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MagyarWalmart Gateway Creator Series 15 Laptop Review: GeForce RTX 2060 For Under $1000 USD
Gateway is Walmart's in-house brand name of laptops not unlike the Motile series or EVOO series. The Gateway Creator 15 is an affordable gaming laptop with its Coffee Lake-H CPU, GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, and 1080p display for just $999 USD. A second SKU with the Ryzen 5 4600H and GTX 1650 is also available for $200 to $300 less.
As we will see in this review, however, the Gateway system cuts a lot of corners in order to reach such a low price point for a gaming laptop. See our review on the Schenker XMG Core 15 for more information on the chassis and its physical features since the Gateway Creator 15 uses an identical Tongfang chassis.
Alternatives to the Gateway Creator 15 include other budget to mid-range 15.6-inch gaming laptops like the Lenovo Legion 5, HP Pavilion Gaming 15, Dell G3 15, or the MSI GL65.
Primary Camera: 0.9 MPix
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 % | 10/2020 | Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK i5-10300H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile | 2 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 82 % | 09/2020 | Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O R7 4800H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile | 2 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84 % | 10/2020 | Aorus 5 KB i7-10750H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile | 2.1 kg | 28 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 81 % | 09/2020 | Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502IU-ES76 R7 4800HS, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q | 2.1 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 82 % | 09/2020 | HP Omen 15-ek0456ng i5-10300H, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile | 2.1 kg | 32 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84 % | 09/2019 | Razer Blade 15 GTX 1660 Ti i7-9750H, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile | 2.1 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 |
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Case
Gateway doesn't design its own laptops from the ground up. Instead, the Gateway Creator 15 uses a white label chassis from Chinese ODM Tongfang. Many resellers use this same design including Eluktronics and Schenker.
In terms of size and weight, the Gateway is slightly smaller than the Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502 while weighing about the same as most other thin 15.6-inch gaming laptops. The Razer Blade 15 is even smaller but of course more expensive.
Connectivity
The dual Mini-DisplayPort ports are the most notable feature here when compared to other laptops. Keep in mind that the rear USB-C port does not support video-out.
SD Card Reader
| SDCardreader Transfer Speed | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Aorus 5 KB (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Aorus 5 KB (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Communication
The Intel AX201 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. We experienced no issues when paired to our Netgear RAX200 test router.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 Client (receive) TCP 1 m 4M x10 | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| Aorus 5 KB | |
| Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502IU-ES76 | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
| Razer Blade 15 GTX 1660 Ti | |
| iperf3 Client (transmit) TCP 1 m 4M x10 | |
| Aorus 5 KB | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502IU-ES76 | |
| Razer Blade 15 GTX 1660 Ti | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
Webcam
Maintenance
The bottom panel comes off easily with just a Philips screwdriver. Unfortunately, owners must break a warranty seal to remove the panel.
Accessories and Warranty
There are no physical extras in the box, but Walmart does throw in a free month of XBox Game Pass for PC users. The standard one-year limited warranty applies.
Input Devices
Keyboard
Describe the keyboard: key size, keyboard layout. Does it clatter/yield under pressure? Characteristics (silver coating, keyboard light,...), haptics, key travel, tapping,...
Display
The Gateway system uses the same BOE NV156FHM-NX1 1080p IPS panel as found on the budget Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i and Legion 5 gaming laptops. While brightness is average for the category, almost everything else is mediocre including contrast ratio, colors, and response times. Even subjectively, it's obvious that this is a cut corner and not a display optimized for games or content creation.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 84 %
Center on Battery: 296.3 cd/m²
Contrast: 780:1 (Black: 0.38 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.56 | 0.6-29.43 Ø5.7, calibrated: 5.34
ΔE Greyscale 4.4 | 0.64-98 Ø5.9
57.6% sRGB (Argyll 3D) 37.3% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 3D)
Gamma: 2.22
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK BOE NV156FHM-NX1, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080 | Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O LM156LF-1F02, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080 | Aorus 5 KB LG Philips LP156WFG-SPB2 (LGD05E8), IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080 | Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502IU-ES76 Panda LM156LF-2F01, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080 | HP Omen 15-ek0456ng LGD05FE, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080 | Razer Blade 15 GTX 1660 Ti BOE NV156FHM-N4K, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 65% | 54% | 7% | 52% | 59% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 38.4 (18.8, 19.6) | 9.6 (5.2, 4.4) 75% | 14.4 (7.6, 6.8) 62% | 24.4 (11.6, 12.8) 36% | 17 (9, 8) 56% | 13.6 (7.2, 6.4) 65% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 20.8 (10.8, 10) | 9.6 (4.4, 5.2) 54% | 11.2 (6.8, 4.4) 46% | 25.6 (15.2, 10.4) -23% | 11 (7, 4) 47% | 10 (6, 4) 52% |
| PWM Frequency | 200 (99) | |||||
| Screen | 29% | 43% | 12% | 42% | 33% | |
| Brightness middle | 296.3 | 312 5% | 318 7% | 255.9 -14% | 314 6% | 312.7 6% |
| Brightness | 284 | 290 2% | 298 5% | 246 -13% | 293 3% | 305 7% |
| Brightness Distribution | 84 | 87 4% | 87 4% | 89 6% | 87 4% | 90 7% |
| Black Level * | 0.38 | 0.2 47% | 0.3 21% | 0.22 42% | 0.22 42% | 0.27 29% |
| Contrast | 780 | 1560 100% | 1060 36% | 1163 49% | 1427 83% | 1158 48% |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 6.56 | 4.84 26% | 2.49 62% | 5.15 21% | 2.51 62% | 4.57 30% |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. * | 21.81 | 13.85 36% | 5.06 77% | 17.11 22% | 4.42 80% | 6.81 69% |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 calibrated * | 5.34 | 1.77 67% | 1.53 71% | 4.83 10% | 1.71 68% | 2.91 46% |
| Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 4.4 | 9 -105% | 1.6 64% | 4.2 5% | 3.26 26% | 4.3 2% |
| Gamma | 2.22 99% | 2.105 105% | 2.211 100% | 2.16 102% | 2.42 91% | 2.29 96% |
| CCT | 6716 97% | 8099 80% | 6714 97% | 7500 87% | 6150 106% | 7098 92% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 37.3 | 68 82% | 65 74% | 36.9 -1% | 59.4 59% | |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 57.6 | 92 60% | 89 55% | 58 1% | 91.3 59% | |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 47% /
35% | 49% /
45% | 10% /
11% | 47% /
43% | 46% /
37% |
* ... smaller is better
Color space is narrow at just 58 percent of sRGB when most other gaming laptops with the RTX 2060 cover at least 90 percent of sRGB.
X-Rite colorimeter measurements reveal decent grayscale and color DeltaE values of 4.4 and 6.56, respectively. These improve just marginally after calibration because of the narrow color space mentioned above. The color blue is represented least accurately of all the primary and secondary colors.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 20.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 10.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 10 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.8 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 28 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (24.3 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 38.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 18.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 19.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.8 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 42 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (38.5 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 51 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 9686 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 142900) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance
A Core i5-10300H comes standard instead of the more common Core i7-10750H in order to keep prices in check. Though Walmart offers a faster Ryzen 5 4600H CPU option, that particular SKU comes only with the slower GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. In other words, opting for the Intel SKU will give you a slower CPU but a faster GPU while the AMD option will you a faster CPU but a slower GPU.
System RAM is just 8 GB of single-channel DDR4-3200 which is expandable up to 32 GB dual-channel.
Processor
CPU performance is where we expect it to be relative to the average Core i5-10300H in our database. Multi-core performance is slower than the Ryzen 5 4600H, Core i7-9750H, and Core i7-10750H since the i5-10300H has fewer cores and threads.
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender 2.79: BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.3: 64 Bit Single-Core Score | 64 Bit Multi-Core Score
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| Geekbench 5.3 / 64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Asus Zephyrus S15 GX502L | |
| Asus Zephyrus M15 GU502L | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Average Intel Core i5-10300H (703 - 1241, n=14) | |
| Schenker XMG Pro 15 | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| MSI Alpha 15 A3DDK-034 | |
| Geekbench 5.3 / 64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Asus Zephyrus S15 GX502L | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Asus Zephyrus M15 GU502L | |
| Schenker XMG Pro 15 | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| Average Intel Core i5-10300H (2783 - 4728, n=14) | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| MSI Alpha 15 A3DDK-034 | |
| HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
| Asus Zephyrus S15 GX502L | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Asus Zephyrus M15 GU502L | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| Schenker XMG Pro 15 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-10300H (6.13 - 7.78, n=12) | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Average Intel Core i5-10300H (23.9 - 94, n=12) | |
| Asus Zephyrus M15 GU502L | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| Asus Zephyrus S15 GX502L | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
PCMark results are lower than many Core i7 gaming laptops due to the Core i5 CPU, 8 GB of single-channel RAM, and entry-level NVMe SSD. Even so, the differences are mostly small.
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 3702 points | |
| PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 | 4986 points | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 4987 points | |
Help | ||
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows DPC latency issues when opening multiple tabs on our homepage. 4K UHD video playback at 60 FPS is otherwise smooth with just two dropped frames during our minute-long YouTube test.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| Aorus 5 KB | |
| Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502IU-ES76 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
The 256 GB capacity is small especially for a laptop catered towards gamers and content creators. Additionally, the system uses a slower NVMe SSD from Phison instead of pricier Samsung or Intel solutions.
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK Phison PS5013 PM8256GPTCB4B8TF | Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB | Asus Zephyrus G15 GA502IU-ES76 Intel SSD 660p 1TB SSDPEKNW010T8 | Razer Blade 15 GTX 1660 Ti Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ | Dell G3 15 3500-G4DG2 SK Hynix BC511 HFM512GDJTNI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS SSD | 114% | 23% | 42% | 16% | |
| Copy Game MB/s | 986.17 | 1137.44 15% | 1179.83 20% | 1149.77 17% | |
| Copy Program MB/s | 508.15 | 437.99 -14% | 568.04 12% | 513.29 1% | |
| Copy ISO MB/s | 1254.95 | 2039.34 63% | 1375.73 10% | 1539.06 23% | |
| Score Total | 1771 | 5184 193% | 2350 33% | 3177 79% | 2290 29% |
| Score Write | 860 | 2734 218% | 1160 35% | 1450 69% | 878 2% |
| Score Read | 613 | 1627 165% | 759 24% | 1152 88% | 945 54% |
| Access Time Write * | 0.105 | 0.02 81% | 0.128 -22% | 0.104 1% | 0.04 62% |
| Access Time Read * | 0.072 | 0.034 53% | 0.062 14% | 0.063 12% | 0.09 -25% |
| 4K-64 Write | 634.05 | 2297.92 262% | 837.71 32% | 1212.2 91% | 711.38 12% |
| 4K-64 Read | 410.08 | 1282.5 213% | 583.45 42% | 917.46 124% | 772.96 88% |
| 4K Write | 120.36 | 190.52 58% | 158.96 32% | 105.96 -12% | 90.08 -25% |
| 4K Read | 34.12 | 60.37 77% | 56.31 65% | 51.32 50% | 41.84 23% |
| Seq Write | 1056.99 | 2452 132% | 1637.14 55% | 1315.15 24% | 767.34 -27% |
| Seq Read | 1591.98 | 2836 78% | 1196.64 -25% | 1828.99 15% | 1304.73 -18% |
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 70% | 17% | 8% | -18% | |
| Write 4K | 170.2 | 233 37% | 189.6 11% | 135 -21% | 99.63 -41% |
| Read 4K | 52.54 | 54.5 4% | 61.7 17% | 41.1 -22% | 38.8 -26% |
| Write Seq | 1105 | 3050 176% | 1730 57% | 1427 29% | 1117 1% |
| Read Seq | 1507 | 3042 102% | 1620 7% | 1494 -1% | 1030 -32% |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 380.8 | 519.5 36% | 474.2 25% | 494.9 30% | 445.2 17% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 530.8 | 546.1 3% | 527.6 -1% | 578.2 9% | 331.8 -37% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 1253 | 3241 159% | 1795 43% | 1417 13% | 1102 -12% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 2543 | 3538 39% | 1880 -26% | 3251 28% | 2227 -12% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 92% /
98% | 20% /
21% | 25% /
29% | -1% /
2% |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
The mobile GeForce RTX 2060 is still one hell of a GPU even if it may be 15 to 25 percent slower than the desktop RTX 2060. Performance deficits from the limited 8 GB of system RAM and Core i5 CPU is minor to moderate when running most games that are GPU bound.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 16727 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 27994 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 14348 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 6013 points | |
Help | ||
| GTA V | |
| 1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
| MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
| HP Omen 15-dc0015ng | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile (60 - 70.8, n=4) | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| Asus GX531GM (Zephyrus S) | |
| 1920x1080 High/On (Advanced Graphics Off) AA:2xMSAA + FX AF:8x | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
| HP Omen 15-dc0015ng | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
| Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile (94.5 - 127, n=4) | |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng | |
| Asus GX531GM (Zephyrus S) | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| 1920x1080 Normal/Off AF:4x | |
| MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS | |
| HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng | |
| HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile (113 - 155, n=2) | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
| Gateway Creator Series 15.6 GWTN156-3BK | |