Introduction

A month ago we reported on ATI’s mainstream multimedia solution, ALL-IN-WONDER 9600, but in addition to the AIW 9600, ATI introduced a faster, more feature complete ALL-IN-WONDER, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT. Before we get into the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT however, let’s rewind back to the premise behind these cards and what makes them so special.

AIW 9600 PRO (top), 9600 XT (middle), and AIW 9600 XT (bottom)

AIW 9600 PRO poses with AIW 9600 XT

The RADEON 9600 XT and ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT

ATI’s ALL-IN-WONDER line is meant to address the needs of multimedia mavens and video enthusiasts. Whereas ATI’s desktop RADEON line lacks video input capability, the ALL-IN-WONDER line boasts video-in and much more, making them perfect for connecting A/V devices like digital camcorders to make or edit home movies. In more recent years, ATI has also added TV tuning capability, timeshifting, and, beginning last summer with the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO, FM tuning. ATI has even announced an HDTV variant of ALL-IN-WONDER.

The ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT is meant to replace the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO, which will slowly begin to disappear thanks to the introduction of the AIW 9600 XT and AIW 9600. In fact, a quick glance of Newegg and Zipzoomfly’s websites reveals that neither company has the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO in stock, suggesting that AIW 9600 PRO is drying up quickly. Fortunately, ATI’s ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT is designed to deliver more performance thanks to its faster RADEON 9600 XT graphics core, and ships with all the features found in ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO, including REMOTE WONDER II. These are the only two ALL-IN-WONDER cards in ATI’s current multimedia lineup that support this feature in particular.

Enhanced 9600 XT graphics core

Just what makes up an ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT? As we just stated, at the heart of the AIW 9600 XT is ATI’s newer RADEON 9600 XT graphics core, originally codenamed RV360. RV360 is based on the same four pixel pipeline architecture as the original RADEON 9600 PRO, only its manufacturing process has been enhanced to deliver higher clock speeds thanks to the addition of low-k dielectric material. ATI clocks the desktop variant of the RADEON 9600 XT graphics core at 500MHz, for the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT the core frequency has been increased to 525MHz, delivering more performance.

Both AIW cards compared

AIW cards up close

Note the new cooler on the AIW 9600 XT

In addition to the new core clock frequency, ATI has also increased the memory clock speed from 300MHz in RADEON 9600 XT (600MHz effective) to 325MHz in ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT (650MHz effective).

The RADEON 9600 XT was often criticized for its lack of memory bandwidth. At 500MHz the RADEON 9600 XT’s core was hungry for more bandwidth. The ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT’s 650MHz memory increases peak memory bandwidth to 10.4GB/sec, an improvement of 800MB/sec and thus does a better job of keeping the graphics core fed with data.

On the video side, ATI continues to rely on its THEATER 200 chip. THEATER 200 adds a new adaptive 2D 3-Line comb filter, which is responsible for delivering sharper picture when working with composite signals. THEATER 200 also adds more powerful 12-bit analog-to-digital converters for increased audio fidelity.

For TV and FM radio tuning, a stereo tuner from Philips is used on the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT.