AMD's ATI All-in-Wonder HD gets reviewed

Loyal All-in-Wonder users from years past have probably been watching the progression of AMD's revised version of the card with extreme interest. After such an absence, however, we understand the need to be cautious before snapping this up for your upcoming HTPC. HotHardware recently received one of these units for testing, and while it was only deemed "entry level" in the gaming department, the multimedia performance was smiled upon. To quote, "the [card] did an excellent job presenting digital video content in a quality manner without creating excessive power consumption in order to do so." As expected, the unit wasn't recommend for everyone (read: non-TV buffs), but those who'd utilize the built-in ClearQAM support probably can't go wrong for $199. Hit the read link for a whole gaggle of test results.

[Mile @ Aug 19th 2008 8:51AM]

Will never replace Tivo.

[Bryan @ Aug 19th 2008 9:47AM]

Yeah, my HTPC that records and plays back TV with 3-4 tuners, plays Blu-Ray and DVD movies, houses my music collection, allows me to watch on-line content, and serves it all around my house to other machines without having to pay any sort of service fee will never replace a Tivo. It will blow it out of the water.

[Rob @ Aug 19th 2008 10:39AM]

I debated for a long time about building a tv recording capable PC or buy a Tivo. I choose Tivo. Not because it's the answer to all my prayers. But, I was looking for a DVR that did the work without any worries. As a DVR nothing compares to Tivo. My only problem with Tivo is the monthly fees. But, it's affordable. The power consumption and noisy fans of a PC is greater than Tivo's. I'd admit that having pc will allow you the opportunity to perform many additional features. But, again, as a DVR, Tivo wins. I'm still planning to have an HTPC, but will leave the DVR to my Tivo.

[Techie @ Aug 19th 2008 11:48AM]

Ahhh.. the memories when you can control your mouse with the wireless remote.

[misha @ Aug 28th 2008 5:03AM]

-378 million transistors on 55nm fabrication process-
omg 55 nm damn thats COOL literly

[Eric @ Aug 19th 2008 9:29AM]

Nice. Any word on Linux drivers?

I like that they use a backplane dongle instead of the old breakout boxes. Will make for a much neater installation.

[huh @ Aug 19th 2008 9:32AM]

This brings back so many memories of installing software that never really worked properly, crashed all the time, and didn't look as good as a cheap TV. Maybe they got it right this time?

The ironic thing was I had an old ISA TV Wonder card (among others). The Windows drivers never worked even though I reinstalled Windows from scratch more than once. But I popped it in a Linux system and it worked out of the box.

ATI/AMD have promised full Linux compatibility, this card could be a good choice for an open source PVR/media centre, if it works well.

[Evan @ Aug 19th 2008 9:41AM]

The flames around the fan give it more polygons per second!

[Adam B. @ Aug 19th 2008 9:49AM]

Screw ATI and their All-in-Wonders. I have an All-in-Wonder 2006 PCI Express and they refuse to support the capture card portion under Vista.

[DaSpider @ Aug 19th 2008 11:16AM]

Indeed, ATI sucks in the support department. I am still waiting for the Vista capture drivers to the AiW X1900. Two years have passed and nothing happened.

[Macbeth @ Aug 19th 2008 2:22PM]

Your anger is directed at the wrong product, I don't remember exactly how but it's was Vista, by design, that nerfed the AIW and several other video capture devices.

[DaSpider @ Aug 19th 2008 3:17PM]

My anger is directed to the right manufacturer. No guarantees that same thing will not happen when Windows 7 is out. Chances are they just launch a new product and tell customers "please upgrade".

I won't risk getting stuck with Vista forever.

[Ken @ Aug 19th 2008 10:00AM]

I'd like to see if this thing will run in hybrid crossfire setups. Have they made it possible to crossfire 3 series and 4 series yet?

[thatrotierkid @ Aug 19th 2008 10:17AM]

in the article hothardware mentions that there is no crossfire option on this board. too bad to because it would have been nice.

[Ian @ Aug 19th 2008 12:48PM]

Will ATI/AMD be selling a Cablecard enabled version of this card to OEMs?

[Mike @ Aug 19th 2008 10:47AM]

I've been tempted to build a HTPC, but it always ends up being too costly and bulky.

[Pingmeister @ Aug 19th 2008 11:08AM]

HTPC was a great hobby project and I love it for collecting multimedia on but it's certainly not the cheap way to go.

[MrNuclearGuy @ Aug 19th 2008 4:09PM]

Its a real shame that it doesn't support Crossfire. If it was to be paired up with a 780G or 780V motherboard, then the gaming capability might not be as bad.

[lindsaypace @ Aug 19th 2008 12:39PM]

I bought one of these at CC for $149. The price was so good and since it was available I bought it. Very disappointed! It even lowered my Vista rating by .3 points, so I returned it. My 8600 GTS XXX is much better, but my KWorld TVcard is not great in analog. How can you get digital without a cable card?

[Scott Hardy @ Aug 19th 2008 1:31PM]

Anyone ever tried to put together an HTC system utilizing DirecTV? That could make an interesting system. Lindsaypace, you can get digital without a cable card with an external antenna, as long as you can get reception. If you're far away from the transmission towers, you'll need a larger antenna and amplifier. Also, a little know fact is that cable companies are required to transmit the HD Channels on their BASE feed, so you can get the channels even if you don't have a cable box or subscribe to their HD package. Typically they're in the 700 - 900 range, but your computer tuner can typically find them.

Thanks,
Scott
http://www.topclassactions.com

[Chris H @ Aug 19th 2008 6:29PM]

Lindsaypace was asking about digital *cable*. And the answer is...you can get anything that's unencrypted, which isn't much.

Second, only HD *local* channels are required to be unecrypted -- all the other HD channels are invariably encrypted.

Third, you pretty much can't make a home-brew PVR for DirecTV because you can't buy a DirecTV tuner card.

[Xepol @ Aug 19th 2008 3:03PM]

Loyal AiW fans? They don't exist any more. They got tired of being screwed by high prices, poor 3d performance, constant computer crashes and software that does not work as advertized.

No, anyone that used to be a AiW fan has long LONG since decided to move on... This card is only for those who don't know better yet.

[Xepol @ Aug 19th 2008 3:04PM]

Loyal AiW fans? They don't exist any more. They got tired of being screwed by high prices, poor 3d performance, constant computer crashes and software that does not work as advertized.

No, anyone that used to be a AiW fan has long LONG since decided to move on... This card is only for those who don't know better yet.