Customer Reviews

ATI All-In-Wonder X800 XT Video Card

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This card loses one star because of the work required to make it functional.

YOU MUST USE CATALYST 5.13, MMC 9.08, AND REMOTE WONDER II 3.03.00 WITH THE X800XT ALL IN WONDER. For the older ones, go to ATI's site, Drivers, XP, to the left side under drivers, XP, Radeon (or All In Wonder, doesn't matter), and Previous Drivers & Software in order to find them. All newer drivers are unstable with the x800xt AIW and have made TV On Demand a permanent service running in the background. They're really designed to cater towards the new PCIE 1800 series cards. Hyperthreading and dual core processing should be turned off whenever using TV streaming. Always turn off anti-spyware and anti-virus software in the background. If you have previous drivers, use the uninstall software, restart, use Driver Cleaner Pro (follow the instructions fully), delete the ATI/NVIDIA folders, then restart again before beginning.

If at anytime after a restart you get dual device sharing error messages, simply cancel out of them, restart the computer, and continue onto the next step. In those cases your computer just needs two restarts instead of one to configure properly.

Install Cat 5.13.
Restart.
Allow WDM drivers to install fully.
Restart.
MMC 9.08 part 1.
Restart.
MMC 9.08 part 2.
Restart.
MMC 9.08 part 3.
Restart.
Install Gemstar off your original driver CD.
Restart.
Install Remote Wonder II 3.03.00.
Restart.
Run Gemstar for setup, but don't let it set up TV tuner yet.
Upon Gemstar's completion (you stopped the TV), Restart again.
Open Gemstar and let it initialize your TV tuner and scan for channels.

This procedure works for me, with the TV even showing up in Gemstar. Occasionally there are still freezes when something else is running in the background, but they are usually associated with me doing something I shouldn't be. I've even had TV running in the background while using X-Plane's Planemaker. When using the PVR, never rename a recording in the middle of the recording process. Let it save in the pre-designated folder (you can change this prior to recording in setup). Stop it and go into that folder to rename and move it somewhere else. If you encounter persistent problems with crashes, the remote not being recognized, or anything else, then clean out everything and try again. You may need to uninstall the remote in Device Manager, unplug it, restart, plug it in, and restart again before installing the drivers in some of these cases. Some games/simulations also do not like MMC and Remote Wonder's software. So you may need to turn them off on the Taskbar before entering such programs.

The frame rates I get on this card are as good or better most of the time than the NVIDIA 7800 GS OC AGP I tried two weeks ago, and it runs much cooler when idle. I can overclock this to 520/560 with Tray Tools and still get great stability. That makes it essentially a Platinum level 800 series card. Add to that VIVO, TV Tuner, PVR, custom aspect ratios, cropping, zooming, etc, and it's very impressive. The radio tuner isn't very sensitive, but that might have more to do with the bundled antenna.

The ATI Rage Theater chip is the best DVD decoder I've ever come across. I have an imported Pioneer Elite SACD/DVD-A Player, and this card blows it away. Superior dynamic range in all colors, including the reds...which the Pioneer and many other players crush, destroying subtlety. With 848x480 widescreen mode, widescreen selected in the MMC options, S-Video "more sharpness", and default ATI picture settings, this card is downright reference grade through its dongle outputs to my Akai Interlaced Widescreen TV. This TV was calibrated by service technicians as close to the NTSC standard as they could. I could master DVDs on this system. And if you have a hidef TV, it will upsample; progressive scan TV, it will do that, too. Stunning quality.

Even though I can't do stereo 3D on very many titles because the Winx3D universal stereo drivers are being sat on by the company that bought them out (Opticality...curses be on you!), I refuse to buy NVIDIA anymore to remedy my stereo situation. Why? Because they're unstable gamer cards that have terrible picture quality. That 7800 was garbage. I have an eMagin head mounted display, and yet I'm giving up on 3D for most everything I use simply because this ATI card looks that good and runs that fast. Now, if Opticality would get off its rear-end and release Winx3D back to the public again (it was freeware before David C. Qualman sold out...more curses!) this ATI card would be unquestionably the best AGP card ever made. I think right now it still probably is, possibly the last great AGP card that will ever be made. Right now ATI's lack of their own stereo drivers is a handicap (even more so is their lie that stereo drivers are impossible pre-1800 series...Winx3D proves it), but it's not enough for me to give up this beauty for NVIDIA crapulence.

If you have PCIE, I guess the 1800 AIW is the way to go.

If any of you are interested in 3d stereo and have an ATI card, check out the DirectZ drivers and utility. They're just about the only version of Winx3D you can find on the net anymore and, though they aren't supported actively by the company, they do work on some titles...Draken, for instance.

This card was not built nor meant to be sold to the "casual" computer user...this is a monster card. Graphically, when paired with a comprable processor this is hard to stop. It runs Doom 3, Half Life 2, Swat 4, any intense graphic game I've thrown at it. You can run at high resolutions or low. This card adds the built in TV tuner to the already outstanding power package, where you can connect a cable wire and WATCH tv on your screen! Priceless if you ask me. For the price you are getting a LOT of technology.

This is probably not the best choice for somebody who wants to have a media center built around a computer or is a computer novice. It's a great video card (for applications/games), but not as good for video processing.

I originally bought this card over 6-months ago to run 1920x1200 resolution with my then new Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW monitor (needed an AGP card with DVI output and processing power to run games at such a high resolution). It took a few reboots to get the graphics drivers working as they should, but I was awed at the picture quality and the frame rates I was getting (still am today). I was very happy with the purchase, until I tried watching cable TV using the card. It took me days to even install the drivers and get them all working correctly without crashing every 5-seconds, and I'm not exactly a computer novice. I've tried many different versions of the software and the install crashes just installing not to mention actually running the TV-tuner. To this day my video sometimes freezes or some error occurs which forces me to reboot my machine before I can watch TV again. It's pretty annoying. Despite these annoyances when the TV does work, it's like interacting with a real TV set rather than a computer, thanks to the Remote Wonder II. I should also mention that there seems to be interference in the video as it comes in somewhat grainy (you can't tell if you don't sit right at the computer to watch TV, but this is NOT a video card I would choose if you plan on doing any serious video editing/recording). The plug, to which all the video inputs/outputs connect, is tiny and I'm sure that's part of the problem.

Good:
- Affordable considering the feature list
- When I bought it the same features cost more for a card WITHOUT the audio/video/tuner/remote
- Supports AGP for those of us not ready to upgrade our computers but need new video cards
- Very fast with lots of memory - great for photo/video editing/games (I wouldn't edit video via its inputs)
- Ok tuner for non-videophile
- Remote Wonder II is awesome when using the computer as a TV
- TV has independent volume control

Bad:
- Terrible drivers support (it shouldn't be rocket science to install)
- TV Tuner/MMC crash somewhat often (again, drivers)
- Inputs are somewhat grainy due to interference (don't use for serious video editing)
- Remote Wonder II doesn't work like a "real" remote control and is too sensitive-touching a key is enough to activate it, even though it's not pressed/clicked down
- Both video and graphics are on the same board (can't upgrade independently)

There is a lot more than can be said, but I don't want to write a book. Bottom line is if you're good with computers and you can get through the installation of this card, then you will probably enjoy it, even though it's not perfect. However, if you're somewhat a novice I would steer clear of this card. You will probably not even get it fully functioning.

I must first note that I am an IT professional and have had a lot of positive experience with ATI products in the past. That's chiefly why I choose the X800XT for my home theater `brain'...
I have owned this card for over 8 months now. While the hardware seems to be designed at a very high level and functions well, the software (all aspects of it, from the drivers to the proprietary ATI applications) has serious shortcomings. Anyone who owns this device will tell you this. An example: The software CD that came with the unit was out of date out of the box, i.e. it just didn't work. One of the first things I had to do (after wasting quite some time toying with it) was download the latest versions of every piece of software that came on the CD - including: display drivers, catalyst control center, DAO/MDAC, DVD decoder, encoder, multimedia center, remote wonder II... all of which had to be downloaded separately and installed in a very particular order. By the way, the Gemstar Guide+ software, as it turns out, you cannot update (as per ATI, the only copy you get is the one that's on the original CD).

Also, their customer service is lacking. If you have to "submit a ticket online", you will almost certainly receive an automated response telling you exactly what you just read on the website (which is also lacking). I have submitted several tickets, and got the same amount of automated responses. I have had equal luck contacting them by phone. Their responses sound scripted. I've been hung-up on several times, not called back when promised, and responded to with the same "autoresopnse" emails that I got the first time around. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would say this, but I think Microsoft has better support channels that ATI.

I suggest going with the NVIDIA equivalent.

I just recently upgraded from a Radeon 9700 Pro and the difference is significant. Although I think my Athlon XP 2800+ @ 2.2Ghz is probably bottlenecking the card a little, I don't think I can see the true performance of the card yet. But it did make playing Half-life 2 and Guild Wars a lot more fun. Guild Wars runs great at the highest setting but still lags around towns with many people (I think that happens to all computers, except high end ones maybe). Half-life 2 runs at good quality and good performance. It runs very smooth on other games like CS: Source and DoD: Source. I guess Half-life 2 requires more graphics, especially Episode 1 for some reason. All the other extras like the TV, Radio, Video Input/Output, HDTV Output, etc. I don't use often. I do check out the TV and Radio when I get bored. The quality of the TV and Video Input is alright, kind of laggy and not so clear for some reason. I'm not sure if there is a fix for it. I tried running my PS2 on it and it ran slow. IMO, if I want to run PS2 on my computer it would have to be a different TV Tuner Card (Analog perhaps?). Maybe I'll use the Video Input to record videos off my camcorder someday and post these movies off Youtube or something, I haven't tried it yet but it would be fun.

Now here's the bad part. First of all the biggest issue is the software and drivers. I haven't used the software that came with the box. I tried using as what others suggested and it works fine. But I really hate the ATi software since I rather use Media Player Classic or VLC to run my movies instead of being stuck with ATi's software. I hate opening a movie then watch it load up MMC. I know there's a way to uninstall it and reinstall it again but that became another problem. For some reason, my TV might not work or the software installation fails somewhere. I can't seem to figure out how to fix it back yet only because I'm too lazy to do it. All I want is a simple software that can play TV, Radio, and Video Input the way I want to without having to leave the software on the whole time. There's that whole new taskbar they give you when you install MMC, which I don't like at all. I haven't tried remote wonder since I have no use for a remote yet.

Another bad issue is the overheating issue. The default clock settings are 500core/500mem. I was using ATi Tray Tools recently and noticed that my CPU is running at 100+ degrees. This wasn't noticeable when I first bought it about 2 months ago. I guess the fan started to lose it's performance quickly. I have heard that ATi speeds up the fan whenever it demands more usage then quickly goes back to normal when not in use. Even using ATi tray tools and making the fan run at 100% all the time, the temperatures were still at 100+ degrees. I began to see artifacts playing Guild Wars and it has crash my computer twice to the point where my computer shut down completely. I ended up declocking the speeds to 470/470 in order to compensate. I ended up buying the Zalman Vf700Cu VGA cooler (Cost me $40 in Hawaii!!! =\) in order to replace the stock heatsink fan. I also used Artic Silver 5 for the thermal paste. Just letting you know that installation isn't hard, but takes awhile. You don't have to do any hard jacking or prying, just be careful =). Anyway, after installation I ran Ati tray tools, clocked it back at 500/500 and this time the temperatures never touched 60 degrees. Even after running the artifact test for nearly 2 hours, it still hasn't gone up and no artifacts have been found. Talk about a 40 degrees difference!

Pros:
Fast performing card
Gives you TV, Radio, HDTV Out, Video Input/Output, and many more.
Remote Control including batteries =P
Decent price

Cons:
Overheating issue, you really need to change the stock hs/fan asap unless you are lucky. Zalman Vf700Cu has been working great so far.
Bad software and drivers. It's hard to find what out which one to use exactly. One might work for something else and the other might not. If you can deal with trial and error and a lot of patience, then hopefully it won't be so bad.

Amazon markets this card as pretty much a dedicated TV device. This card is a 3D monster. Look up this card or it's brother "X800XT", and you will see that these cards are beasts in the 3D realm. A whopping 2 cards are better for 3D gaming in my opinion. nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra and ATi Radeon X850XT PE. But they also cost US$500. And they don't do all the nifty TV functions.

I like ATI All-In-Wonder cards. I ended up buying 3 of these cards because the specs seemed to be exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, game play works for 1-4 months and then the card goes bad and my computer locks up.

After reading the review "Great Performance Card, Bad Drivers & Software, and Bad Heating", I suspect the problem with two of the cards is due to poor cooling (the third had a bad tuner). I have downloaded "ATI Tray Tools". I am going to look into purchasing the "Zalman Vf700Cu VGA cooler". I would really like this card if I could get it to work properly. It is unfortunate that the company produces cards with insufficient cooling. They could do much better.

I installed "ATI Tray Tools" the "Zalman Vf700Cu VGA cooler" on one of my units that froze during games. This fixed the problem. The cooling fails after a short time. On the third card the tuner did not work right out of the box. I sent it back to ATI and they repaired it but on return one of the heat sinks had fallen off a memory chip. I ordered some thermal glue to replace it.

If ATI does not make any more AIW AGP cards then this is top of the line. If you play games at all, I highly recommend the upgrades mentioned above. I hope ATI continues to support AGP with their AIW cards as there are a lot of AGP machines that will be around for awhile.

I bought this card to replace my AIW 9800 pro. As soon as I installed the AIW X800 XT in my DELL Precision 530, it had random flickers that would only go away when Direct Draw was disabled. I am a computer professional, but ATI Tech support had me uninstall and reinstall my drivers more than five times. They also asked me to update the BIOS and install new chipset drivers. I never got the card to work. ATI tech support took 24 hours to respond after each of my posts, so it took over a week to work on the problem. My advice, if the card works out of the box, great! Keep it. But if it doesn't work, return it asap.

I bought this card for several reasons:
1) I have a 24" Widescreen
2) I needed an upgrade from my ATI All-in-Wonder 9000Pro
3) I didn't want to upgrade my motherboard (I have an AGP slot - no PCIE)...there's still a bit of life left to my PC.
4) I wanted DVI-I connector for my flat panel

A few things I really liked:
1) It includes the Remote Wonder II (in the box was the remote control and the USB plug in for it)
2) It includes various cables to connect RCA, Super VHS, to connect to the soundcard, to plug into the computer's power supply.

A few things I didn't like:
1) Everything worked great plug and play on my computer and with the included installation CD...however, when I downloaded the latest catalyst drivers from the ATI website to get the most up to date....my computer BLUE SCREENED HARD. It would not reboot no matter what I did...ultimately, I had to boot into safe mode, restore to a previous day and reinstall the drivers from the CD, something most of us hardcore gamers do but not something the average person is used to doing.

2) Crashes with the MMC console, unhandled C++ exceptions, hangups on the TV etc.

What I loved:
1) I put in Deadly Shadows (an older game) and I have to say, the game ran super smooth and the detail is extremely good even with the 24" screen set at maximum resolution.

2) The All in Wonder remote etc.

What I hated:
1) The bad drivers that bluescreened my computer
2) The poor software.
3) The investment needed to make the TV, DVD, Remote Wonder work.

Overall, I'm very happy with this card purchase. You can tell that the guys at ATI pour their hearts out at making some of the best graphic processing units on the planet. You can also tell that their talent is not as focused when it comes to making software that works.

A+++ to the hardware and GPU guys
D- to the Software guys.

The hardware guys carry this review...if the GPU weren't this good this card would've gotten 2 stars for bad software.

Overall, if you're a gamer, want TV, and don't have PCIE, get this card but be aware you're going to have to muck around through the installation but at least we don't have to deal with IRQs.

If you're an average user, exercise caution when trying to upgrade your software from ATI.

Pretty much just like the other reviewers have said - the hardware seems fine, but the software is a bit flakey. As Reticuli said in his review, you definitely need to use Catalyst v5.13 and MMC v9.08 when using this card with Microsoft Windows XP (from what I've read, the TV/ Video capture side doesn't seem to have support in Microsoft Windows Vista). Also, it seems that if you have other video capture software on your system, that software can conflict with the ATI capture software. I only have Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 (which only captures with 1394 firewire, so there's no conflict here) and Ulead Video Studio 10 plus on my system and the ATI video capture / TV software DOES work. Finally, if you can, get an internal audio cable and run that from this card and to your sound card; for some reason, using this card to capture analog video + audio with Ulead Video Studio doesn't allow you to monitor the sound (it does capture, but seems to need the cable in order to hear the audio while it's capturing). I don't know about what happens in other software packages.

As for a gaming, it runs pretty well considering the technology level (AGP, 256MB, 800XT series). No complaints there.

Hope this helps!