ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro: Multimedia Refresh
by Andrew Ku on October 16, 2003 11:38 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Dual Monitor Support — What the doctor ordered
One of the biggest requests for the All-in-Wonder product line has been dual monitor support (from dual engines). This is something long in waiting, which was first materialized in Personal Cinema 2, though still a bit “off.”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). With TV or File Player running, it does take up a significant amount of desktop space, and the only way to work on a spreadsheet and watch media (TV or File) is to enable ThruView (which manipulates the video in a certain transparency range). Though ThruView isn't the same as watching TV and working on a spreadsheet separately, it is a clever idea as a space saver. That having been said, the need/want to multitask and the increase of desktop space are obvious reasons for dual monitor support for an All-in-Wonder card.
The problem, however, comes in the implementation of dual monitor support. Previous All-in-Wonder cards could do simply one monitor plus another device (TV monitor, projector, etc.). However, the single video source could only be shown on the primary display.
Now, ATI has brought the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro with dual monitor support, which brings the option of running up to three displays (dual monitor and TV/projector/etc. in clone mode). Yet, there are certain limitations to the way dual monitor support works. TV, for one, can't be extended over the second monitor so that it is viewed on both monitors at the same time. When you drag the TV window towards the other desktop, there is a docking effect, where you just hit the edge of the primary monitor and are automatically stopped. While running video on the second monitor, you can't get the extending effect either, which the Personal Cinema 2 allows. When you drag the window to the other desktop, the video simply appears there. Meanwhile, whichever desktop has less video occupying it, the video won't appear on that monitor's desktop space.
Click to enlarge.
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Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
Your prices are alittle off, I bought my AIW 9800pro a month ago for 370 at newegg, thats alot different than the 449 you listed.Anonymous User - Friday, October 17, 2003 - link
#14... from what I have heard, the AIW 9600 Pro should perform similar to the 9700.Also, has anyone actually put this card in a Shuttle mini? I'd like to know before buying one.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
AT should take notes from tweaknews.netAnonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
Heres a much more in-depth review we would of expected from AT. It has benches and detailed look at the bundle, which the AT article lacks. It is much more enthusiastic than the Andrew was.[L=Tweaknews review of the 9600 AIW]http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/aiw9600pro/[/L]
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
Why did Andrue fail to mention that besides the great bang for the buck, there is also the same coupon for free copy of HALF-LIFE 2 download once the game is released. And this is for the FULL game, with multi-player. And also their is a free upgrade coupon for the newer Remote Wonder 2.0. Of course for both of these you have to pay shipping and Taxes, but this adds even more value to an already 'Steal of a Buy.' And the article seems kind of lukewarm feeling, for the 9600AIW. And yes, seeing new gaming benchmarks is kind of necessary as the AIW version of the card is not clocked the same speeds as the standard 9600 Pro.I would love to have this card, BUT....... I have a Power Color 9700 NON-pro, and I don't think I would want to take the performance hit going with the 9600 core. Now I get 16,010 3DMark2001SE and 4480 2003 Marks; and this is all for my card that is not OCed at all running @ 277/270 speeds. But my 2.4c P4 is OCed to 3.07Ghz, so maybe this inflates my 3DMark scores a bit.
But If I had to get a new Video Card today, I'm 99% sure I would get the 9600 AIW, you just can't beat the value you get with this card. I guess the only downside for me is that I don't have cable, so I would have to hook up a old school 'Rabbit Ears' type antenna. (Would this even work, or do I need cable only for TV functions?)
Still one of the best products ATI has ever come out with, a much better value than the 9700 or 9800 AIW's And thats my lengthy $0.02
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
The card is more than just a Radeon 9600 Pro with multimedia features. The AIW 9600 Pro runs at 400/650 while the Radeon 9600 Pro runs at 400/600. FiringSquad benchmarked the card and found it to be a few percentage points faster than the Radeon 9600 Pro.http://firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_all_in_wonder_...
The card does fit into Shuttle XPC cases, as well as other small form factor cases.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
This card kicks arse! ATI is the coolest company on the planet!Anonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
any of the aiw 9600 ever come with dvi, i love my lcd monitor, and got it because i have a dvi out ,mmm dvi need dviAnonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
#7 No, the AIW 9600 pro will not fit in Shuttle XPCs in particular because the positioning of the FM connector conflicts with the AGP/PCI support bracket on the back of the chassis. This issue was first noted online by another site, The Firing Squad, and I confirmed via email with ATI Tech Support that this is an issue. I guess you could cut the bracket, insert the card, then solder/weld the piece back on, but those that don't want to mess around with their cases are currently out of luck.It's possible that the card may fit in non-shuttle XPCs, I think the MSI Mega was mentioned, but I'm not familar with other brands SFF PCs.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 16, 2003 - link
#7 I don't know, but would like to. I read on a link to another site that I believe was in HardOCP's daily news section that it would not. The FM antenna would not allow the card to be placed in the slot. They even had pictures, however, it didn't look like they were trying very hard. Then MaximumPC came out this week recommending it for a Shuttle XPC entertainment center. They even described how to install it with pictures included. I tend to trust MaxPC over whatever site tried this.