Gateway 832GM

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CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
Detailed editors' rating

Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews
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Product summary

The good: BTX chassis for cool, quiet operation; affordable; 64-bit Pentium 4 630 processor is a strong performer; easy to set up and operate.

The bad The bad: Fixed configuration; warranty upgrades provided by retailer; fuzzy TV playback.

The bottom line: If you don't mind the one-size-fits-all retail approach, you can save a nice chunk of change with the Gateway 832GM from your local computer superstore.

Specifications: Processor: Intel Pentium 4 630 (3 GHz); RAM installed: 1 GB DDR SDRAM; Hard drive: 250 GB Standard; See full specs

See all products in the Gateway 800 series GM Media Center series

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Asa Somers
Edited by: Rich Brown
Reviewed on: 06/03/2005
Released on: 04/11/2005

Buying your computer from a retail store often means you can't configure it with all the perfect options, but in the case of the $1,300 fixed-configuration Gateway 832GM, you can find yourself with quite a deal. A Media Center PC, the 832GM makes an excellent, affordable choice for those who want a home-entertainment PC. If you were to configure a 9310-series system on Gateway's Web site with the exact same components and display (you can purchase the 832GM only in stores), you'd spend close to $300 more.

The 832GM comes in Gateway's new BTX case, which we recently saw in the high-end 9310XL. A BTX chassis provides cool, whisper-quiet operation, which particularly benefits Media Center PCs such as the 832GM (who wants to watch a TV or a movie over the hum of a PC?). Gateway also employs its traditional black-and-silver color scheme in the 832GM, extending it across all of the included peripherals as well, which is always appreciated. On the front side of the case, you'll find a double-layer DVD burner, a fast CD-ROM drive, and an 8-in-1 flash reader, along with a single USB 2.0 jack and dual FireWire ports. Around back sit plenty of connectors, including five more USB 2.0 inputs and five surround-sound jacks linked to the motherboard's integrated Intel audio chip.

Inside, you'll find the new 64-bit 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 630 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR TV tuner card. There's also enough room for an upgrade or three, thanks to a pair of free memory slots, two free hard drive slots, and empty PCI-Express x16 and standard PCI slots.

Because the Gateway 832GM features Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition OS, you get channel-guide and TV-recording functionality. Setting up the signal for the first time and creating a schedule of recordings is very easy to do, although the 832GM can't decipher an encrypted cable television signal (an issue common to all current media PCs). So for many of you, the channel guide and the DVR features will be largely useless. With a DirecTV satellite signal pumped in, the TV picture also looked grainy and unfocused, as is common to virtually all Media Center PCs. Conversely, DVD playback, which has nothing to do with the tuner card, looked smooth and sharp. The same went for the included 17-inch Gateway FPD1760 LCD in general. The screen looked great during all other tasks (and also comes with easy-to-use side-mounted picture controls).

The Gateway 832GM's performance on our benchmark tests was solid for a Media Center PC. With the help of its 3.0GHz Pentium 4 630 CPU and 512MB of system memory, the 832GM finished second out of five media PCs in our SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation test, coming behind only the Sony VAIO RB38G and its 3.4GHz P4 550. General media tasks such as watching TV and movies and listening to music aren't that demanding, but it's helpful to know that the 832GM can work well as a day-to-day computer when called upon to do so.

The 832GM is a lackluster gaming machine, unfortunately, but it's not beyond saving. Relying on integrated Intel Graphic Accelerator 900 graphics, the 832GM's Unreal Tournament 2003 scores are playable at 52.9 frames per second (fps) on CNET Labs' 1,024x768 resolution test, but it wouldn't finish even our low-end Half-Life 2 test. Thankfully, you can always slap a dedicated graphics card into the free PCI-Express x16 slot if you've got gaming in mind.

See more CNET content tagged:: Gateway Inc.,; Media Center PC,; Intel Pentium 4,; PCI Express,; TV

User reviews

Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews
My rating: 0 stars Write review

Showing 3 of 4 user reviewsSee all 4 user reviews
4.5 stars

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

"Great PC needs a couple upgrades"

by StickyLickyIcky on June 21, 2005

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3.5 stars

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

"Patches a must"

by fzy8gc on July 11, 2005

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4.0 stars

"Pretty good- once you get a good gpu"

by AW_3_3 on March 23, 2007

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Gateway 832GM

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Reviews from around the Web

pcmag.com

Editors' rating: 60

Summary: The Gateway 832GM is worth a look if you're seeking an affordable, entry-level Media Center, as long as you don't mind it coming in the shape of a desktop. More advanced users may be attracted to its upgrade potential.

Read full review