what are the major differences & advanteges to these 2 Ati AIWs

[undyingforce5]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7220232&type=product&id=1114638817664

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=14-102-352&CMP=KNC-GoogleAdwords&ATT=1372

im looking to buy one of these but i dont know which to get. they seem so similar and i dont know jack about video cards

thanks

[Dustwalker14]

The first one is a 9600XT which has a higher clockspeed than the second but has 128 of memory compared to 256 on the second. Personally I just get a good video card (newegg has a geforce 6800gt by ledtek for 289) and a seperate video capture/ tv tuner card.

If your decided upone the all-in-wonder however, id go with the first one.

[undyingforce5]

The first one is a 9600XT which has a higher clockspeed than the second but has 128 of memory compared to 256 on the second. Personally I just get a good video card (newegg has a geforce 6800gt by ledtek for 289) and a seperate video capture/ tv tuner card.

If your decided upone the all-in-wonder however, id go with the first one.

what advantages are there a a higher clock speed? and what about 128 vs 256?

thanks

[psiufoxx2]

Hey undying - Graphics Cards are generally categorized by three things:

1) Chipset
2) Clock Speed
3) Memory

All three of these work in tandem to produce the final performance of the card.

The chipset refers to the build of the card, ie how new it is. The clock speed is a measurement of how many calculations per second a card can perform - the faster, the better - clock speed generally determines "frames per second". Memory size generally translates to the amount of detail a graphics card can provide at high resolutions.

So what you want is a newer chipset at a high clock speed with lots of memory.

I personally own a Leadtek 6600GT. It has a 500mhz Clock Speed and 128mb of DDR3 RAM. Now that means that I can pump out some crazy frame rates, but mostly at lower resolutions like 1280x1024. Once I hit 1600x1200 the lack of 256mb of memory really shows as my frame rates drop significantly. Had I bought a 256mb card I could easily hit 40fps at 1600x1200.

Memory speed also matters. In all practical cases a 128 meg card with faster memory will be a faster card than one with more (but slower) memory. There are rare cases where 256megs will be better, but in most of those cases, the speed of the card simply won't be fast enough to matter (you'd get teens for framrates with either card). Realistically VERY FEW games take advantage of the extra 128 megs. Most games are made with some backwards compatibility in mind, and sacrifice the obscenely large textures in order to maintain compatibility with 128 and even 64 meg cards. As a result memory bandwidth is far more important than memory size.

So there you have it. Depending on how much money you have and what you'd like a card to do (and if you understood this), you can now make a reasonably intelligent decision.

I'd recommend the card I own. I don't do much gaming at higher than 1280x1024 and my card kicks World of Warcraft's ass at 1600x1200 (my current addiction.) If you have a PCIexpress slot you can get the same card for $150 (http://www.xpcgear.com/px6600gttdh.html). If you have AGP you can get it for $180 (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=323626). It's a great deal either way.

And for comparison, here's an article where the 6600gt beats the 9800xt (a card even higher than the one you're looking at). (http://www.hardavenue.com/reviews/gf6600gtagp1.shtml)

If you need All-In-Wonder you can look into the x800 series for a future-proof card (PRICEY - 256mb X800xt is $365 best price :P (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=3592857&CartID=done&nextloc=)), but I'd recommend getting a SEPARATE tv tuner card - like this $26 Philips one (http://www.dvcentury.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=96-999-8699+++%5BFREE+SHIPPING%5D&Category_Code=TVTuner) - so when upgrade time comes, you can still use your old TV tuner and just buy a new gfx card.

Bottom Line:
Leadtek Winfast PX6600GT $150 + Philips Digital Tuner $26 = $176. Not bad.

[CaseyRyback]

The first one is a 9600XT which has a higher clockspeed than the second but has 128 of memory compared to 256 on the second. Personally I just get a good video card (newegg has a geforce 6800gt by ledtek for 289) and a seperate video capture/ tv tuner card.

If your decided upone the all-in-wonder however, id go with the first one.

95 percent sure it is a 20 percent increase in clockspeed over the regular 9600.

If I were the OP and could wait on a new card, I would. The x800 series AGP cards have been dropping significantly over the past month and should continue to decline in the coming weeks. I believe the AIW in those series has a better tuner so I would look into those as they should be dropping as well in the next little while

[undyingforce5]

Hey undying - Graphics Cards are generally categorized by three things:

1) Chipset
2) Clock Speed
3) Memory

All three of these work in tandem to produce the final performance of the card.

The chipset refers to the build of the card, ie how new it is. The clock speed is a measurement of how many calculations per second a card can perform - the faster, the better - clock speed generally determines "frames per second". Memory size generally translates to the amount of detail a graphics card can provide at high resolutions.

So what you want is a newer chipset at a high clock speed with lots of memory.

I personally own a Leadtek 6600GT. It has a 500mhz Clock Speed and 128mb of DDR3 RAM. Now that means that I can pump out some crazy frame rates, but mostly at lower resolutions like 1280x1024. Once I hit 1600x1200 the lack of 256mb of memory really shows as my frame rates drop significantly. Had I bought a 256mb card I could easily hit 40fps at 1600x1200.

Memory speed also matters. In all practical cases a 128 meg card with faster memory will be a faster card than one with more (but slower) memory. There are rare cases where 256megs will be better, but in most of those cases, the speed of the card simply won't be fast enough to matter (you'd get teens for framrates with either card). Realistically VERY FEW games take advantage of the extra 128 megs. Most games are made with some backwards compatibility in mind, and sacrifice the obscenely large textures in order to maintain compatibility with 128 and even 64 meg cards. As a result memory bandwidth is far more important than memory size.

So there you have it. Depending on how much money you have and what you'd like a card to do (and if you understood this), you can now make a reasonably intelligent decision.

I'd recommend the card I own. I don't do much gaming at higher than 1280x1024 and my card kicks World of Warcraft's ass at 1600x1200 (my current addiction.) If you have a PCIexpress slot you can get the same card for $150 (http://www.xpcgear.com/px6600gttdh.html). If you have AGP you can get it for $180 (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=323626). It's a great deal either way.

And for comparison, here's an article where the 6600gt beats the 9800xt (a card even higher than the one you're looking at). (http://www.hardavenue.com/reviews/gf6600gtagp1.shtml)

If you need All-In-Wonder you can look into the x800 series for a future-proof card (PRICEY - 256mb X800xt is $365 best price :P (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=3592857&CartID=done&nextloc=)), but I'd recommend getting a SEPARATE tv tuner card - like this $26 Philips one (http://www.dvcentury.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=96-999-8699+++%5BFREE+SHIPPING%5D&Category_Code=TVTuner) - so when upgrade time comes, you can still use your old TV tuner and just buy a new gfx card.

Bottom Line:
Leadtek Winfast PX6600GT $150 + Philips Digital Tuner $26 = $176. Not bad.

Thanks For the Info!!!!!

your the best :)

[SOSTrooper]

I have an ATI AIW 9800 Pro 128MB myself. I would definitely go the route that psiufoxx2 suggested if you have available PCI slots on your motherboard. It's rare nowadays that each ATI AIW's TV tuner gets a significant upgrade from the previous version. So it's really not too smart spending the extra money on an expensive ATI AIW card when you can easily split the card up and get a faster gaming graphic card plus a separate TV tuner card for same or even less price. The only reason I have the ATI AIW myself is because I have a Shuttle XPC and space is limited. But I would second what psiufoxx2 said, get an 6600GT and a separate TV tuner card (Philips, Haupauge, ATI TV Wonder, AverTV are all fine products).

[psiufoxx2]

Thanks For the Info!!!!!

your the best :)

:) :)

So.. what are you thinkin? Grabbin a 6600gt with TV tuner separate? I'd love to hear how that information translates into a purchase.

[undyingforce5]

:) :)

So.. what are you thinkin? Grabbin a 6600gt with TV tuner separate? I'd love to hear how that information translates into a purchase.

ive had my eye on an all in wonder for quite sometime and what really attracted me to it was the TV tuner and the ability to transfer my home videos to DVD (my fav feature) and getting a graphic s card all at once.
now i believe i will get them seperate and i trust your opinion on the card you own but ive never heard of that card before (not like that means anything)
so the big news is that im not getting a ATI All in wonder card (and thats a huge step)

my last question is would i need to get a seperate card to transfer my vhs to dvd?

thanks

[psiufoxx2]

ive had my eye on an all in wonder for quite sometime and what really attracted me to it was the TV tuner and the ability to transfer my home videos to DVD (my fav feature) and getting a graphic s card all at once.
now i believe i will get them seperate and i trust your opinion on the card you own but ive never heard of that card before (not like that means anything)
so the big news is that im not getting a ATI All in wonder card (and thats a huge step)

my last question is would i need to get a seperate card to transfer my vhs to dvd?

thanks

If you buy that Philips card I mentioned, that's all you will need. It allows you to capture from any device, and also has cable TV input.

Connectors:
Audio input
RF Terminal (Cable TV) input
Video in
S-Video
Line out

You'll easily be able to hook up a VCR and transfer your video from that to the computer, and then burn DVDs. I hope this information helped and will save you a bit of money. I do love helping ppl save money!!