Gateway GT115 F1 review

Since moving into the UK server market in 2010, Gateway has made it clear that one of its key focuses is SMBs. In this review we take a look at its entry-level GT115 F1, which is also the first server through our doors featuring AMD’s new Opteron 4100 processor.

The GT115 F1 targets remote office deployments and small businesses looking for a low-cost server solution, but with more horsepower than the current crop of microservers. It compares well on price to Dell’s PowerEdge T110, but the processor in the system supplied here gives it a distinct edge over Dell’s entry-level box.

Codenamed Lisbon, the Opteron 4100 family supports single- and dual-socket applications, giving them an advantage over Intel’s single-socket, quad-core Xeon 3400 processors. AMD offers four- and six-core options, with the review system sporting a six-core 2.6GHz Opteron 4180.

The 4100s employ the same chipset as AMD’s 6100 processors, and all models use low-voltage 1,333MHz DDR3 memory. AMD also claims a lower power consumption, which our tests bear out.

The Dell T110 was equipped with a 2.66GHz Xeon X3450, 4GB of memory plus a pair of 250GB SATA drives: in this configuration, it pulled 48W in idle and 145W under heavy load. The GT115 F1 has twice the memory and a couple of 320GB SATA drives, which drew 45W in idle and a lower 133W when pushed hard by SiSoft Sandra.

This server is well built, with the solid metal chassis slightly smaller than the T110. There’s room at the front for two 5.25in devices, with the price including a basic SATA DVD-ROM drive. Two USB ports are located below this, and one side of the orange strip acts as a power switch that’s sensibly recessed to avoid being accidentally pressed. Internally, all is neat and tidy, with easy access afforded to all the main components.

The Opteron processor sits plumb in the centre of the motherboard and is topped off with an active heatsink. Above are four DIMM sockets, which Gateway has filled with 2GB DDR3 modules, making this server look even better value.

The disk drives are located in a cold-swap bay towards the front, and we found them easy enough to remove and insert; good news, because the three-year warranty only covers labour for the first year. Power sockets for the two spare hard disk bays are ready too.