Direction of the All-In-Wonder?

[jbbrown211]

I'm wondering if anyone has heard any news on All-In-Wonder cards? I was looking at the AIW 9600pro which was discontinued and the AIW 9700pro which was also discontinued. It seems like the only "good" options I have left now are the AIW 9600xt & the AIW9800pro (cost on both of these seems high). Is there anything on the ATI horizon that is going to drive these prices down, or are they coming out with a middle of the road AIW card that prices and performs well?

[Force Flow]

AIW 9600pros are available on newegg.com

To my knowledge, ATi never made AIW 9700's

[Alienware_Dude]

Force: http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9700/aiw9700/
And, if you meant 9700 Pro: http://www.asenashop.com/sfitem/id-5013/pr-0

[Force Flow]

Interesting...last time I checked, there didn't appear to be one even though I though there was.

[kram 2.0]

Interesting though, ATI just released the ATI AIW 9600XT I believe to replace the AIWs 9600 and 9600 Pro and the AIW 9700 Pro, as the performance on the 9600XT is somewhere in between. It seems to me that ATI AIW series are still at large, ever since ATI released a new one.

kram

[morriswindgate]

In my mind the AIW 9600XT is well worth the extra 80 bucks.

AIW 9600

Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 9600/325MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/400MHz

AIW 9600XT

Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 9600XT/525MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/650MHz

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by morriswindgate In my mind the AIW 9600XT is well worth the extra 80 bucks. AIW 9600 Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 9600/325MHz Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/400MHz AIW 9600XT Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 9600XT/525MHz Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/650MHz

Agreed - the 9600 XT is a very nice card which is even better with the AIW . But remember that the Asus Radeon 9600 XT is close to the AIW series (VIVO), but withtout the extra input slots. In that sense, we could see the end of the AIW series, with ATI allowing Asus to make these card.

kram

[jbbrown211]

I'm not saying that the AIW is fading out, I was hoping graphically for a little more than the 9600xt. But it looks like the next step up is directly to the AIW 9800pro. If I had to pick right now it would be the AIW 9600xt, but that ASUS 9600xt is pretty interesting with the VIVO. I would imagine the software package that comes with that is pretty good (video editing, etc)?

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by jbbrown211 I'm not saying that the AIW is fading out, I was hoping graphically for a little more than the 9600xt. But it looks like the next step up is directly to the AIW 9800pro. If I had to pick right now it would be the AIW 9600xt, but that ASUS 9600xt is pretty interesting with the VIVO. I would imagine the software package that comes with that is pretty good (video editing, etc)?

Yeah, it seems that it comes with an input receiver (a digital VCR recorder), video conferencing and gaming voice communication, and a bunch of video editing software that Asus decided to throw in. Really, from what I hear, I see that it is one nice card to have, and remember also that it comes with a free voucher for HL2 (I believe they still do that).

With ATI AIWs, if ATI should continune its series, I believe it will prosper and become an even greater entity in the multimedia gamer area. It is a great function to have that much power in your PC - something I regret getting now. If I could, I would trade in the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro I have right now for an ATI AIW series equivelant...something I'm having trouble getting

kram

[jbbrown211]

How would you rate the graphics capabilities of the 9600xt though? The AIW functions are pretty much the same across the board, so I still want to make sure the graphics performance will keep up with things for the next couple of years.

[kram 2.0]

The graphic capabilities are the same on the ATI AIW boards as the regular non AIW, just Radeon cards. The Radeon 9600XT's performance is for the high demanding main stream card user. Just think how important would you put gaming, should you invest 160 USD on the Radeon 9600XT, or the 180 USD on the Asus 9600XT or the 280 USD on the ATI AIW 9600XT.

Also remember that the Radeon 9600XT were just released a few months ago - they are not aged like the Radeon 9700 series and the 9500s (though they're both excellent cards). Performance fits somewhere between the Radeon 9600 Pro and the 9700 Pro. If you intend on demanding more graphics power from your card and don't mind giving up the VIVO functions and all on the 9600XT, I would go with the PowerColor Radeon 9700 Pro, which gives more power and more performance that the 9600XT at its lowest price ever - 183 USD.

What should you pick? The Radeon 9600XT VPU is definately recommendable and if you should choose to purchase one, I would definately congratulate you on a fine purchase.


Hope that helps,
kram

[jbbrown211]

I think I am leaning toward the Asus Radeon 9600xt, sounds like it comes with a good software, and the graphics should perform well enough for what I need. Last thing I am wondering, are there any "must have" functions on the AIW that I would miss on the Asus 9600xt? I appreciate the help.

[Vladiator16]

Originally posted by jbbrown211 Last thing I am wondering, are there any "must have" functions on the AIW that I would miss on the Asus 9600xt? I appreciate the help.

The AIW has a TV and FM tuner plus Gemstar for TIVO like features. You'll need a tuner (VCR) to watch TV for the ASUS. The AIW 9600XT also comes with a ATI's top remote control.

[jbbrown211]

Originally posted by Vlad16 The AIW has a TV and FM tuner plus Gemstar for TIVO like features. You'll need a tuner (VCR) to watch TV for the ASUS. The AIW 9600XT also comes with a ATI's top remote control.

I don't really mind not having the Gemstar/TIVO abilities, but it would be nice to be able to get the TV tuning through the VCR. I'm actually more concerned about the video capture abilities from my VHS. Will the ASUS 9600xt do that just as well as the AIW?