SpecViewPerf7

The All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro isn't just for fun and games, and I'm sure some developers and multimedia authors are curious about how it would do in a professional OpenGL environment.

The results aren't bad, but they're a far cry from what Pro-level OpenGL cards are capable of. Then again, can those cards record TV, edit video, and play games at insane speeds? 'nuff said.

Image Quality

3D image quality was excellent, and on par with what the vanilla 9700 Pro is capable of.

One area of reviewing we're trying to address more is 2D image quality. We spend an awful lot of time working on our PCs, and in the case of the AiW 9700 Pro, video quality is very important.

We loaded up a 1600x1200 image David and I normarlly use in our video card reviews. I also pulled up several word documents with various sized fonts to judge the text rendering. The documents used white text on a black background, and vice versa. The screen resolution for all tests was 1600x1200 @ 85Hz on a Dell rebranded 21" Trinitron.

Scores are subjective, but having worked with many video cards the last few years, I got a pretty firm grasp on what card renders 2D better than the others. The scores will be out of 10, with 10 being excellent.

All the ATi cards looked pretty much the same to me, but there is an obvious quality drop when moving to the MX440. The MX440 rendered white text on a dark background horribly, and in order not to lose my eyesight, I had to use the mouse to select blocks of text I wanted to read.

TV-Out Quality

I grabbed an AVI file of Futurerama (captured from a cable feed), and outputted it to TV on the AiW 9700 Pro, the AiW 8500DV, and on the AiW VE. I don't have a S-Video input on the television I used, so this was done via a composite cable. This should show the improvements made, if any, with the Cobra Engine.

First, the 8500DV...

... the VE...

... and the AiW 9700 Pro

I should note that the in order to acquire the image, I recorded the episode with the AiW VE. I then burned it to disc as a VCD, then recaptured it with the 9700 Pro, the VE and the 8500. What this test is supposed to illustrate then is the video capture quality of each card, and the resulting video output quality when using the same card to display the video. It would appear that the Rage Theater 200 and the Cobra Engine do improve upon the video quality, as the 8500DV image is the grainiest of the three.

I should also note that the Cobra Engine is more efficient with the faster GPU, and the encoding time was slightly less with the AiW 9700 Pro, than it was with the AiW VE.

Overclocking

Overclocking was something we didn't have much luck with here. The card's default speeds are 325/310. The best overclock I was able to manage before we suffered image corruption was 330/317. There are a few reasons I'm guessing why we didn't have much luck.

For one thing, the heatsink isn't very large, nor is the fan very powerful. A larger cooling solution may have helped, but it would also add to the noise, which isn't something you'd want in a multimedia card. There are no ramsinks, which hampers memory overclocking, and with all the extra hardware features, I'd imagine the extra power requirements and power activity may interfere with overclocking, though I'm only guessing here.

Final Words

Although there isn't such a thing as a perfect piece of hardware, the ATi All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro comes pretty damn close. It is extremely fast, and will have no problems playing any of today's games at high resolutions, and with the eye-candy turned on. We don't yet have any GeForce FX cards, or ATi's 9800 Pro in the labs, but the general consensus around the community is that the 9700 Pro still holds its own.

Outside of gaming, where the AiW 9700 Pro shines, it's the multimedia features that are especially impressive. The Theater 200 is a technological marvel, and improves greatly on the previous generation of the chip. The end result is a cleaner image, and additional items such as the Cobra Engine, and VideoSoap are welcome features for video editors. Even if you don't edit video, video and TV quality are improved over past AiW cards.

The Remote Wonder works as it should, and if you are planning a PC-oriented home theatre setup, a remote is a must have, though it isn't the perfect mouse substitute.

On the subject of drivers, the days of shoddy ATi drivers are hopefully behind us. The ATi engineers have been pumping out great drivers since the introduction of the Catalyst, and they're quick to fix problems as they arise. They don't come out at the same frequency as nVidia's leaked drivers, but ATi is committed to making sure their drivers are WHQL certified.

As impressive as the AiW 9700 Pro is, it isn't perfect. Given that it features video editing capabilities, I would have like to have seen a FireWire connection included. Another annoyance was the omission of an internal audio cable to connect to the sound card. The connection itself is no longer a standard, so forget about using the one that came with your CDROM drive. The thing is, you need this cable if you want sound from your TV, and given the price of the AiW 9700 Pro, I feel that it should be included.

This brings up the subject of cost. At , it certainly doesn't come cheap, but you'll have to realize that it packages a lot more functionality than a regular video card. Also consider that it's only 40$ to 50$ more than a regular 9700 Pro, so in my opinion, the AiW 9700 Pro is a bargain if you're planning on buying a high-end card.

There's been a debate in our video card forum about the idea of using an AiW 9700 Pro in a multimedia PC over a dedicated TiVo. In my opinion, a multimedia PC can do a heck of a lot more than a TiVo, such as play MP3s, AVIs, surfing the net, and playing games (and with the R300 GPU, play them well). Then again, if you plan on just watching TV, and taping shows, I wouldn't necessarily toss out the TiVo, but the one advantage the AiW has in this situation is that the Guide+ software does not require a subscription for its services.

The All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro is not ATi's fastest card, nor is it the cheapest. It is the best-rounded card in their current line-up, let alone anybody's line-up. With the recent announcement of the AiW 9800 Pro, prices will surely drop on this one, and despite being based on last year's technology, don't be discouraged if you were planning to pick up this card. It's as close to perfect as a video card can be, and it's something you can buy right now.

Pros: Great gaming performance, excellent 2D and 3D image quality, TV-Tuner, cables and remote included...

Cons: ... but no CD audio cable! No FireWire, or out of the box dual monitor support.

Bottom Line: Right now, ATi has no competition in this particular segment of the video card market. Usually, lack of competition means stagnant development. Luckily, this isn't the case, and each generation of the All-in-Wonder line continues to improve noticably. If you got any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.