PCWorld: Gateway FX6831-03 – The Heart and Soul of a Performance PC
In a recent comparison of high-performance desktop PCs, PCWorld was particularly impressed by this hot model from Gateway, powered by Intel’s Core i7-860 processor running at 2.8GHz.
“The Gateway FX6831-03 is in many ways a match for one of the power PC category’s best price-for-performance systems, the Micro Express MicroFlex 95B. But while the systems share similar performance characteristics, the FX6831-03 surpasses the 95B in features and extras. Though this PC packed with awesome add-ons might not top the charts, you won’t find a better value for the $1699 (as of March 1, 2010) cost.
The FX6831-03’s Intel Core i7-860 processor runs at 2.8GHz, a little below the speed of the MicroFlex 95B’s 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-950 CPU. Even so, Gateway’s machine was able to deliver comparable performance on our WorldBench 6 suite, earning a score of 142 (close to the 95B’s mark of 148). That result is thanks in part to the FX6831-03’s memory configuration: The Gateway PC’s 16GB of DDR3-1333 memory–no, that’s not a typo–is the largest amount we’ve seen on any system gracing our charts. We have to ask, however, what typical PC activities actually benefit from 16GB of RAM. Would a reduction in price and a switch to 8GB have been a better choice?”