Introduction

Replacing the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO

It has been over 18 months since we last reviewed a high-end ALL-IN-WONDER card, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO, which was first announced in June 2003. Over the year and a half since the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO was first launched, ATI has announced other high-end DirectX 9 VPUs, such as the RADEON 9800 XT, but ATI’s multimedia division passed up this opportunity, opting instead to tackle other concerns.

The ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT card

Sapphire X800 XT AGP and AIW X800 XT AGP

First ATI addressed critics by providing dual display capability in the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO. The AIW 9600 PRO was the first WONDER product to support two display connections, by providing two VGA connections on an external video dongle. ATI then followed that product up with the less expensive ALL-IN-WONDER 9600. The AIW 9600 shipped with many of the same features found in AIW 9600 PRO, including dual display capability, only it shipped at slower clock speeds and with ATI’s older REMOTE WONDER remote control unit, rather than the newer, more advanced REMOTE WONDER II found in the AIW 9600 PRO. ATI also produced an even lower cost AIW card, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9200, and ultimately replaced the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO with the faster ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 XT, but even as these new cards were being released, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO remained unchanged at the high-end of ATI’s ALL-IN-WONDER lineup.

It was beginning to look as if ATI had forgotten the high-end market.

The AIW X800 XT and AIW 9800

Note the differences between the AIW X800 XT and X800 XT AGP

Then, last September ATI announced a new ALL-IN-WONDER product to replace the aging ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO at the high-end of the WONDER lineup, the ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT. The AIW X800 XT was the world’s first 16-pipeline multimedia card, but that wasn’t the only first for the AIW X800 XT. It was also the first AIW card to feature DVI and VGA capability, resolving one of the major criticisms of the ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 products, and features TV tuning and FM radio capability. ATI also updated the card’s software suite by including a copy of Pinnacle Studio 9, previous AIW cards shipped with Pinnacle Studio 8. The ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT essentially combined the best of both worlds for hardware enthusiasts. You had the cutting-edge performance of ATI’s X800 VPU merged with the multimedia and DVD playback capabilities ATI is well known and respected for.

Lots of gold plating on the board

AIW X800 XT and the older AIW 9600 XT

You can see the different connections ATI has used over time here

This all sounds good don’t you think? The only problem is, like the desktop division’s X800 XT products, the multimedia team at ATI announced the AIW X800 XT well before cards were actually available at retail. October passed and not a single card could be found on store shelves. Then November. And December...You’re beginning to get the picture right? It was beginning to look as if the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO was never going to be replaced.

Then, around the beginning of this month, the first ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT cards began to appear at retail stores online. Finally things were beginning to look up for multimedia enthusiasts.