Gateway Delivers ‘BTX’ Desktop System

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 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 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 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  Pentium(R) 4 550 processor with Hyper Threading technology 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  Windows 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. Additional service and support options are also available.