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Introduction
We've been wowed before by ATI's offerings
by dishing out some well deserved Editor's Choice awards for the ATI All
In Wonder 9700 Pro as well as the 9800 Pro edition. Both cards offered
top of the line gaming performance, a great bundle, good application performance,
and all the features you could possibly want in a video card. But instead
of looking at a card that will blow away the competition, your friends,
and your wallet, we're going to take a look at ATI's budget offering for
the holiday season - the ATI All In Wonder 9600 Pro, a card price-pointed
at $250, and offered lower at many e-retailers.
The All In Wonder 9600 PRO includes a higher speed
version of ATI’s RADEON 9600 PRO graphics chip for graphics performance.
Microsoft DirectX 9 support is the focus of hardware and drivers for games
of today and tomorrow. The video card is said to offer long-term entertainment
value with its quad-pipe architecture and high precision cinematic shaders
that will result in amazing visual gaming experiences to excite devoted
gamers and casual fans alike. How would it stack up against the competition?
Lets find out!!!
Specifications
& Features
The new ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO's specifications and features.
Dual Monitor Support:
• The first All-in-Wonder with two VGA connections, never be display
limited again.
• Run up to three displays simultaneously (dual VGA + TV in clone
mode).
FM on your PC:
• Stereo FM Tuner with range from 75.9MHz to 108.0MHz.
• FM-ON-DEMAND ... The power to pause live FM radio, listen to instant
replays, record live broadcasts ... Save radio content in MP3 format for
later listening.
TV and beyond on your PC:
• Stereo TV Tuner with 125 channels.
• TV-ON-DEMAND ... The power to pause live TV, get instant replays,
record live broadcasts for later viewing ... Stay on top of the live action
while in TV-ON-DEMAND™ mode via Live Preview window.
• VIDEOSOAP™ - next Generation filtering options for Personal
Video Recordings that improve captured image quality, particularly when
capturing to low bitrates.
• MULTVIEW™ – the ability to add a second tuner for
PiP , PoP , and many more features (not supported in EAZYLOOK at this
time).
• Gemstar GUIDE Plus+™ Interactive Program Guide- allows user
to view and search TV listing by category, actor/performer, or date. Schedule
and record programs at the click of a mouse – all the benefits of
a PVR without the monthly fees.
EAZYLOOK ™
• New Channel surfing menu allows for channel preview.
• Integrated help screens help users master the use of the remote
control.
• Integrated TV Listings access in TV Player.
Home Theater on your PC:
• Superior quality DVD playback with AC-3 Digital Audio output for
Dolby® 5.1 Surround Sound.
• ATI’s VIDEO IMMERSION II technology for unprecedented video
quality.
RF REMOTE WONDER™ (original)
• Controls the TV, video, DVD, Interactive Programming Guide, Internet,
and gaming features of the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO.
• Supports EAZYLOOK, the REMOTE WONDER user interface included with
Multimedia Center.
RF REMOTE WONDER™ II (available as optional upgrade):
• Support for upcoming second generation remote (available as optional
upgrade).
• Increased range: now 60 feet.
• 6 programmable buttons.
Component Output Support:
• Watch DVDs, TV-ON-DEMAND™ on an HDTV ready television using
optional component output.
Easy Digital and Analog Video Editing:
• Capture still images and video for use in your own creations.
• Add effects, transitions, and sound to video footage.
• Save your authored videos to VideoCD and DVD formats and burn
to disc with one click.
• Bundled with Pinnacle Studio 8.0.
Industry Leading 2D/3D Graphics Technology:
• Higher clock rates than desktop RADEON 9600 Pro (400e/325m DDR).
• Complete Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 support and AGP 8X support.
• 128MB DDR memory accelerates the latest 3D games.
• 128-bit memory interface enables fast 3D performance.
• THEATER™ 200 provides exceptional video quality viewing
during live TV, video input and capture.
• ATI’s improved FULLSTREAM™ and VIDEOSHADER™
technologies provide sharper image
• quality and better-looking visuals.
Once again we're blown away by the "All In Wonder"
packages that ATI puts together for consumers. You have the Remote Wonder,
which itself won an Editor's Choice award from this website (and many
others), as well as the FM radio ability, the video inputs for capturing
DVDs and VCR tapes, as well as the cable TV input to watch and capture
TV on your computer.
Retail
Bundle
 Well
it must be noted that the ATI All In Wonder 9600 Pro comes with a coupon
that allows you to get COMPLETELY FREE a copy of Half
Life 2!! Yes, Half Life 2 - a game you'd spend $50 getting ... included
FREE with this card. Just had to make a special note ;)
Retails
packages include...
- ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO Graphics Board
-
Back board Interfaces include Video In (s-video, composite), Video Out
(s-video, composite, dual VGA), CATV, and FM ANT.
Remote Control
- 1 - RF REMOTE WONDER
- 4 - AAA batteries included
- 1 - USB Remote Receiver
- Cables and Adapters:
1 – Video/Audio Input Block
1 – Video/Audio Output Dongle
1 – 6’ Composite Video Cable
1 – 6’ S-Video Cable
- Setup and Installation:
1 - Installation and Setup Poster
1 - Installation and Setup Guide
1 - Multimedia Center User Guide
1 - ATI Driver and Utility CD (includes ATI Multimedia 8.6 software)
- Bundled Software:
Pinnacle Studio 8 – ATI Version
muvee autoProducer
Half Life 2 coupon
card benchmark & testing
We
used the same system we tested the GeForce4 Ti4200, Ti4400, and Ti4600
on for this review...
Test System Specifications:
- AMD 1800+XP Processor
- ABIT KR7A Motherboard
- 512 MB RAM
- Windows XP
- DirectX 9.0
3D Mark 2003 - DX9 Benchmarking
3DMark 03 is the latest installment in the popular
3DMark series. 3DMark03 sets the new standard for easily and objectively
measuring and comparing modern PCs’ 3D graphics performance. It
supports the latest Microsoft DirectX9.0 and contains four new mind blowing
real-time 3D game tests as well as advanced DirectX9.0 feature tests.
The Numbers...
As you can see the
card performs a bit better than the similar price-pointed card, the nVIDIA
5600 Ultra. If you're interested in games in a DX9 atmosphere, it seems
logical that the ATI 9600 Pro is just as good a solution than other cards
at that $250 price point.
AquaMark 3
AquaMark3 allows PC users to easily measure and compare
the performance of their current and next-generation PC systems. It provides
a reliable benchmark which helps users to configure their systems for
the best gaming performance.
The AquaMark3 executes a complete state-of-the-art
game engine and generates 3D scenes designed to make the same demands
on hardware as a modern game. I've only included the GFX score, since
the CPU and all other parts of the system were identical for the cards
tested...
As you can see, the ATI 9600 Pro outperformed the nVIDIA
counterpart, but again was pretty far behind cards $150 to $200 more expensive,
which is of course pretty understandable.
Gunmetal 2
We used the latest Gun Metal Benchmark 2 version 1.20S and
used the default quality settings of the benchmark. This equates to 2XAA
was enabled by the game and AF was disabled. We tested at 1024x768. Numbers
represent the average Frame Rate (higher is better)...
Well if you're able to see patterns, then you can see that
once again we see the ATI All In Wonder 9600 Pro outperform the GFFX 5600
Ultra.
installation
The video card is quite easily the easiest thing to install
in your computer. Uninstall the OLD drivers first (some people forget
this step), turn off your computer, take out the old card, put in the
new card (don't forget you need at least a 350W power supply, 400W greatly
recommended ... you have to plug it into the video card), turn on the
system, download the latest Catalyst drivers (right
here) and install them. After that - you're ready to go!
impressions of performance
The card runs pretty well ... then I remember that this
card is only $250 and I think that this is one helluva value for consumers
from where I sit. Consider this ... the Remote Wonder runs $50 and if
you planned to buy what promises to be one of the highest selling titles
in Half Life 2, which is $50 ... right there that's a combined value of
$100 that's included with the card. Sometimes manufacturers include a
ton of stuff that somehow and someway adds up to $100 worth of stuff,
but it's stuff you never use. ATI has included ACTUAL things you'd want
to buy. Great work by our friends in Canada.
The lack of 295 cables for this version of the card and
use of the one giant uber-cable that plugs everything into it, and then
into the card is pretty convenient ... just don't ever lose it. The FM
tuner worked pretty poorly to be honest, but to be fair to ATI, that's
more of a reflection of the HORRIBLE reception of FM radio I get in the
area.
Conclusions
I was very curious to see how a card that that retailed
for about $250 would perform against the immediate competition (the GFFX
5600 Ultra), and the cards that are a step up. We saw some very consistent
results with the three main benchmarking programs that we saw - the card
outperforms cards at the same price point, but is a definite step behind
cards above it in price and hardware.
If you are looking for a card to buy this holiday season
that won't cost you $400+ for yourself or a friend, then ATI has put together
a fantastic solution for you. The deal has been really sweetened by the
addition of Half Life 2 with the card's retail bundle.
Fantastic! I wish more companies could develop the kind of relationships
that benefit the end user like ATI and Valve has with this card.
 The
3 year warranty with the card ensures that you'll be owning it for a while.
The performance of the card was pretty impressive, but again, not up to
the top cards in the industry - so remember you get what you pay for.
This isn't the top performing card out there, but that's not why you buy
this card - you want a good card at a great price. The value of the card
is the real selling point - especially considering the sick bundle included.
High usefulness - that's for sure. You got about 12 different uses for
this video card ... anywhere from a great performing card for video games,
to importing video, to watching tv, to listening to the radio ... and
so on and so forth. The longevity of the card doesn't get top marks ...
getting a card designed for budget shows that it's not the top of the
line, and that decreases the viable life of the product if you regularly
upgrade. There is a drawback that there is no DVI support, but most people
have the adapter necessary.
The ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro is a fantastic performing
card and blows away the competition at it's pricepoint. With the inclusion
of Half Life 2, the bundle is probably the best ever we've seen from a
video card. This is undoubtedly a fantastic choice if you're shopping
for a video card this holiday season.
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9 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
94%
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10 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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8 / 10 |
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9.4 / 10 |
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