any trouble/problem/cons about 7510gx so far ?
10. What do you suggest for me to do (with 1500 $ budget) ?


I have some benchmark scores from other thread about the zv6000/R4000 system.
(not my spec)
15.4 in glossy brightview widescreen
Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0Ghz, 512kb cache) Socket 939 .13um NewCastle
chipset: Radeon RS480, southbridge: SB400, HP motherboard model 3085
ATI xpress 200m 128Mb dedicated graphics
1Gb (512x2) Nanya DDR pc2700 cl 2.5 ram
80Gb 5400rpm Seagate Momentus
DVD/CDRW combo drive
Broadcom wireless b/g with bluetooth
HP standard 1 year warranty

Everest tests:
Mem read: 2514 MB/s
Mem write: 1049 MB/s
Latency: 37.5 ns

Of these, the top 2 showed up in the middle of the built-in examples, below most of the dual channel and pc3200; The latency was the top scorer of all systems.

CPU-Z says:
Memory channels: single

PCMARK04: 3455 pcmarks

3DMARK05:
673 3dmarks
CPU score: 3414

3DMARK03:
1435 3dmarks
CPU score: 700
Fill Rate (Single-texturing): 349.8 MTexels/s
Fill Rate (Multi-texturing): 599.1 MTexels/s
Vertex Shader: 3.7 fps
Pixel Shader 2.0: 13.8 fps
Ragtroll: 7.0fps

3DMARK2001 SE:
5431 3dmarks
Fill Rate (Single-texturing): 402.0 MTexels/s
Fill Rate (Multi-texturing): 603.1 MTexels/s
High Polygon Count (1 light): 10.0 MTriangles/s
High Polygon Count (8 lights): 4.9 MTriangles/s
Environment Bump Mapping: 115.5 fps
DOT3 Bump Mapping: 47.6 fps
Vertex Shader: 68.3 fps
Pixel Shader: 69.5 fps
Advanced Pixel Shader: 43.6 fps
Point Sprites: 8.5 MSprites/s

AquaMark 3:
Score: 12,425
GFX: 1332
CPU: 9106

SANDRA:
CPU Arithmetic:
Drystone ALU: 9138 MIPS
Whetstone FPU: 3146 MFLOPS
Whetstone iSSE2: 4072 MFLOPS
CPU Multimedia:
Integer x4 aEMMX/aSSE: 18985 it/s
Float x4 iSSE2: 20420 it/s
File System Benchmark:
Drive Index: 34 MB/s
Buffered Read: 29 MB/s
Sequential Read: 38 MB/s
Random Read: 28 MB/s
Buffered Write: 81 MB/s
Sequential Write: 38 MB/s
Random Write: 27 MB/s
Average Access Time: 10 ms
Memory Bandwidth Benchmarks:
Ram Bandwidth Int Buffered iSSE2: 2504 MB/s
RAM Bandwidth Float Buffered iSSE2: 2495 MB/s
memory shown as 2.5-3-3-3 1 CMD
Cache & Memory Benchmarks:
Combined Index: 4225 MB/s


Any comparison ?


Sorry for asking so many questions.
I'll be waiting for your reply.

 

Hendrys

I had the compaq 4000 and took it back to best buy and got the gateway 7510gx. A few things to note about the r4000:

Since the 939 socket is not running dual channel, the processors are not as good as they are listed. A amd 4000+ on the 939 socket without dual channel will run about as good as a 3600+ on a 754 socket (the gateway would then have the advantage on processor there).

The graphics card on the r4000 blows. It will run HL2 somewhat, but good luck getting doom 3 to run. However the gateway has the x600, which is a much better card. If you noticed the benchmarks on the r4000 they listed about 700 marks in 3dmark05...i got 1668 with the gateway...more then double. Much better card in the gateway...it also has 256mb memory, instead of 128...its a misprint everywhere. (gateway wins on GPU as well)

the memory in both systems is the same...sort of. The gateway can use 1.5 gb and the compaq can use 2gb. However the compaq is VERY PICKY when choosing ram, so you may have to try a few time before getting a stick that actually works.

They both use the LG GCA 4080N dvd burner (assuming you don't go with the lightscribe on the compaq...which takes over half an hour to etch an image anyway)

They both use the same chipset...that being that ATI RX480

The Compaq has a 12 cell battery, the Gateway has an 8 cell. However the Gateway is usuing a true "mobile" processor while the compaq is using the same kind that would go into a desktop (not as power efficiant). You'll still get more battery life out of the compaq though. You can always buy bigger or more batteries for both though.

The only thing you're not getting in the gateway is bluetooth (which you can just get a usb bluetooth thingy) and the 5400 rpm hard drive. The 4200 rpm in the gateway is pretty efficiant...but if you need the speed just buy a faster one from newegg or something and sell off your old 100gb hard drive. Also, the speakers dont' sound as nice in the gateway...but the compaq doesn't even use harmon kardon anymore either...they use altec lansing. The speakers in the gateway are still pretty good for a notebook though.

I would definately recomend the gateway over the compaq. They both seem to have the same durability to me and both keep about the same temps. The gateway just has better components inside. Also, careful...HP is laying off 15,000 workers...so possibility of thier customer service being any worse then it already is...and believe me...its pretty aweful. If more questions arise...just post em...I check the forum pretty regularly.

 

Hands down the 7510gx! Zero competition basicly. The 7510gx is one of the most complete retail notebooks yet. The X600 128MB (256MB w/ hypermem) will perform alot better in new games. The CPU is the Mobile A64 3700+ which means lower watt and E stepping that has SSE3 instructions among other improvements. You just get so much more with the 7510gx for the price. I think if more people would know about the 7510gx they would simply not get the ZV6000 or R4000 from HP / Compaq. Oh, and 3DMarks scores will easily be more than twice of what you can get out of a R4000 and then some... :gateway:

BTW, no matter what notebook you get, if you are going to keep it for 3 or more years, always get an extended warranty. I think both Gateway and BestBuy offers extended warranties. I would get 3 years if I plan to keep it 3-4 years.

 

Gee, thanks alot guys.
I never thought that there would be replies this quick.

Actually, i'm an indonesian cute white boy .
I'm planning to go for college in US next year.
So, i'm gonna have the notebook delivered.
Laptop sellers here (indo) earn so much profit. Too much, i think.

(Umm, if i may ask another)
How about both monitor quality ?
It's wireless connectivity (both) ?
Even design. How good are they ?

 

As an owner of a Gateway, not a Compaq, I can't really tell you about these in comparison to eachother, but I will say that the Screen and Wireless card on the Gateway are rather good. When looking for a notebook at BestBuy, I looked at a compaq, which I believe was an R4000, or something similar (15.4 screen), and the Gateway 7426GX. The first thing that I did with the Compaq (besides look at it), and I dont know why, I tested the flexibility of the screen. It was rather flexible compared to the Gateway. That and the beautiful, and vibrant colors (in my eye atleast) sold me the Gateway as far as screen. The wireless card wasn't my first concern, as long as the notebook came with it, so I can only tell you that it is Broadcom, and I feel Gateway made a good decision on that part as well. Maybe the Compaq has Broadcom too, I wouldn't know. As for the build of the Gateway, it is a very sturdy notebook, atleast untill you get to the hinge issue. I am certain that you have read a little about this in the eMachines forum (isn't it like 10 pages?), so be aware of that. My hinges (3 months old) are starting to lose tension, which I am still not certain if it is a sure sign of cracking, but I plan to have Bestbuy fix them anyways. If it weren't for my hinges, I would be nearly 99% happy with the Gateway. I feel anyone, except people who absolutely need 2-4gb of ram and a top-of-the-line graphics card, would be very satisfied with this notebook.

So if you haven't made your decision yet, tally up the points, and you would find that the Gateway is a better buy. Still, play around with each notebook, and find what one fits you best. You will know with some quality time

 

The screen is gorgeous, no questions asked. I edit video on it. It shows me how bad my DV is. Looks mighty fine gaming, too.

The wireless leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The range on it is really kind of crappy and is a far cry from the range you typically get with Intel's wireless. It does work and I've found it to be pretty stable, but the range leaves something to be desired.

For what it's worth, I don't think the Compaq's range would be any better and would actually probably be worse.

In my experience, I've found the build quality of Compaq notebooks to be very poor. I don't think the Gateway 7510GX is the sturdiest thing in the world, but I feel pretty confident and safe with it.

 

I did unscientific testing, actually, I wouldn't even call it testing. My room is far enough from the router to recieve a "low" signal from my computer, when my brother is in there with his dell, he seems to have a lower connection than I, usually being "very low." But I may be wrong. We didn't monitor the connection at all times anyways. It is just a rough guess of mine