Video Card: AIW 9600 Pro Review :: Installation

Installation of the AIW 9600 Pro is slightly different from the other AIW cards ATI offers. As this board is a dual monitor capable video card, ATI put the video connectors on a block instead of on the PCB. To attach a monitor to the AIW 9600 Pro, simply plug in the input/output block while the video card is inserted in the PC and attach the monitor's VGA cable to one of the monitor hookups. I kind of wish ATI would do this with all of their AIW cards, as this would make dual monitors very easy to implement, something they haven't done before.

After inserting the card into my AGP slot, I attached the input/output block. This block replaces the DVI or VGA connectors present on other ATI video cards. Attached to the block are two VGA connectors, allowing for dual monitor capability. I actually prefer this arrangement, as sometimes you need a little extra reach on the monitor cord. Attaching my Sony 19" monitor to one VGA connector and a KDS 19" to the other, I turned the power on.

After booting to Windows, a new VGA adapter was detected. At this point, I installed DirectX 9.0b, then the Catalyst 3.8 drivers and MMC 8.7. As the Guide+ isn't available to download I installed it off the driver's CD. After a reboot, the drivers were installed. At this point, I went through the TV Initialization Wizard which I'll describe a bit later.

TV/FM Stuff

ATI's AIW products have always been known for adding a TV tuner to their current video cards. While some companies have dabbled in this arena with products like the Matrox G400 eTV and the NVIDIA Personal Cinema, no other chip manufacturer has maintained a solid lineup of cards with a built-in TV tuner as ATI. The AIW RADEON 9600 Pro comes with a Phillips TV tuner. Since ATI added a FM tuner to this card, the tuner is slightly different from the one used in other AIW products like the AIW 9800 Pro. Sporting a 125-channel cable ready TV tuner, the AIW 9600 Pro. Present on the card is the Theater 200 chip that provides the multimedia functions of the AIW 9600 Pro.

Setting up TV/Radio is fairly easy. Once the card is inserted in the computer and the Catalyst drivers/MMC is correctly installed, simply click the TV button. A TV initialization wizard pops up. After choosing whether your TV source is cable or antenna (I don't have cable in the house) and running auto scan you would hit next. The next step is the Parental Control Initialization Wizard. If you want to control access to programs set a password here and any time. At this point, a checkbox reminder pops up asking whether you've attached the audio cable to the sound card. The next step is the Audio Initialization Wizard. This is where you check which audio output the computer is using for the sound on the AIW card. Recording Format Wizard is the next step. Here the default recording format is chosen. TV On Demand is where the user sets the hard drive space allocated to recording video.

The AIW 9600 correctly identified the local stations to my area. These included Channel 2 (CBS), Channel 4 (NBC), Channel 5 (KTLA), Channel 7 (ABC), Channel 9 (KCOP), Channel 11 (FOX), Channel 13 (KCOP), which are the UHF stations available in my area. The VHF stations available detected were Channel 18, Channel 22, Channel 28, Channel 34, Channel 40, Channel 46, Channel 50, Channel 56, Channel 58. Those are the available local television stations in the Los Angeles area.

The FM Radio setup is even easier and faster. Assuming the user has a FM antenna attached to the AIW 9600 Pro, simply hit the FM button on the Multimedia Center launch bar and a FM Radio controller will pop up on screen. You can scan up and down the radio dial using the scan up/down buttons. To set a station as a favorite simply right-click one of the buttons (1-10), and click save. At this point, the next time the radio button is pushed simply click the number you preset the station to and you're listening to that station.

mulTView is ATI's twin TV tuner solution for their recent AIW cards. With this solution, you must have a second TV tuner card (TV Wonder, TV Wonder Pro, or TV Wonder VE. Simply attach 2 different TV sources to the tuners on both cards, reboot the computer and launch the TV application. The MMC 8.7 automatically identified the TV Wonder Pro and installed the drivers. Picture on a Picture is awesome with mulTView. Seriously, if you have an AIW card there's absolutely no reason not to get a TV Wonder Pro or VE and get two TV sources, especially if you have a good 21" CRT or a good 17" or bigger LCD monitor.

GuidePlus+ is the included entertainment guide for the AIW 9600 Pro and all ATI AIW cards, for that matter. This is a free service provided by Gemstar that acts like a TV Guide for the AIW card. Other services like TiVO can cost hundreds of dollars a year in subscription fees. To use it simply click on the Guide+ tab and it will ask for your name, zip code, and whether you use cable or an antenna. It's a bit unfortunate that it doesn't support Dish Network or Direct TV, but it works great for cable or local TV. After the download of up to one week of content, the currently playing program name is displayed whenever the TV application is launched. From the Guide Plus application, you can watch, record, setup to record or search for TV shows during the week of the downloaded program content. It's easy and self-explanatory.

Catalyst 3.8 Drivers

ATI released the Catalyst 3.8 drivers on 10/08/2003 along with Multimedia Center 8.7. As the AIW 9600 Pro ships with 3.8 Catalysts and 8.6 drivers this new driver and multimedia pack deserves some mention in this review. ATI has been releasing new drivers every 6 weeks or so for the last few months, a marked improvement over their previous drivers releases.

ATI has enabled SMARTSHADER effects with the Catalyst 3.8 drivers. OpenGL effects include: No effect, Black and White, Classic, Inverse Color, Porthole, Sketch, White ASCII, Green ASCII, RGB Cycle, Stylize Black and White, Stylize Green. Direct3d SMARTSADER effects currently include: No effect, Black and White, Inverse Color, Porthole, RGB Cycle, Stylize Black and White. These effects are mostly interesting to look at, with no real usage in games.

SMARTSHADER effects Direct3d

SMARTSHADER effects OpenGL

The second feature that ATI implemented in the Catalyst 3.8 drivers was the combining of the OpenGL/Direct3d tabs. This is useful in saving one click for regular settings. The regular settings are Optimal Performance, High Performance, Balanced, High Quality, and Optimal Quality. Not wanting to discuss sub-quality settings, I'll start with Balanced. Balanced settings set the AA and AF to Application Preference. Texture preference and Mipmap Detail Level is set to High Quality. The High Quality preset sets AA to 2X, AF to 8x Quality AF, Texture Preference and Mipmap Detail Level to High Quality. Optimal Quality sets AA to 4x, AF to 16x Quality AF, Texture preference and Mipmap Detail Level to High Quality.

To change the settings manually however, you have to check the Use custom settings box on the control panel. From the Properties screen for Direct3d/OpenGl (depending which checkbox is checked), you can set the AA, AF, Texture Preference, Mipmap Detail Level, and change the Vertical Sync setting (Always Off, Application Preference, Always On), and TRUFORM Setting (Always Off, Application Preference. From here you can also select the SMARTSHADER effects to be used in games.

ATI has also implemented Profiles in their Catalyst 3.8 drivers. To set a profile, check Use custom settings, set the preferences that you want to use in the application, apply and click ok. Enter a name for the profile in the Current Profile box and click the save button. Your settings are now applied to the API that you set it up for. You can, of course use a preset as a Profile, but using the Custom settings allows you more flexibility in choosing what to use your profile for. After changing the settings, you can use the Profiles to load the setting you chose to use in a Profile.