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ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 128MB Video Graphics Card

Monday, January 30th, 2006 | Reviews, Video Card Reviews

The ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro 128Mb AGP video card is a feature packed device. If your needs extend beyond video enhancement for gaming, this card may just be what you are looking for.

Installation of this video card is easy, just following the instructions. It comes complete with all cables and software, and the first action after installation is to log on and download updates for all the drivers. The cables include dual VGA outputs, in addition to S-video and composite.

This ATI video card features 128MB together with the AGP 8x communication standard for fast graphics. In terms of the enhanced video for the gaming enthusiast, this AGP video card provides excellent enhancement of the computer graphics.

The latest games are increasingly demanding of the graphics, with movie quality effects becoming the norm, and adding this card produces a noticeable improvement in response and smoothness of the video, adding to enjoyment of the game play. Graphics are very processor intensive, and the 9600 chipset on this card boasts some of the latest tricks to take care of the complex calculations associated particularly with the creation of 3D images.

These include the trademarked technologies of SMARTSHADER 2.0, which allows complex effects at faster speeds; and SMOOTHVISION 2.1 which uses the latest anti-aliasing techniques. The chipset on the card takes care of the heavy calculation work associated with providing the enhanced graphic output.

In use, the card produced impressive cinematic quality graphics, with a noticeable enhancement of the latest demanding games. This means that game play becomes a more immersing experience, and greatly increases the value of your existing games.

However, all the attributes listed above are available at a more reasonable price from standard video cards, and if you only intend to use it for games, we’d recommend you invest elsewhere. The ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 is designed to achieve a lot more than simply enhancing computer graphics.

The reason for the name “All-In-Wonder” is that this AGP video card has comprehensive capabilities with regard to broadcast television. It has a tuner to view live TV, and also has TIVO like functions, pausing live TV, in addition to recording broadcasts and playing back video. You can even use an interactive TV Guide, though this does require an internet connection.

The box comes with a wireless remote control to use for these purposes, which even includes some computer remote functions. The concept is an exciting one called convergence, and unifying the entire entertainment center.

The TV can be viewed as a picture-in-picture (PIP), and you can even play with translucency, using “THRUVIEW”, which then permits desktop access.

In summary, this ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 AGP 8X Video Graphics Tuner card can do-it-all, provides a nice balance of features and performance, and at the price is a great buy.

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