ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro: Multimedia Refresh
by Andrew Ku on October 16, 2003 11:38 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Multimedia Center anew — FM Tuner
Since we last touched on Multimedia Center 8.0, there has been a lot of moving afoot for ATI's Multimedia Center. First, we have the most apparent upgrade: EasyLook, which we will explore further in the review.Second on the list is the FM Player, which is perfectly appropriate, since the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro comes with an FM tuner. The FM Player works very similar to the TV Player: adjusting frequencies, scheduled recordings, and time shifting. FM-on-Demand is always on because it is hard to know what will be playing next, since there is no one-stop place for FM listing. Therefore, you will need to go through your FM-on-Demand and clip whichever segment of audio you want to export.
Based our experience, the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro has a range of 87.5MHz and 108.0MHz. The FM tuner has a mechanical specified range of 75.9MHz to 108MHz, but according to regionally available FM frequencies, the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro will auto detect a range. Stations can be tuned by 0.1MHz frequency increments with the tune up/down buttons, but via the scheduling, there seems to be an ability to tune in 0.01MHz frequency increments.
Of course, ATI gives you the ability to record, though only in one format: MP3, 224KHz, 16bit, Stereo.
Because there is no universal place for FM listings like there is for TV listings, there is a need to add the station name manually.
Dual Monitor Support – What the doctor ordered
Multimedia Center anew - Integrated Media Burning & Muvee
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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.