Gateway FX530: Mad Cows and Quad Core Overclocking
by Jarred Walton on February 9, 2007 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Test Setup
As we tried to determine what sort of systems we should include in our FX530 comparison, the logical choice became the various quad core systems tested in our AMD Quad FX article. That will allow us to compare results of the overclocked QX6700 with a base configuration, and we also get to look at how the current AMD quad core (dual socket) solution stacks up. Needless to say, given that QX6700 was already faster in almost every benchmark, the results aren't going to be too favorable towards AMD right now. The fact that a major OEM is willing to release an overclocked QX6700 system, however, is a testament to the excellent design of Intel's Core 2 architecture. The overclocked QX6700 definitely consumes a lot of power compared to many of the Core 2 Duo solutions, but the truth is that it's really not that much more power-hungry than many of the faster Pentium D offerings.
We will be running most of the benchmarks used in the AMD Quad FX article, although we will have to omit the Blu-ray plus video encoding multitasking benchmarks as we did not have a Blu-ray drive on hand for this review. What we're primarily interested in determining is how much of a performance increase we get with the 20% overclock, given that we're also running slightly slower memory than in previous tests. We expect to see an average performance improvement of around 15% in solutions that are CPU limited. We will also include a few additional synthetic benchmarks to further investigate the FX530's performance. In a few instances, we will also provide results from previously tested systems for comparison.
The system we tested was initially shipped with Windows XP MCE 2005 installed, but recently Vista officially became available. Right now, the choice to get XP MCE is still there, but in the near future the FX530 will likely become a Vista-only solution. Those looking to move to the new OS will not have a problem with this, though we're still not ready to make the switch on most of our PCs. Vista has its good points, but the driver situation still needs work. If you choose to get XP installed, a free upgrade to Vista is currently available. That is set to end in March, after which customers might be forced to get Vista. Most people are eventually going to move to Vista, but waiting for things to settle down a bit more certainly won't hurt.
As we tried to determine what sort of systems we should include in our FX530 comparison, the logical choice became the various quad core systems tested in our AMD Quad FX article. That will allow us to compare results of the overclocked QX6700 with a base configuration, and we also get to look at how the current AMD quad core (dual socket) solution stacks up. Needless to say, given that QX6700 was already faster in almost every benchmark, the results aren't going to be too favorable towards AMD right now. The fact that a major OEM is willing to release an overclocked QX6700 system, however, is a testament to the excellent design of Intel's Core 2 architecture. The overclocked QX6700 definitely consumes a lot of power compared to many of the Core 2 Duo solutions, but the truth is that it's really not that much more power-hungry than many of the faster Pentium D offerings.
| Gateway FX530XT | |
| Motherboard: | Intel BTX 975X (custom) |
| Processor: | Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Overclocked (12x266MHz 3.20 GHz 2x4MB shared L2 cache) |
| Heatsink/Cooling: | Custom BTX CPU HSF with dual 120mm fans at front and rear of case |
| RAM: | 2x1024MB Hynix DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 |
| Graphics: | ATI Radeon X1950 XTX CrossFire with ATI Radeon X1950 XTX EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX |
| Hard Drives: | 2x150GB Western Digital Raptor 16MB 10000 RPM in RAID 0 |
| Optical Drives: | HL Data Storage GSA-H11N 16X DVD+RW Lite-On SOHC-4836V 16X DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo |
| Audio: | Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi |
| TV Tuner: | ATI Theater 550 |
| Power Supply: | 700W Delta Electronics |
| Operating System: | Windows Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b |
We will be running most of the benchmarks used in the AMD Quad FX article, although we will have to omit the Blu-ray plus video encoding multitasking benchmarks as we did not have a Blu-ray drive on hand for this review. What we're primarily interested in determining is how much of a performance increase we get with the 20% overclock, given that we're also running slightly slower memory than in previous tests. We expect to see an average performance improvement of around 15% in solutions that are CPU limited. We will also include a few additional synthetic benchmarks to further investigate the FX530's performance. In a few instances, we will also provide results from previously tested systems for comparison.
The system we tested was initially shipped with Windows XP MCE 2005 installed, but recently Vista officially became available. Right now, the choice to get XP MCE is still there, but in the near future the FX530 will likely become a Vista-only solution. Those looking to move to the new OS will not have a problem with this, though we're still not ready to make the switch on most of our PCs. Vista has its good points, but the driver situation still needs work. If you choose to get XP installed, a free upgrade to Vista is currently available. That is set to end in March, after which customers might be forced to get Vista. Most people are eventually going to move to Vista, but waiting for things to settle down a bit more certainly won't hurt.
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Tuvoc - Saturday, February 17, 2007 - link
Thanks for that.Presumably there was no evidence of throttling while you were testing ? I'm surprised at 1.45v on air at 3.2 that it stayed cool enough. Maybe the BTX case design helps a lot
I have an Intel Quad Core on an ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i which you've reviewed. With vcore on auto (which os presumably the default 1.35v), CPU-Z reports as low as 1.20v under full load, from a starting value of about 1.28 (vdroop on this board is a little higher than normal as you found in your review). But the difference between the Gateway 1.45v BIOS setting and the CPU-Z figure of 1.238v is extreme...
Now if only I could get a proper coretemp program to monitor temps under Vista x64..... (I mean proper core temps, not ASUS Probe temps..)
PrinceGaz - Saturday, February 10, 2007 - link
I know it is already overclocked to 3.2GHz, but it would have been nice if you reported the core-temperatures and found out how much further it would overclock. Assuming of course the options were available in the BIOS for further overclocking and over-volting.anandtech02148 - Saturday, February 10, 2007 - link
Lianli Case would be luxury and modular. you can take out parts just so to fit a 8800gtx.$4000 to spend, there's a riches that this Gateway can only show with a quad cpu. no fancy rams or mobos.
Genx87 - Friday, February 9, 2007 - link
Yup that's a Gateway. I hate their cases btw.bamacre - Saturday, February 10, 2007 - link
Yeah, me too. I think as far as OEM's, Dell has the best cases, hands down.Vidmar - Friday, February 9, 2007 - link
One thing I didn't see mentioned in your article is that all Gateways are now being built (assembled) in the USA. Also all Gateway support is located in the USA as well. I think these two points are major pluses for that company.Vidmar - Friday, February 9, 2007 - link
Ahh now I do see a bit on the support "Finally, Gateway also makes a point that they now offer 100% North America based phone support, so that should generally keep the communication barrier down to a minimum".Thanks!
Crassus - Friday, February 9, 2007 - link
Revisiting the AMD Quad FX-74 power draw under load:When I looked at those numbers, suddenly a scene from one of the Harry Potter movies popped up in my mind. It's Harry waving his wand at something shouting "Ridiculous". In this case, it's a FX-74.
For the record: I run a X2 and am pretty happy with it, and I'm not going to swap it out anytime soon.
shortylickens - Friday, February 9, 2007 - link
This baby uses my companies memory.Operandi - Friday, February 9, 2007 - link
For $4,000 that is pretty blah looking box compared to an XPS or a Lian Li for your custom build.Also in regards to the PSU. Delta make very high quality units, much better then 90% of the "enthusiasts" class PSUs at any rate.