Board analysis

ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT board

Back of the card

Chance are, if you’ve seen an X800 XT AGP board before, or even any X800-class card for that matter, the ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT will look pretty ornate to you. Other than the card’s cooler (which is also slightly changed) the AIW X800 XT looks like an entirely different board.

For starters, the ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT departs from ATI tradition, trading ATI’s trademark red PCB for a purple one. We actually like the new color the board is decked out in. You’ll also note the board’s gold-colored aluminum heatsinks for the VPU’s heatsink and power circuitry, as well as the gold-plated Microtune TV tuner.

Back plate of the AIW X800 XT

Check out the cooling

Heatsink sits over memory modules

The VPU’s heatsink is larger than the stock heatsink ATI uses on their desktop RADEON X800 cards, covering both the VPU and the card’s memory (although the memory modules on the underside of the card aren’t cooled), ATI then tops the heatsink off with a mean-looking Gryphon.

Heatsink has rolled fins

Top of the heatsink

Floppy power connector

If you look on the top right corner of the board, you’ll notice that due to space constrictions, the 4-pin Molex power connector ATI uses on their X800 cards is swapped out for a floppy drive connector, just like the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 and older RADEON 9500/9700 cards. If you recall, ATI switched to Molex power connectors for enhanced durability, one downside of the floppy connectors that were used is that they can be damaged when the power cable is pulled out. For instance, one of the four pins can be bent off. Based on the amount of space ATI uses for their Molex connector on the X800 XT AGP, our guess is that ATI simply ran out of space for the AIW X800 XT’s power connector.

A quick glance at the back plate of the AIW X800 XT reveals the board’s DVI and VGA connections. The lack of a DVI option for AIW 9600/9600 PRO/XT was a big disappointment for a lot of enthusiasts, as flat panels are really growing in popularity. ATI’s argument was that the mainstream and value users that the AIW 9600 family was targeted for likely don’t have a pricier DVI-capable display, obviously this argument couldn’t be used for a $500 AIW X800 XT card, so we’re glad to see ATI incorporate connections for both displays. Strangely enough however, ATI doesn’t include a DVI adapter in the ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT’s packaging.

Lots of goodies included with the card

Installation

Upon opening the ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT’s box, you’ll be greeted by a plethora of cables, and of course the input/output dongles we mentioned previously, but don’t let this intimidate you, as installation of the card and getting it up and running for TV watching is a snap. Simply plug the card in, hook up the mini AV out cable (the connector rests just above the DVI connector), plug in your coaxial connections for the FM tuner (the FM antenna is provided in the box) and your cable provider, and hook up the appropriate input/output dongles, as well as the pass through cable for audio. Once that’s done, boot up the computer, load all drivers and software programs included on the CATALYST CD, reboot, and you’re all done! The whole process shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes from beginning to end (depending on the speed of your computer), once you’re done, ATI’s TV tuner software will automatically scan for all your available channels, while Gemstar’s GUIDE PLUS software will download local TV listings for your area.