Help me decide on a ATI card

[Rayan]

Ok fellas, I can't thank you enough for all the points you have made. Some I need to look into further. In the meantime, just some additional info I have gathered:

For those who recommeded AIW 7500, FYI, this product seems to be going out... ATI website kind of hides that behind the AIW VE which is also 7500 based. Frys around LA don't carry AIW 7500 anymore.. They checked on their computer and it does not even come up. The AIW VE is PCI card only and not AGP and does not support DVI.

I talked to ATI tech support about HW MPEG assist. They confirmed that AIW 7500 and 9000 donot have it and instead these cards use system CPU for MPEG which means do just SW encoding. ATI Tech rep could not answer if that means the AIW 9600 and up are faster in encoding, but I imagine they are.

Finally on the q of why I am 'decided' on ATI: Actually I am not. I am building a new PC and I want a good graphics card for future capability but also want to try video editing, both analog & dig. I cannot say I will do a lot of video cause I hav'nt tried to see how time consuming is. I already do a lot of thngs with still pictures and audio recording on my PC so it is a natural extension for me to try. It seems an ATI AIW card at $150-$200 like the 9000 seems a good compromise. I have studied other solutions like separate graphics card and capture card/box but they seems to work out more expensive and the result still does not seem guranteed any better. But I will look into the Pinnacle Studio 9 a bit more because it is new.

I will let u all know where I am going! Thanks 1 more time.

[lordsmurf]

The trick with calling ATI is that you must realize this: they've probably used an ATI card no longer than you have, and are reading the latest script that is being handed to them by a tech that barely speaks English. Sad, but true. So, you cannot call them for useful info. Not from my experience.

Look at the ATI AIW 9000 PRO for best bang for buck.

[Rayan]

Hello,
I am back again!
I read some reviews by users of AIW9000 Pro on tis forum. Very discouraging to hear about all the problems they had! One particular complaint caught my attention is the fan being 'VERY Noisy' . This would definitely bother me because I am trying to build a very quiet PC for my audio recording purpose. Any comments?
Thanks

[teegee420]

Any comments?

Yeah, buy something already! j/k :P
Seriously, my 7500 doesn't have a fan at all. I'm curious as to whether the 8500 does.

[offline]

Any comments?

If noise is a problem, swap fan with a peltier.

http://www.procooling.com/articles/html/pelt-technology_explained_-ric.php

[marshalljames]

Even the video that is supposedly 'Ntsc DVD Compliant Mpeg 2', gets the message from my authoring program (DVD Architect) that it is non-compliant video and has to be reencoded.


Funny I got that message from Nero Vision Express and Pinnacle Studio 8.
I solved the problem differently.I dumped the crappy programming and started using TMPEGEnc DVD Author and it sucks up any mpeg 1 or 2 I throw at it.
I gather this is how the boys at pinnaclegestapo sucker people into to buying there crappy products........they will only regognize there mpegs and give a bullshit error message.....

If you can still find one I would buy the AIW 128 pro,it has the same capture drivers(Rage Theatre) as the newer models.
I bought the 7500 and now with 20/20 hindsight I should have just taken my old rage 128 AIW out of my old very slow machine and stuck it into my new very fast machine..

[babyboo]

Seriously, my 7500 doesn't have a fan at all.

My 7500 has a fan.

[donpedro]

Seriously, my 7500 doesn't have a fan at all.

My 7500 has a fan.

I don't know about yours guys, but I can post you couple of pictures of nVidia GeForce FX5200 WITH and aslo WITHOUT fan.

[teegee420]

Here's a pic of mine:

[thecoalman]

I would suggest not getting a AIW card for video capture. I'm using a AIW 9800 PRO. The graphics on games are stunning. I can render 3d animations quickly and the TV tuner works fine.

Capturing analog video with it has been nothing but a hassle. see my post here: https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=214273

See this discussion forumn here (view the bottom portion) : http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=005hln

See the comments under capture cards under the Other section to the left or do a google search on it.

[Rayan]

Thecoalman, I have not decided on the AIW yet so I will study what u are saying. I am considering getting separate garphics card like the Radeon 9000 and a capture card like E Home Wonder.

I would appreciate anyone who has experience with this specific approach, please advice! I am not in a big rush to start something and spend lot of time troubleshooting. So I will take time to decide.

Thanks
Rayan