Best bang for your buck ATI AIW card

[captainjrl]

I was looking for advice on which ATI AIW card to buy. I am not sure I want to spend $350 on a 9800, but if it was that much better I would consider. I was looking at the 9600 and 9600 pro and was not sure of the differences.

I don't play any FPS games currently but would like to.

I do video capture from my analog camcorder

I like to have the ability to watch TV on my PC.


TIA

John

[thekingofpain]

Get a non AIW Ati card and the Compro TV/FM gold http://www.comprousa.com/products/vmtvgoldplus.htm
Might make it cheaper to upgrade next time---it has more features then the TV part of the AIW---record from TV and FM radio, computer will fire itself up and record then shut itself down, record straight from your DV camera to dvd or svcd/vcd, comes with a fully functional remote and costs about 60$

Features---> http://www.comprousa.com/products/vm...us-feature.htm

[captainjrl]

bump for more help

[Ritalin Kid]

From the reviews I have read the AIW has one of the best remotes for PC TV Capture and control feature available. Though I would think a 9000 PRO AIW (if you don;t mind not having DX9 hardware support) or a 9600 PRO AIW should do plenty.

[tony_j15]

If you want a good current, bang for the buck AIW, the 9600 is the way to go. I like TKOP's suggestion, that way when a vid card gets outdated, you can ditch it and still have TV ability.

[sechs]

If you can find an AIW 8500 (not the DV), I'd say that's the best bang for the buck. It's not going to wow anybody in 3D performance, but it will play games in a more than acceptable manner.

[thekingofpain]

Forgot to add that I have the TV gold plus and its GREAT---ive had expensive AIW cards in the past and end up dumping them eventually---now I can use any videocard and my TV/FM recording function doesnt get lost---the Compro is a killer product for $60...

[blubomber]

I have been very happy with my ATI 7500 AIW and it has been a workhorse for me. so i will second the 9600 Pro AIW just because it is a DX9 video card and should be good for a couple of years. By then if you want a new videocard, it is time to upgrade your whole computer anyway.

You also get alot of good software with the AIW cards and there have been alot of good reviews on ATI's new mulitmedia center 8.x.

[fosin]

It looks like the Pro version supports MulTView, but it wasn't listed on the other one. It lets you add another Tuner card so you can watch another channel while you record, otherwise you have to watch the channel your recording. Ends up being a lot of money, so I'd also recommend getting a sperate tuner card versus the AIW. Either a cheap one or one with a QAM tuner (HD Cable) so you can input High Def cable. The AIW will output HD, but I don't think they have one yet that takes HD in.

Another note...I've noticed analog tuner cards don't seem to work too well with analog cable, maginify any inteference. There's only 3 channels on my cable not watchable (your cable may be better), but I'm ok with it for now until QAM tuners get cheaper. Just note that the difference between an analog tuner card and one with HD cable is night and day. I will also mention the software that comes with the AIWs is pretty nice. Has an option to turn on menus similiar to windows media center.