Introduction

ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO: Making the best even better

When ATI originally announced the RADEON 9800 PRO, it didn’t take long for enthusiasts to dream of the potential an ALL-IN-WONDER card based on the RADEON 9800 VPU would bring. In fact, we imagine many of you are disappointed it hasn’t come sooner; the RADEON 9800 PRO core has been available for months now.

ATI’s ALL-IN-WONDER series of graphics cards have won such a loyal following of consumers due to their unique ability to combine so many capabilities into one package. Not only do you get a card that’s capable of handling the regular 2D and 3D duties you associate with any modern graphics card, ALL-IN-WONDER cards can be used to capture videos, making them perfect for editing home movies, and with the built-in TV tuner you can transform your PC into a home entertainment device, capable of not only display television programming, but also recording your favorite shows. Finally, the built-in personal video recording (PVR) software can turn your PC into a full-blown TiVo-like device.

RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (top) AIW 9800 PRO (middle) and 9800 PRO 128MB (bottom)

ATI's high-end ALL-IN-WONDER cards

Because of this, the ALL-IN-WONDER series has been an incredible success for ATI. Over half a decade (and millions of cards produced) after its inception, ALL-IN-WONDER has become the de facto multimedia standard despite the efforts of the now defunct 3dfx, Matrox, and most recently, NVIDIA, to unseat it. With each successive ALL-IN-WONDER release, ATI’s multimedia lineup only gets better, and with prices ranging from $129 to $450, ATI’s got the market saturated with products.

As its name implies, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO fuses ATI’s RADEON 9800 PRO core with the video input and TV tuning functionality that encompasses the engine of the ALL-IN-WONDER lineup. ATI then rounds the package out with slick multimedia software (both in-house as well as third-party applications) and what’s widely regarded as the most powerful remote control unit to ever grace the PC: REMOTE WONDER.

The end result is a product that has impressed us once again due to its extraordinary flexibility (they don’t call it the ALL-IN-WONDER for nothing) and just as importantly, ease of use. After all, having one of the most powerful graphics cards in the world means nothing if you can’t understand how to use it.

Read on to see why we are so enamored with this card, but be careful, by the end of the review you’ll be lusting after one yourself!