Gateway today announced the industry’s first “BTX” computer, a new PC design
that delivers significant advancements in cooling and noise reduction.
The new PC — the Gateway(R) 700GR — will be available this weekend at
leading electronics and technology retailers throughout North America.
Employing the latest in PC technology, the Gateway 700GR is designed on
Intel’s highly anticipated BTX architecture, which aligns key components in a
central wind tunnel. Optimizing this BTX architecture, Gateway designed an
efficient and more reliable cooling system. As a result, the PC stays cool
and can handle high-speed processors as well as the fastest and most power-
consuming graphics cards, add-in cards and hard drives available today and in
the future.
Gateway’s BTX platform is cooled with two large fans that are positioned
to provide up to three times the airflow of a traditional PC. Thanks to the
sophisticated cooling design, the Gateway 700GR can easily handle the latest
technology without overheating, making it the ideal PC for gaming, graphics,
digital media and other power-hungry applications. The design more effectively
cools internal components, such as the processor, chipset and graphics card,
thereby extending the system’s life expectancy and increasing overall
reliability.
Because of their large size, the fans can spin at 40 percent slower
speeds, which means users will enjoy whisper-quiet operation suitable for any
room in the home. A quieter PC lets gamers, digital video editors and any
other PC user focus on the task at hand, instead of on the distracting PC
noise. Also, system reliability is further increased, since the fans run at
slower speeds.
“Right now, the hottest PC trends — namely gaming and digital media
hobbies — are the ones that require the most power to enjoy and create the
most heat inside the PC,” said Ed Fisher, Gateway’s senior vice president of
product planning. “Our new 700GR combats this issue with a significant step
forward in PC design. The quiet and cool operation, combined with all the
latest technology, will result in unsurpassed performance and consistently
reliable operation.”
“Customers will want to look into systems based on the new BTX
motherboards,” said Roger Kay, vice president of client computing at IDC.
“The BTX is designed for better airflow over the hottest parts, including the
processor, memory, graphics accelerator and core logic. Tomorrow’s ever
higher performing components will generate even more heat, potentially
requiring increasingly noisy ventilation fans. With a BTX board, systems can
be cooled with fewer, larger, slower — therefore quieter — fans. A cooler
chassis results in greater reliability at a given performance level. And the
BTX motherboard can support future generations of graphics and other add-in
cards, an investment protection benefit.”
Gateway has been expanding its line up of PCs for sale through technology
and electronics retailers. In recent weeks, Gateway has announced several
relationships with the leading retailers as part of the company’s strategy to
make its PCs available to more customers beyond Gateway’s popular direct
channels.
Latest, Fastest Technology Complements Cool, Quiet Design
The Gateway 700GR incorporates the latest technology features, beginning
with the Intel(R) 915G chipset, which provides improved multimedia performance
to support the hottest game titles. The dedicated ATI RADEON X300SE PCI-
Express 128MB graphics card takes advantage of PCI Express technology in the
Intel 915G chipset to provide the most realistic gaming images, as well as
enhanced digital media performance and graphics playback.
The Intel 915G also features Intel High Definition Audio technology, so
the Gateway 700GR delivers high fidelity sound quality for a true home theater
experience. Additionally, the new Intel technology provides support for next-
generation serial ATA hard drives.
The Gateway 700GR is ready to store and access the latest games and
digital media with a massive 250GB(2) 7200RPM serial ATA hard drive with an
8MB cache that provides additional buffering when accessing quick-changing
graphics and video. The 8-in-1 media card reader provides easy access to
digital media by directly accessing the most popular media cards used in
digital devices such as digital cameras and camcorders.
The system boasts an 8X DVD+/-RW multi-format drive that uses new double-
layer DVD technology to give home movie enthusiasts more room for their
digital video. The double-layer drive can burn up to 8.4GB of data on double-
layer DVD media — nearly twice the capacity of single-layer media at 4.7GB.
As a result, a four-hour MPEG-2 movie would now fit on a single DVD.
Other premium features take the new PC to the pinnacle of performance. The
new 700GR delivers the ultimate in speed and responsiveness with an Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 550 processor with Hyper Threading technology(1) as well as
1GB(2) of DDR dual channel memory, expandable to 2GB. Also, the system
features the latest in networking technology — integrated Gigabit
(10/100/1000) Ethernet — to ensure a fast connection to a network for a LAN
party or online gaming. The PC also comes with a 56K v.92 modem.
The new Gateway 700GR is a great deal at a manufacturer’s suggested retail
price of $1,199.99. Beginning this weekend, it will be available at leading
electronics and technology retailers. The PC comes standard with Microsoft(R)
Windows(R) XP Home Edition.
Gateway’s commitment to quality and reliability is evident in its award-
winning line of PCs as well as in its top-notch service and support programs.
The company’s extensive online support center helps customers maximize their
PC investment; it gives them easy access to customer support representatives
and information on important issues such as warranties, technical issues and
upgrading. Like other Gateway PCs, the Gateway 700GR is supported by the
company’s standard limited warranty options.(3) Additional service and support
options are also available.
