ATI AIW 7500 64M Replacement?

[TaranScorp]

Ok, my All In Wonder 7500 card puked on me and I'm
wondering if I should just get another just like it or is there a better card these days for PCI slots. All I'm doing is VHS to DVD conversions but am interested in quality. I started using my card about 6 years ago so maybe there are some better cards these days for better quality captures.

Thanks

[justin81]

I'm in your boat. I had an All in Wonder 9600 that I can no longer use with the new computer since it does not have an AGP slot so I was forced to upgrade to something PCI based.

I'm currently using the Hauppauge WinTV HVR 1850. The included WinTV software was basically useless to me since I can't control things like bitrate, resolution, frame rate and all that good stuff. I'm having a heck of a time finding software that works with it and 64 bit version of Vista.

[neomaine]

Familiar territory. I ended up dual booting Win2k with a ATI AIW 9600xt to do the job. Should be able to find one. If not let me know. Think I still have 1 or 2 laying around after upgrading my kids PCs.

[TaranScorp]

I made a mistake. The 7500 only comes in AGP so I'm actually looking for a replacement AGP capture card.
Is the 9600 a big improvement over 7500 in capture quality?

[lordsmurf]

I have a ATI AIW AGP 7200 card that is in PCI cardslot. I'm not sure, however, if the PCI Express systems allow a normal PCI slot card to be used for graphics. May depend on the BIOS.

This is the reason I keep AGP systems in my office, used almost exclusively for capturing work.

Trying to do quality video capture, in Vista 64, on a PCI-e system, is like running a marathon with one leg. There's just not much of anything worth a crap out there anymore. It's all about Tivo-like features, with no regard to capturing we did pre-DVD recorders.

[Relayerman]

I actually saw an AIW 8500DV on ebay not too long ago. Its supposed to be a step up from the 7500. I have one and it works fine for me. Its AGP with only 64mb ram, but with Catalyst 4.12 drivers and MMC 9.03 it captures great. Mine is 8 years old, but still working (knock on wood).

[johns0]

I have a ATI AIW AGP 7200 card that is in PCI cardslot. I'm not sure, however, if the PCI Express systems allow a normal PCI slot card to be used for graphics. May depend on the BIOS.

You can use a pci video card instead of a pci-e card,done it myself when i had to replace a card

I used a pci video capture card on vista 64 for 8m sony video of family events plus a few customers requests,about the only thing the capture card was good for,got a dvd recorder and now it just sits there.

[lordsmurf]

The 7500 and 8500 are more or less the same thing. The ATI series did not "step up" until the 9000 series cards. I've never seen an 8500DV PCI cards, only AGP. Are you sure yours is PCI?

That's good to hear at least some systems can take PCI on a PCIe. I'm still not confident every BIOS will cooperate, however, I'd urge people to sniff around their BIOS and look.

[TaranScorp]

Ok, so is the AIW 9600 that much better at capture quality then the AIW 7500 AGP?
My 7500 did a pretty good job but if I can squeak out better captures with the 9600
I will try to get a 9600 AGP.

[lordsmurf]

Is it better? There might be a slight % (2-5%) better image, but it's mostly about the ability for filters and MPEG encoding to work better, offloading some % of the work to the ATI VPU (video processor). And other issues, such as better noise prevention (FM noise, for example) and better coax tuner performance. There are less internal problems, in this manner, which can yield better videos, but not necessarily so.

[neomaine]

I made a mistake. The 7500 only comes in AGP so I'm actually looking for a replacement AGP capture card.
Is the 9600 a big improvement over 7500 in capture quality?

I've got one of each! 9600 pci and a 9600xt agp. Offer is still open. No charge for the card... PM me if you're interested.

[TaranScorp]

You guys have been very helpful especially neomaine for offering me a replacement card.
All I need to know now is which Catalyst driver and which MMC software works best with the AIW 9600 card for capturing on a Windows 2000 system.

[Relayerman]

You'll get differing opinions on the Catalyst driver and MMC mix. For me, on Win XP, the Cat 4.12 and MMC 9.03 works best. I think after MMC 9.03 the Video Soap options disappear if thats any concern.

[TaranScorp]

Do you think that combo will work on Win2000?
I read somewhere that MMC 9.02 was the last stable version.
Also I'm still interested in which drivers are the best on Win2000.
Thanks for all the help

[Nelson37]

Never got much use out of Video Soap.

Been trying to remember when W2K just didn't cut it anymore, it was right around 8.8 or 9.03. Had to move to XP.

9.03, 9.06 or 8, currently using 9.16, which I think was the last one. Haven't really had any major problems with any of them, the installation is the fun part. What works on a particular PC, OS, and card version is as close to a complete crapshoot as you can find. Decide what features you want or need and start with that software. After getting 48k audio and VBR recording, I really didn't see a whole lot of difference. The newer versions might have a better IVTC, but my source has changed so hard to tell.

Versions 9.13 or higher use a different encoding engine, their behavior concerning actual bitrates relative to specified is different. Biggest problem is major bitrate spikes resulting in non-standard DVD files. I hardly ever burn disks anymore so this is less of a problem. Older versions, 9.08 or lower, did not have the spike problem. However, outside of the DVD arena, the spikes might actually be a benefit.

All MMC versions have their little quirks and complexities, but after using the Hauppage software, MMC is absolutely marvelous.

[DarrellS]

Checked my back-up folder to see which one I was using with my ATI AIW VE 64MB (7500) on Windows 2000 and I was using...

6-2_ccc_enu_30152.exe
6-2_xp-2k_dd_30152.exe
6-2_xp-2k_wdm_30152.exe
mmc-9-02-0-0.exe

I really liked this setup because I could capture straight to DivX 6.8 which made editing a breeze with Virtualdub in Smart Render mode. I don't believe I could do this with older MMCs.

ATI still has a download for the drivers but they have MMC 9.08 for Windows 2000. You can google to find a 9.02 somewhere else though.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/aiwradeonx-2k.aspx?type=2.5&product=2.4.1....ostype=Windows 2000 - Professional

http://drivers.softpedia.com/progDownload/ATi-Multimedia-Center-902-Download-6379.html

[lordsmurf]

VideoSoap is only useful in certain instances. The VideoSoap presets are near-useless. For example, a 18% salt-and-pepper/despeckle can really help from slightly grainy EP mode VHS tapes.

[Video Head]

I have a ATI AIW AGP 7200 card that is in PCI cardslot. I'm not sure, however, if the PCI Express systems allow a normal PCI slot card to be used for graphics. May depend on the BIOS.

This is the reason I keep AGP systems in my office, used almost exclusively for capturing work.

Trying to do quality video capture, in Vista 64, on a PCI-e system, is like running a marathon with one leg. There's just not much of anything worth a crap out there anymore. It's all about Tivo-like features, with no regard to capturing we did pre-DVD recorders.

My ATI AIW 9800 Pro AGP is my primary capture card. It sees very little use these days but I'm keeping a whole system running for it and I'm not giving it up! ATI software be dammed, the thing works great!

[TaranScorp]

6-2_ccc_enu_30152.exe
6-2_xp-2k_dd_30152.exe
6-2_xp-2k_wdm_30152.exe
mmc-9-02-0-0.exe

I had 9.02 on my hard drive already and the other files I downloaded from the supplied link.
These files should work fine with a newer card then the 7500?
Doesn't the AIW 9800 card need it's own power source from the PSU?

[Video Head]

Not certain on the answer to your first question.

Yes, the 9800 does require power from the PSU.

[sanlyn]

Trying to do quality video capture, in Vista 64, on a PCI-e system, is like running a marathon with one leg. There's just not much of anything worth a crap out there anymore. It's all about Tivo-like features, with no regard to capturing we did pre-DVD recorders.

Hear hear! Agreed 500% ! Had to build my own AGP-equipped PC (I built 2 of 'em, just in case, with a 3rd motherboard as a spare) for my 7500 and 9600XT cards. On one motherboard I could install the 9600 + MMC, but on the 7500 board I could install Catalyst but not MMC. No problem for me, I don't use MMC for capture anyway.

I just caught sight of this thead today, so off I went to look up the web links I saved for earlier Catalyst/AIW drivers. Alas, AMD has shut off access to those sites. Meanwhile I have copies of the drivers for Cat 3.1 thru 3.9 (AIW 7500) and Cat 3.9 thru 4.7 for the 9600. I use 4.7 for the 9600 because later Catalyst WMD's gave me problems with VirtualDub, and I don't need the ATI player anyay.

Again, lordsmurf, I agree. It's a damn shame. My JVC 7600 needed a capstan -- no way, not a capstan anywhere on the planet. At least I can play the front half of a 6-hour VHS okay, but that leaves me my two old Pannies and an ancient 1991 Sony (m'god, I had the capstan motor replaced in 2005 and the darn thing just keeps on goin'. Don't ask what I'll do if the heads give out).

Maybe I'm fortunate. I got all this stuff in a mad rush 4 years ago at closeout prices, and built the PC's just in time last year for all the hardware to disappear from the market. Same for my DVD recorders: one was new, one was a refurb copy, both have disappared. Except for the Toshiba RD-XS34 recorder. I saw used '34s (used!) on Amazon for $800+. They were MSRP $499 brand-new. I saw a used AIW 9600XT on eBay recently, it got snatched in auction for $480 !!!

And I still have another 200 or so hours of old VHS tapes to be transferred. Cross fingers, pray, live right. It's all one can do.