It seems like only a few months have passed since the earlier Crossfire-equipped FX530XT passed through our lab, but in fact it's been five. The system hasn't changed much visually in that time.

In fact, the new FX530XT uses the same chassis and "OEMD975XBGG1" motherboard as the one we tested in February. The case is available with a few different accent colors, but the only externally-seen physical difference is that our particular configuration has a second (optional) optical drive.

We also took a photo of the new system's power supply, simply to prove that Gateway is sticking to the same high-quality 700 W Delta unit that it had used in the earlier FX530XT version.

So much of the system has remained unchanged that it's most expedient to reference the earlier review for more photos of the case, motherboard, and peripherals. Please pay special attention to the monitor features, as this 24" widescreen display is one of the more valuable parts of the package.

What's Really New?

The biggest change in the new FX530XT's hardware is the EVGA brand GeForce 8800GTX now included in the system's base price. Users still interested in the former Crossfire solution can now custom-order the older graphics configuration at a discount.

The system still uses the Quad-core Intel Core Extreme QX6700, but Gateway now includes a factory-overclocked setting of 3.2 GHz in the base price. This is new territory for Gateway, but at least the firm chose an easy setting: Gateway's technicians simply increased the CPU multiplier from 10x to 12x on its standard 266.7 MHz bus clock (Intel's FSB1066).