Overclocking

With the rather smallish fan, and the lack of memory cooling, we didn't have high hopes for overclocking. We snagged the Rage3D Tweak for our overclocking needs, and proceeded to crank up the speeds. The core was done first, keeping the memory at 325MHz. From 400MHz, we topped off at 428MHz. At 429MHz,we experienced lockups when trying to run some benchmarks.

We bumped the core down to 400MHz, and began moving the memory clock up. Eventually, we topped out at 370. Anything higher resulted in either dropped textures, or image noise during benchmarks.

When we overclocked both the core and memory together, we settled for a 425/360 core and memory overclock. Since both items were being overclocked, we weren't able to run either component as high as we were able to when ran alone. What did this do for performance?

Splinter Cell, AIW OC'd @ 425/360

Not much of an improvement I must say. I know a couple framerates are important for a lot of our readers, so I'll leave it up to you to decide if the inherited risks involved in overclocking is worth the small boost in speed.

Final Words

The ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro is another strong offering from the boys and girls in Markham, Ontario. With some good performance, great image quality, and the excellent A/V features, this is a must have product based on those strengths alone, but, there is more.

Everything you need to get up and running is included. With the exception of the missing antenna, there probably won't be a need to make many trips to the local Radio Shack. The remote is a fine piece of hardware, and with the coupon for a free Remote Wonder II, you're set for those killer remote applications of today and tomorrow. :P

Dual CRT capabilities was long wished for by many, and not only from multimedia designers. Power users can make excellent use of the dual screens, though this feature will not work for gaming. Although the TV needs to be on the primary display, you can easily shove work windows into the secondary display. This, in my opinion, is a better option than the ThruView. Since I use Photoshop quite extensively, a great way to free up desktop space is by putting all your menus on the second screen, leaving you with more viewable canvas space.

The FM-Tuner is going to be one of those features people can or cannot live without. For myself, it's the former, but for others, being able to listen to local radio stations at your desk, without the need of an actual radio may be well worth it.

The very same FM-Tuner some people will no doubt love, will also be reviled by people who swear by their small form factor PCs. I managed to get the AIW 9600 Pro to fit, without mods, into our FIC Ice Cube VL67, but for SFFs with inner AGP slots, I really doubt you'll get the combination working in its stock form. A Dremel is something these users will need to keep handy. Remember, the Dremel is for the SFF case, and not to lop off the FM-Tuner.

Image quality is up to ATI's usual standards, which is excellent. Even during timedemos, there weren't any texture popups (the kind you see on some arcade driving games, where buildings mysteriously appear). The drivers were rock solid, and although there have been complaints of overheating cards and the Catalyst 3.8 drivers, we did not experience any problems, and I tend to be on my PC quite often.

The AIW 9600 is a fast gaming card, but it isn't anywhere near being the fastest. Then again, it isn't the most expensive either, and when you consider the hardware features, the pricetag is very reasonable. Also consider that Half-Life 2 is going to be available for download upon release. Assuming the game is going to go for about 50$ USD, and it was something you were going to pick up anyways, the price of the AIW 9600 Pro is now 155$. Not bad at all.

Pros: Good gaming performance, excellent 2D and 3D image quality, TV-Tuner, dual CRT display, cables and remote included. Half-Life 2 and Remote II vouchers.

Cons: FM-Tuner will cause problems with some SFF barebone PCs.

Bottom Line: The FM-Tuner is a concern for SFF owners, but the dual CRT display ability has finally made it to the AIW. It's a fast card, loaded with features, and with Half-Life 2 available as a free download, you can't go wrong with the AIW 9600 Pro.

If you got any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.