ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro: Multimedia Refresh
by Andrew Ku on October 16, 2003 11:38 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
As you probably have noticed, we took a small hiatus from All-in-Wonder reviews, skipping the All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro (among others). By no means are we implying that it is a poor product. Rather, it was and continues to be a great multimedia product that addresses the need of the enthusiasts and high-end market segment. However, overall, the All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro was a minor upgrade from the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro, basically with an improved graphics processor.
From a price point, the All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro took its former contender's spot at $449 and effectively, the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro was bumped down to $399. At these prices though, these cards are intended clearly for those with a bit of cash to spare in the multimedia department.
Earlier in August, ATI announced the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro, and since that time, it has been emphasizing aggressively as mainstream multimedia choice, essentially replacing the All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500.
Approximately two and a half months have passed since product launch, and we have set aside time to take a look at this new offering. After all, it isn't too often that we get a chance to see technical change to the design of the All-in-Wonder line (which we will explore further in the review), as ATI still continues to employ their “like it or love it” purple video in breakout box.
Even though some time has passed, we have yet to see the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro listed on the price list, at least for the US. From the information that we have been passed, we expect to see it listed at $249, a much easier-to-swallow price than even its predecessor (All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500) at $299. That, coupled with new features such as EasyLook and an FM Tuner, the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro still begs the question, “is it worth my $249?”
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Anonymous User - Sunday, October 19, 2003 - link
My only question is "With this card can I finally view cable on my TV(secondary display)?". I currently own a 8500DV and find using a TV as a primary display more than a little displeasing.Anonymous User - Sunday, October 19, 2003 - link
#26Thanks you for the dumbass comment of the week.
Anonymous User - Saturday, October 18, 2003 - link
It is now clear. ATI has failed.Anonymous User - Saturday, October 18, 2003 - link
I can't comment on how good the 9700 AIW is, but you can definitely notice the difference between using a VGA adapter instead of (the better) DVI connection. It isn't a substantial degradement, but as long as you have an expensive LCD screen, you might as well use all the available features. Unless you really need the new/additional features in the 9600 AIW, I would go with 9700 AIW if you can afford it. You'll be getting a better gaming card in the process too...Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
I am Considering to buy the 9600 Pro AIW. Mainly because its has everything i need. but only one problem it doesnt have a DVI. I own a LCD monitor and i was wondering if i use the VGA cable rather then the DVI. is there going to be any differents in picture quality. or Should i just go and buy a 9700 Pro AIW. if i do, i wont be able to have some of the new features they implimented into the 9600 AIW. What should i get?Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
"The reason behind this frequent request is that the act of watching TV or a movie is often done in conjunction with doing something productive (like writing an article, in our case)."when i was a kid we watched television AFTER doing our work =)
Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
#17: the card does fitI can send pictures if someone has a place to host them.
Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
#17: The 9600 can't perform like a 9700--it has only 4 pixel pipes compared to the 9700/9800's 8. It simply won't perform the same at higher detail settings (i.e. AA, AF). Even AT's article mentions this. Still, the 9600 seems to offer much better performance for it's class and price range than some of it's competition.Pete - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
Arrrgh! No benchmarks?! I really wanted to see if extra memory bandwidth would help the 9600 series, which has always been at a huge disadvantage to the 5600 (and now more so to the 5700).You guys need to get one of those Powercolor 380MHz DDR 128MB 9600XT's and one of those 340MHz DDR 256MB XT's, pronto! :)
Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
#15 and #16Tweaknews.net indeed had more material, but most of their info is straight from ATI's website description of the product, including all PR BS: "The power to pause live TV", "industry leading digital video features for unprecedented video quality." The point of a review is not to regurgitate stuff like this, but to test and verify them. Their review read more like an ATI sponsored advertisement. NBTW, I have nothing against ATI personally (have a 9600 Pro myself) -but just wanted to point out that AT's review was simply more concise and to the point. It would have been even better with some gaming benchmarks is all....