Gateway FX laptop Series Thread *mods and upgrades*

[shifty22123]

This thread is dedicated to all gateway FX series laptop owners for support and also a few tips and tricks as we get them.

Base Specs:

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450/ T7250/ T8300/ X7900
3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
250GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 8MB cache2
17.0" Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1440 x 900 - 1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
FX Design with Copper Core Accent
Intel® PM965 Chipset and NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash™ Technology3
Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam

MSRP: $1250 - $2999 (Prices may differ from stores and online retailers)

Reviews:

Review 1

Drivers:

P-6831

P-171S FX

P-171X FX

P-171XL FX

Video Card Drivers

Non-Gateway Drivers


Tips & Tricks:

Reassigning the Hot-Keys

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlMo bilePCHotStartButtons1]
"ApplicationPath"=""C:Program FilesWindows Media Playerwmplayer.exe""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlMo bilePCHotStartButtons2]
"ApplicationPath"=""C:Program FilesWindows Media Playerwmplayer.exe""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlMo bilePCHotStartButtons3]
"ApplicationPath"=""C:Program FilesCyberLinkPowerDVDPowerDVD.exe""

Overclocking the GPU:

Use Ntune to overclock


Overclocking the CPU:

Not possible unless you have a Intel Extreme Chip


Upgrade guide

Guide 1

Guide 2

Gateway User guides


CPU replacement

Guide


Hardware Upgrade options:

CPU option: Any socket P mobile cpu will work. (Will list all members setup to the bottom)

Ram options: Any DDR2 667mhz will work. I recommend getting a second 2GB stick.

Hard Drive option: Going raid with the OEM hard drive you will need something like the stock Western Digital ( Serial ATA 150 8MB cache) . For the best performance I recommend 2 x 200GB 7200rpm 16mb Serial ATA 300 drives.

Performance per drive

Single 250GB 5400rpm Drive

Single 200GB 7200rpm Drive

Dual 250GB 5400rpm Drives in Raid0


Members Setups:

1.) Johnksss: Gateway P-6860 FX / 1 x 320GB + 1 x 160GB / 4GB 667mhz ram / X9000 @ 3ghz / 8800m GTS / Vista X86 - 3Dmark06 = 11017

2.) Shifty22123: Gateway P-6831FX/ 400GB 7200rpm Raid0/ 2 x 2GB 667mhz ram/ Intel C2D X7800 @ 3ghz/ 8800m GTS 512 @ (618/920) / Vista X64 - 3Dmark06 = 9896

3.) SnowSurfer: Gateway P-6831FX/ 500GB 5400rpm Raid0/ 2x 2GB 667mhz ram/ Intel C2D T9300 @ 2.5ghz/ 8800m GTS 512 @ (620/920) / Vista X86 - 3Dmark06 = 9810

4.) Emmanuel: Gateway P-6860 / 200GB Seagate Momentus / 2 x 2GB 667mhz ram / Intel C2D T9300 @ 2.5ghz / Geforce 8800m GTS 512 @ (600/900) / Vista X86 - 3Dmark06 = 9646

5.) BxAlbo1: Gateway P-6831FX/ 250GB 5400rpm/ 3GB 667mhz ram/ T5450 @ 1.66ghz/ 8800m GTS/ Vista X86 - 3Dmark06 = 7288

6.) Xecuter2: Gateway P-6831FX/ 500GB 5400rpm Raid0/2 x 2GB 667mhz ram/ T9300 @ 2.5ghz/ 8800m GTS/ Vista X64

7.) FallenFaux: Gateway P-171X FX / 240GB 7200rpm Raid0/ 2 x 2GB 667mhz ram/ T8300 @ 2.4ghz/ 8800m GTS/ Vista X64

8.) Cometman: Gateway P-6831FX / 250GB 5400rpm/ 3GB 667mhz ram/ T5550 @ 1.86ghz/ 8800m GTS / Vista X86

[shifty22123]

Hope this will help a few people out. If you have this laptop. Post your specs and I'll add it to the thread

[sohail99]

Wow!!! Awesome thread!! lappy looks awesome too!!

Gateway is truly honoured!!

You should put a link to this thread in ur sig!!

Maybe someday, I'll be on the Member Setups list too!!!

Rep + for such an awesome thread!!

[shifty22123]

Will do..Just ran 3Dmark 06 and got 9500

[sohail99]

Wow, wow, wow!!!

what else can i say!!!

[Suigi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 965xM chipsets are limited by hardware to DDR2-667.
I don't think a BIOS upgrade would unlock DDR2-800.
That being said...ENVY.

[shifty22123]

May be. It's one of the latest motherboards released by Intel and has 800mhz fsb support. I just read about it on another forum where a crucial rep made the comment about the bios update

[BxAlbo1]

What types of raid are possible in this laptop?

I heard it's software RAID, and it supports 0, 1, and a combination of both.

Also, if i were to put 4gb of ram in here, and i stuck with the 32bit os for now, would i see any improvement even though windows doesnt address all 4gb?

[shifty22123]

Originally Posted by BxAlbo1

What types of raid are possible in this laptop?

I heard it's software RAID, and it supports 0, 1, and a combination of both.

Also, if i were to put 4gb of ram in here, and i stuck with the 32bit os for now, would i see any improvement even though windows doesnt address all 4gb?

The raid is Intel Matrix raid which is a hardware rad with both Raid 0 and 1

When I upgraded to 4GB my vista rating went from 4.6 to 5.0 in Vista X86

[sohail99]

Hey man!! can u include this in the thread! -
http://www.overclock.net/laptops-not...ml#post3384865

^Found this awesome guide yesterday!!!

Also about the DDR2 800MHz RAM support!! -
http://www.overclock.net/laptops-not...ml#post3384805

Add a little color to the headings!!(will look nice!)

Thanks