AIW 9800Pro vs ATI TV Wonder PRO [720x480 8mb p/s]

[teph-lon]

I tried out the 9800Pro and love the crisp picture it captures in DVD (mpeg2?) capture mode at 720x480 at 8mb p/s.

I want one but $$$. I'm using a TV Wonder VE which can't do the 720x480 and looks grainy still capturing at 352x240 8mb p/s DVD. Does the TV Wonder PRO look as good as the 9800 capturing wise? Or how about the new HDTV/Analog card ATI came out with?

[lordsmurf]

The 9800 has THEATRE chips.

[dun4cheap]

Hold off, and get the new ATI HD TV Wonder. Then when you upgrade video cards all the time your not buying a new TV card.

[lordsmurf]

How many people actually upgrade the video card all the time? Or even the CPU? I just don't understand that philosophy. So many people, myself included, just buy the best at the start of the system. Then, later on, normally 3-5 years down the road, buy a totally new system. Are there seriously people that change video cards "all the time"? What for? Video games?

[dun4cheap]

lordsmurf, I am sure it is more common than you think. Not only that, just the speed difference in two years for any realistic video editing can be worth the upgrade. Myself, I have gone the external direction with my ADS Pyro AV link wrather than mess around with the AIW or TV Wonder stuff. Plus I really would not recommend going with an AIW9800 pro at this time, especially with the x800 AIW coming soon with PCI Express which would definately offer greater performance. But then again I still would not go the AIW, but a separate HD TV Wonder Board and an X800 card or X600 depending what is priced right. I tyipically upgrade my video card once a year. My last jump was from an ATI AIW 9000 to an ATI 9600pro. The 9000 went into my multimedia center and I use it as a TIVO . (Works Well)

[dj4monie]

That depends on what type of user you are.

Smurf I would guess is somewhat of a power user but not much of a game player, so he doesn't need to upgrade his cards with every GPU taxing Direct X game that comes down.

If you have over 2Ghz CPU, get the fastest card you can afford.

The AIW 9600XT is a great for the money (about $200 street) and only the 9800 series cards are faster in terms of gaming quality. It has the newest tv/capture chip set, not the Theather chip in the 9800 but with more memory onboard and better clock speed than the 9600 or 9600Pro, it does very well in the screens I have seen captured with it.

Another good choice is the AIW 9700Pro

Its about the same price as the AIW 9600XT and it has a slightly faster GPU clock speed. But the 9600XT can be overclocked very close the 9800XT none AIW card.

Good Luck