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Gateway FX400XL Evaluation

Gateway's latest swing at the high-performance system industry comes packing the punch of Intel dual-core technology, a 6800 Ultra, and 5.1 surround. Does this system have a glass jaw or is it a contenderNULL

Introduction

Gateway Again

Today we are examining Gateway’s FX400XL system. Our third system review is Gateway's beefed-up cousin to the 9310XL, which we reviewed about two months ago. We hope that the information we provide helps to paint an accurate portrayal of what each particular system is capable of, and what it is meant for. Although we have focused on gaming machines in our first three reviews, we are also looking forward to reviewing Windows Media PCs, laptops, and a wide spectrum of mainstream and enthusiast desktops. Keep in mind that system performance is not the only part of our rubric for these evaluations, as the OEM's performance is also under scrutiny. Our goal is to present you with information that will not only help you to invest in the proper system, but also in the proper company.

A Look Back...

Since we're reviewing another Gateway, and a close cousin at that, we thought it might be appropriate to review some of our gripes, groans, and "good job’s”. You can go directly to the 9310XL summary page here.

We were impressed with the packaging, appearance, and presentation of the components. There was careful, but efficient packaging and we had everything we needed to plug everything in and start rocking within minutes. We weren't terribly impressed with the interface devices, i.e., the keyboard and mouse. We loved the 19" LCD, but we wished it had a resolution of 1600x1200 instead of 1280x1024. It came with a 5.1 surround sound system with the Gateway logo that was an excellent package for the price of the upgrade.

On the inside, we were concerned about the apparent disarray of the cable routing. However, our concerns were swept away when the machine stayed cool and comfortable under even the most strenuous of situations. The BTX form factor kept the machine quiet and non-obtrusive.

Once we booted up, we were displeased with what we saw. We saw a long program list with too many unwanted/unneeded items. We saw BOTH Norton and McAfee installed; we saw an Internet Explorer window riddled with toolbars; finally, we saw drivers that needed updating. After uninstalling and disabling many pre-installed items, we were able to go about our business. A predominant criticism was the absence of a pre-packaged Restore Disk or full copy of the OS. Instead, instructions for creating your own Restore Disk were shipped with the system.

Battlefield 2 proved to be a valuable Litmus test because it allowed us to take notice that both the NVIDIA graphics and chipset drivers were out of date; the chipset driver was nearly a year behind the last released patch. The new NVIDIA drivers were included on the BF2 setup disk, but we had to query technical support to diagnose the problems caused by the outdated chipset driver.

Gaming was a joy on this machine, and all games tested were found to be quite playable at even the highest settings. The monitor limited the testing to 1280x1024, but we tried to compensate for this by turning up the AA and AF levels. Battlefield 2 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory both ask a lot of any system, and we were happy to see that the 9310XL took these demanding games in stride.

More than anything, we were vastly impressed with the stability of this system. Tech support was good for a large OEM, but at the same time, what you would expect from a large OEM? It appeared to be a domestic help desk and had knowledgeable people staffing it. It was clear that we talked to the first line of defense when we contacted Gateway, but the representative had the authority to issue an RMA and knew when he was in over his head. A policy that had us dismayed was the 48-hour on-site response.

Overall, we were very impressed with this system. We felt that it was just was a little short of being a truly exceptional PC that people of various computer expertise levels could enjoy.

A Look Ahead...

Gateway is back and we have been assured that their engineers have taken steps to address some of our concerns with the 9310XL. Not only that, this time we're also treated to a dual-core Pentium D processor @ 3.0Ghz, vs. the 3.4Ghz Pentium 4 that was in the 9310XL. While the FX400XL may take a ding in the benchmarks when it comes to single threaded applications, going dual-core makes for a much more balanced system. So while the majority of the specifications are very close to the 9310XL, let's see if Gateway can take one more step closer to creating a truly exceptional PC.