| Full Review of ATi's All-in-Wonder Radeon |  |
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Introduction
A couple of weeks ago we took a deeper exploration into the multimedia video oriented solutions of today's graphics cards with the Asus V7700 Deluxe Review and now we're continuing this journey with the newly released ATi All-in-Wonder (AIW) Radeon. The All-in-Wonder series has been well known for its specialization in the multimedia video hardware/software area and as of lately, hasn't had much competition. Lack of competition is rarely a good thing and consumer's pocketbooks have been paying the price, until now. Thanks to Asus, ATi now has a legitimate challenger in the V7700 Deluxe and we're here to see just how well the AIW Radeon does to defend its reputation for being the best consumer graphics video solution. 3D performance, video hardware abilities and the bundled software are compared between the two to decide who'll be our new consumer multimedia video solution of choice.
The Hardware The AIW version of the Radeon isn't exactly the same as the Radeon reviewed by Tom a few weeks back as this board is only 32MBs of 6ns memory and is clocked at a slightly slower (166MHz core and 333MHz memory). Obviously this isn't a big deal to most fans of this type of card as 3D performance typically is the second most important thing as video performance is the main concern. Aside from this, there is a slight change in design to fit the additional components for the TV tuner and audio processing chip. The TV tuner simply gives you the ability to connect local cable or an antenna to your video card. The audio chip is used to process incoming TV audio and redirects the signal to your audio card. The changes seem fairly simple but obviously the 3D performance will take a hit due to some of the downgraded parts.
On the backside of the card, you'll notice a mini-din in/out, coaxial input and a DVI-I connector. Notice the lack of a VGA connector? ATi supplies a DVI-I to VGA converter dongle to provide you with VGA output. A strong number of AIW users will take advantage of the DVI-I output and with space becoming an issue with such a congested board; this was probably the best solution to offer both connection types on the same board. See a picture of the converter below. The Hardware, Continued
The input and output connections both require the use of custom cables (both provided) that split into several other connection types. The input cable is designed to be more cosmetically appealing than your standard cable as it will most likely been seen atop of a TV or stand. This cable has a box at the end with an S-Video in and composite audio/video in. Clearly the S-Video is the connection of choice for an input but either choice is available.
On the output side of things, the cable ends in a braid of connections. You have S-Video out, composite audio/video out, mini-stereo audio out, and a S/PDIF RCA jack out. The S-Video and S/PDIF outputs are the optimal choices but the mini-stereo connection to the audio card is a must if you'll be using the TV tuner abilities of the card. The Software ATi is providing several pieces of software with the AIW Radeon from their proprietary launcher utility bar to 3rd party video editing software. Let's take a peek at each of the software components shipping with the AIW.
Click here for a full size image. The ATi section of software provides a shortcut toolbar to all their programs: TV tuner, DVD player, CD player, File player (plays various multimedia file formats) and TV Listing software (Gemstar's Guide+). Note: Many of you asked me about being able to setup a VCR or tuner box in conjunction with your video-in capable graphics cards to give you the TV tuner functionality and it is indeed a possibility as I've done it with my V7700 Deluxe setup. The Software, Continued One of the cool features available on the AIW Radeon is called Timeshifting. Timeshifting gives you the ability to pause the playback of a live video input (TV or Camcorder recording) and resume it a bit later, while the original life broadcast is still being recorded. This obviously requires the AIW to record video and play back video that has been recorded already at the same time, to make sure you aren't missing anything. The ATi software digitally stores (in MPEG-2 format) up to 30 minutes of compressed video (default setting) so that you don't miss any of the live footage. The ability to zoom in, pan or take a still picture is available during video playback and with Timeshifting available you won't miss a thing.
Click here for a full size image. Another useful feature for those who use the TV tuner to watch cable TV is the TV listing software from Gemstar. The Guide+ program lets you find television programs like you would in TV Guide but on your TV set. Listings are updated weekly through a short connection over the net to update your computer's program listings. You're able to not only find event listings but also schedule your computer to digitally capture a particular show when it comes on. It's almost like setting up your VCR to tape a show except it's much easier to do. Keep in mind that you can capture as many shows as long as you have the hard disk space. The ATi software does have a protection setting where it won't write past a certain space use limitation that you can set. The rest of the software players available from ATi are pretty simple and do the job of Window's Media player and things like Winamp. There isn't really a better solution that you couldn't download for free but it saves the average user the trouble by supplying a wide variety of pre-loaded multimedia software. The Software, Continued ATi has also packaged Ulead's Video Studio and is the same version that is shipping with Asus's V7700 Deluxe. To learn more about this software, please refer look here. I will add the available formats of the Ulead Video Studio software as many of you requested, but put it in a table. I assume this won't be too much information as an overwhelming amount of you requested it.
Click here for a full size image. The Software, Continued The next piece of software you'll be able to toy around with is Mediator 5, a post video editing utility that let's you create various things like e-greetings, product catalogues, slideshows, photo albums and fancy self executing videos (AVI and MPEG based). Most of the above can be done fairly easy through the program wizard and within minutes you can create most of the above. Keep in mind that the videos and pictures will be made with other programs first. This program is mainly for creating a final 'package' of sorts.
Click here for a full sized image. The final software title is called Merlin VR. It is basically a modeling program that is geared for more of a novice modeler. Most folks who know their stuff will use the traditional big name software's like 3DSMax, Maya and so on. This software was actually a pain to use and although it might be easier to use than a more complex modeling program, it was tough nonetheless. It claims to be very point and click friendly but after a couple hours of toying with the interface, my project didn't turn out very good. I've used easier programs but some of you may find this useful. Video Performance After toying a bit with the various software titles, I loaded up the DVD player, camcorder and Ulead software to begin my video input/output and video compression tests. If you're not familiar with my last bit of video testing, please go here first. The first note I'd like to make is that I'm still sticking with a non-DV camcorder as the prices are still ridiculous for most and I doubt many of you have one. I did research the newer models available and found it interesting that Sony had a DV ready model that was able to capture footage at some 1024 lines or so. Too bad the near $2k price tag will keep most users from bothering with it yet. Starting with the input testing, I played back the same footage I used for my V7700 Deluxe review and compared playback quality. I was hoping to see a clear advantage on the AIW product but I did not. This has most likely to do with the already poor video quality that was being pumped into it. When I ran DVD video in, the story remained the same however so I figured that ruled out the poor input excuse. When it came to output, the desktop edges did seem slightly jagged on both machines but everything else like DVD playback was nearly identical. Text is still a pain to read on a TV and I wouldn't advise for any type of text work to be done on a TV set (at least until we all have HDTVs). I couldn't pick a winner in this area, as the quality was too close on each solution. Next I loaded up my indoor and outdoor footage and made high and low quality NTSC MPEG-2 videos. Wow, the AIW Radeon finally came through! High quality MPEG-2 footage had noticeable color clarity. The outdoor footage was the most obvious example where a wide variety of colors and brightness's existed. I'm currently working on a download effective method to show examples of the quality differences so you can see for yourselves. Hopefully this will be the case once the ELSA VIVO add-on makes it way to me. The AIW Radeon without a doubt gets the thumbs up over the V7700 Deluxe for image quality when creating MPEG-2 videos. Driver Interface The driver interface hasn't changed much since the Radeon so you can review it here. There was one property window that changed a little so I've added it below just as a small note.
The only big difference here is that you can see the FPD control section since the graphics card supports that feature. ATi's AIW Radeon Demo Machine Early on in the review process, I was shipped what ATi felt was a good example of what the AIW Radeon can be used for in the living room of your home. They slapped together a P3 700 system equipped with an Asus CUSL2 motherboard, ATi AIW Radeon (surprise!), 128MBs of PC133 RAM, Creative SB Live!, and a all the other bells and whistles. I decided to go ahead and take it home for a sample of what the AIW can add to the living room entertainment experience. Below are some pictures of the setup along with a few comments.
Here you can see the overview of my home test entertainment center. The AIW Radeon test system is tucked away. Can you see it? Oh yeah, I thought the wireless setup was cool but I still think it can be a pain, especially the trackball mouse, ugh.
Now that you've stepped closer, you can see the AIW Radeon system along with the receiver and hardware DVD player. ATi's AIW Radeon Demo Machine, Continued
We placed the input box on top of the TV as the camcorder can sit right on top of the center channel and plug right in.
Connecting the AIW setup to my existing home system wasn't such a pain as you can see the connections aren't too very difficult. I thought the input and output cables would be putting too much stress on the plugs of the card, but once things were setup, everything was fine.
Usually you'll have a DVD movie playing full screen but at the time I was in a window to adjust some other things. ATi's AIW Radeon Demo Machine, Continued After using the AIW home system for a few days, I figured out that its uses were somewhat limited in my case. I already have a hardware DVD player and a Dolby surround sound receiver so most of my needs are covered for watching movies. I also have digital cable in my area so I don't really need the tuner features of the AIW or the TV guide software. What I did end up using the system for was goofing around with a few games, playing MP3's and capturing a few clips from a TV show or two. Games are a kick to play on your TV as long as it doesn't require you to read small text. MP3's were a warm welcome to my sound system as the HDD was able to hold a ton of my favorite albums without having to shuffle through CDs. The videos I captured were sections of the news I found interesting and mailed to someone through the painfully slow modem. The machine has a LAN card inside but my DSL connection isn't ready yet so the modem had to do. Overall the system wasn't something I'd fight to have in my living room but it has its perks. The main annoyance was that the resolution of the system had to be turned to 640x480 to make most of the fonts legible and it really killed desktop space. I'm not sure about you but even for a recreation PC, a small desktop is a big headache. Now that we're done reviewing the system, ATi in coordination with Tom's Hardware has decided to auction off this evaluation unit on EBay and all proceeds will go to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Head over to EBay here or look for item number 414222523. The unit will be touched up with a Tom's Hardware Logo and should look like the picture below. Test Setup
Benchmark Notes Note that an Asus V7700 Deluxe would perform as our reference 32MB GeForce2 would so keep an eye for that number to compare who has the better 3D performance. Also note that an article is on its way to address the Detonator 3 issues many of you have. Although there are several stability bugs, the drivers will most likely stabilize in an upcoming driver rev and I don't feel that moving back the old driver for comparison purposes is necessary just yet. If the drivers continue to cause stability issues for most users in the next few weeks, I'll then go back to the stable 5.32 driver. Benchmark Expectations The AIW Radeon should be somewhere between 10-15% slower than its 64MB, higher clocked brother, the Radeon. This may put the card in a very bad position in a few tests but the results should still be good considering that this is geared to be a multimedia beast. Test Results - Quake 3 Arena DEMO001
In 16-bit the AIW Radeon suffers badly like its big brother but it does handle things a bit better when 32-bit mode is toggled on. In any case, the AIW is definitely behind the 32MB GeForce2 setup. Test Results - MDK2 Demo
Things don't change much in MDK2. Although the AIW isn't beating the 32MB GeForce2, it's still putting up some very generous numbers even in 32-bit color. Test Results - Evolva Rolling Demo
Jumping into Evolva we see the same trends with the AIW nipping at the hells of the 32MB GeForce in 32-bit color. Test Results - Evolva Rolling Demo Bump Mapped
Bump mapped mode seems to be a weaker spot for the AIW as it falls farther behind in general. I'm sure that having the smaller, slower frame buffer isn't helping much. Please note that the VD5 5500 isn't capable of running this test and that's why it has no score. Test Results - Evolva Rolling Demo FSAA
With Full Scene Anti Aliasing toggle on, the AIW is still in the back of the pack. The 32MB GF2 is obviously the 3D performer of the two. Performance Conclusion The AIW Radeon took a big hit all around as it's held back by slower clock speeds and a smaller memory pool to work with. The overall performance isn't bad but it isn't a card for the persons in need of the absolute best 3D performance. The card will probably cover the 3D performance area for most. Conclusion ATi has redefined what I consider a true multimedia graphics solution with its superior video hardware/software performance, functionality and value. At $329 ($299 if you send in for the mail in rebate) the AIW Radeon is a bargain for those looking to have a good 3D performer with outstanding multimedia features and performance. The V7700 Deluxe tries hard but falls short for those in need of the non-3D features, while it shows superior 3D-performance. If you're looking for this type of graphics card, the performance of the new AIW being above average should be just fine though, as most of you have expressed that games come second. For those who fancy fast 3D performance first and multimedia features second, you might want to think heavily before purchasing the AIW Radeon. Although the scores are relatively in the same ballpark, the numbers won't add up for those who consider themselves power users. The AIW can only offer so much and it really takes a beating under 16-bit or bump-mapped situations. Maybe the V7700 Deluxe can cover your multimedia needs as it provides excellent 3D although it comes with a shorter list of multimedia advantages. My final judgment is that the ATi AIW Radeon is the solution to get if you're hunting for a multimedia solution that has all around ability. Solid 3D, superior value, an untouched software bundle and leading edge video performance all support my decision to place this card above the rest.
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