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Higher-end Gateway FX desktops get Sandy Bridge bump

Gateway updates its performance-oriented FX desktops to Intel's new Sandy Bridge Core i7 chip.

Rich Brown Former Senior Editorial Director - Home and Wellness
Rich was the editorial lead for CNET's Home and Wellness sections, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Before moving to Louisville in 2013, Rich ran CNET's desktop computer review section for 10 years in New York City. He has worked as a tech journalist since 1994, covering everything from 3D printing to Z-Wave smart locks.
Expertise Smart home, Windows PCs, cooking (sometimes), woodworking tools (getting there...)
Rich Brown
Gateway

LAS VEGAS--Along with its budget SX slim tower and mainstream DX midtower desktops, Gateway has also added Intel's new Sandy Bridge CPUs to its FX line of performance towers.

The new FX6850-51 gets Intel's new Core i7 2600 chip. This is the non-overclockable version of the 3.4GHz Core i7 2600K we've seen in a few boutique gaming PCs. It also comes with a midrange Nvidia GeForce GT440 graphics card, 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a DVD burner.

As is typical with the FX line, there's a somewhat blurry distinction between it and parent company Acer's Predator line. The Gateway model seems to come out on top here, where it offers Core i7 and a faster graphics card than the new Acer Predator G3600 that comes with a Core i5 2500 Sandy Bridge CPU and a GeForce GT 440 graphics card. How the FX 6850-51 might stack up to whatever Acer has in mind for the step-up Acer Predator G5600 series is another question, but we have no details on updates to that line as yet.