Gateway Selects AMD K6-2 Processors

Desktop PC

SUMMARY

Gateway Select 400 PRO: Good performance, small profile, 17-inch monitor, large hard disk. CON: Little room for expansion, no ISA slots for legacy cards. VALUE: Solid entry-level system from top-tier vendor. $1299 Gateway 800/315-2536 www.gateway.com

Who says you can't teach an old cow new tricks? Gateway has introduced the Select line of PCs, based on AMD K6-2 processors. We tested a shipping version of the Gateway Select 400, an affordable system built around a K6-2-400.

Configured with 64MB of RAM and an integrated ATI 3D Rage Pro Turbo AGP graphics chip with 8MB of video memory, this $1299 midsize tower turned in a PC WorldBench 98 score of 188, one of the best scores we've seen for a system based on this CPU. Performance was on a par with that of similarly configured Celeron-400­based PCs--and just 6 percent slower than the average of costlier Pentium II-400s with 64MB of RAM. Most users won't notice the difference when running standard business applications.

Geared for beginners, the Select 400 also features such well-conceived extras as CD and volume controls and one-touch Internet buttons on the keyboard. The V.90 modem, 13X­32X CD-ROM drive, and Altec Lansing AC100 speakers are typical components for PCs in this price range, but Gateway's 17-inch monitor and 8.4GB hard disk exceed the norms for entry-level systems.

Then again, the small case and tiny motherboard leave little room for expansion. Only two of the three PCI slots are free. Moreover, the system has no ISA slots and just one empty 5.25-inch external bay. For software, you choose between Microsoft's Works office suite or Corel's fuller-featured WordPerfect Office 8, and you get basic versions of Quicken 99 and McAfee antivirus software.

Gateway offers a year of free Internet access via its gateway.net service. But you get just a one-year warranty on parts and labor, plus a year of around-the-clock toll-free tech support for the hardware (90 days for software). A three-year parts and labor warranty costs $199 more. Overall, the Select is a good choice for offices with limited space or for entry-level users who want more performance (say, for 3D games) and a better display than sub-$1000 systems offer.