Month: March 2007

This Gateway® GT5404 Desktop is the first Vista PC’s I worked on shortly after Windows Vista was released.

Specifications
Processor: Intel® Pentium® D Processor 915 dual-core 64-bit processor with Intel® EM64T Technology
(2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2 x 2MB L2 cache)
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Chipset: Intel® 945G DH Chipset(Viiv™)
Memory: 1024MB dual-channel DDR2 Memory (2 x 512MB), 533MHz (PC4200). Expandable to 2GB (2x2048MB) 667MHz (PC5300)
Video: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 224MB Shared Video Memory – VGA port
Audio: 6-Channel (5.1) High-Definition Audio
Hard Drive: 250GB SATA II (7200rpm, 8MB cache)
Optical Drives: 16x multiformat dual-layer DVD±RW drive
15-in-1 Digital Media Manager™ (Memory Card Reader)
56K ITU V.92 ready fax/modem (RJ-11 port)
Intel® 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
6 USB 2.0 Ports (2 in front, 4 in back)
1 Parallel Port, 1 Serial Port
2 PS/2 Ports (Keyboard and Mouse)
3 Audio: Front/Headphone (Stereo), Microphone, Line-in/Side (Stereo)
1 PCI-E x16, 1 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI

Out of the box, Gateway GT5404 Desktop is somewhat an adequate performer. The Intel Pentium D Processor 915 dual-core is powerful enough, but some may prefer Intel Core 2 Duo processors. It comes with 1GB of RAM (2x512MB) and an integrated Intel GMA 950 with up to 224MB shared video memory. That leaves 800MB of RAM to the system. Booting Windows Vista on this PC is a little bit painful. Right of the bat Windows Vista is using 700MB-900MB of RAM and settles around 500MB.
To increase the performance of this computer, consider upgrading the Memory to at least 2GB and/or installing a decent PCI-E Video Card with minimum of dedicated 128MB of video RAM.

This computer comes with an optical mouse and a USB-powered stereo speaker. The mouse is nice enough to use. The speaker lacks low frequency and sounds terrible when it comes to music.

Considering the specifications, it should be a relatively powerful computer with the exception with the integrated graphic card. Windows Vista feels a lot sluggish on this computer. Consider turning of the Sidebar to free up some resources. The graphic adapter is having trouble driving larger LCD flat panel. I tested it using Gateway 22″ LCD, Gateway 19″ LCD, and Samsung SyncMaster 940MW. At the LCD’s native and optimized resolutions, the display looks terrible. All three LCD flat panel looks blurry using the integrated Intel Graphics. I installed a PCI-Express based nVidia GeForce 7100GS with dedicated 128MB video RAM and DVI connector. After that the display look flawless. I replaced the 2x512MB PC4200 with 2x1GB PC5300 and Windows Vista runch a lot smoother.

I decided to downgrade the Operating System to Windows XP Pro. The device drivers for Windows XP are relatively easy to find on Gateway and Intel support site. Windows XP Pro runs great on this machine, with the exception on the integrated Intel Graphics. Once again, the display looks terrible when it’s connected to the built-in video card (VGA). With the nVidia GeForce 7100GS, the display once again looks flawless.

One complaint from user of this computer is the position of the ON/OFF switch. It is located on the top right of the front panel above the optical drive. The ON/OFF swith is often mistaken for the optical drive eject button. Gateway GT5408 Desktop does have the same design with this GT5404 model.

Overall, Gateway GT5404 Desktop is a good machine with the exception with the integrated graphic adapter. I’d recommend installing a PCI-Express video card to boost the performance. If you are sticking with Windows Vista, having 2GB of RAM will help a lot.

More pictures will be added soon.