DH Review: AIW X800XT AGP

Zardon · Aug 7, 2005, 05:37 PM

Let’s face it, video cassettes suck for both playback and recording. There have been so many technical advancements with time that when I made the decision to bin my VCR, I optioned for ATI’s AIW 9800SE. The card was an almost flawless product for watching and recording live television aside from the fact that it did not have a SCART output (important for our European readers). The AIW accomplished everything I needed it to in my media system, but of course, in more recent games, it was starting to show its age and it really isn’t much fun witnessing jerky game playback on low resolutions via a 40” TV. When I saw ATI’s announcement for the AIW X800XT with a SCART output, and needless to say, higher graphical prowess for gaming, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. That day has finally come; let us see what it’s all about…

read the review here

Chaos · Aug 8, 2005, 01:36 AM

I was curious about that card, it may be a good option once the R520 arrives and the price drops. My AIW 9700 Pro was great in it's day.

Aug 8, 2005, 02:40 AM

The card seems quite interesting indeed. My 9600XT is getting very old.

[hobo]eclipse · Aug 8, 2005, 02:44 AM

i was eyein these up on newegg, its $380 ish, but bout a month bak there was a $50 rebate, $330 for an AGP x800xt AIW!!, juss couldnt make it happen though,

brywalker · Aug 8, 2005, 10:39 PM

Its a good card but that fan is LOUD! Temps are always out of control too.

Had to give mine up for an x850XT PE

Zardon · Aug 8, 2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brywalker

Its a good card but that fan is LOUD! Temps are always out of control too.

Had to give mine up for an x850XT PE

Really? thats interesting, stuart never mentioned that, you would think as quite a few of these would be in small form factor chassis they would make it run as quiet as they could. was it possible you had one with a dodgy fan?

***Veridian3*** · Aug 8, 2005, 11:19 PM

My sample def does not sound loud. It sits in my livingroom and if there was a constant loud fan noise i would have been divorced a while ago

brywalker · Aug 8, 2005, 11:29 PM

OK let me rephrase...

When going into a 3D app, the fan goes into overdrive. Normally, the fan noise is nonexistant.

***Veridian3*** · Aug 9, 2005, 09:43 AM

Again, nope. I play games on the same system and again, if it was to cause a loud noise then i would have an annoyed other half.

I think you had a dodgy sample, or something was off with the case cooling. Like most media centre systems i have taken great care to ensure it runs as quite and cool as possible (not easy when you have a X800 + P4 EE!) however as i say in my system the X800XT AIW runs cool, quiet and very well.

kobe2 · Aug 9, 2005, 01:04 PM

Will it be available in PCIe!? I need the multimidia features and wanted an AIW on my last upgrade but it would had to be PCIe so I went to the X800XT from Sapphire since it has VIVO.

***Veridian3*** · Aug 9, 2005, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobe2

Will it be available in PCIe!? I need the multimidia features and wanted an AIW on my last upgrade but it would had to be PCIe so I went to the X800XT from Sapphire since it has VIVO.

PCIe users will want to wait on http://www.ati.com/products/radeonx8...0xl/index.html

chiddicks · Aug 25, 2005, 08:21 PM

I bought an OEM version of this card, and typical to OEM cards, it was underclocked. It runs at 400/490 stock, whereas retail runs at 500/500 stock. Otherwise, I'm sure it's identical to Retail.

I can overclock it far beyond 500/500, but it's irritating to have to run ATItool everytime I want to play games. I'd like to see if I can reflash it back to retail firmware. If you own the retail version of this card, do me a favour and send me your firmware binary. You can use the 'Dump BIOS' tool in the settings menu of ATItool.

On a noise note, the only time my card is noisy is when I'm firing up a benchmark or a game.

Thanks.

Zardon · Aug 25, 2005, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiddicks

I bought an OEM version of this card, and typical to OEM cards, it was underclocked. It runs at 400/490 stock, whereas retail runs at 500/500 stock. Otherwise, I'm sure it's identical to Retail.

I can overclock it far beyond 500/500, but it's irritating to have to run ATItool everytime I want to play games. I'd like to see if I can reflash it back to retail firmware. If you own the retail version of this card, do me a favour and send me your firmware binary. You can use the 'Dump BIOS' tool in the settings menu of ATItool.

On a noise note, the only time my card is noisy is when I'm firing up a benchmark or a game.

Thanks.

Interesting, thanks for the information.

chiddicks · Aug 26, 2005, 04:15 AM

Never mind, I finally found what I was looking for.

As I was saying before, my OEM card was underclocked.

I found a BIOS editing tool called RaBiT, which allowed me to change the default clock. I had almost given up because the two widely available BIOS editors, RadEdit and BiosEdit, did not work for the x800 BIOS since they haven't been updated since 2003.

A simple reflash and my card runs at 500/500 stock.

For future reference, the techPowerUp Bios Collections has every stock BIOS you might need.

Aug 7, 2005, 05:37 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	DH Review: AIW X800XT AGP Let’s face it, video cassettes suck for both playback and recording. There have been so many technical advancements with time that when I made the decision to bin my VCR, I optioned for ATI’s AIW 9800SE. The card was an almost flawless product for watching and recording live television aside from the fact that it did not have a SCART output (important for our European readers). The AIW accomplished everything I needed it to in my media system, but of course, in more recent games, it was starting to show its age and it really isn’t much fun witnessing jerky game playback on low resolutions via a 40” TV. When I saw ATI’s announcement for the AIW X800XT with a SCART output, and needless to say, higher graphical prowess for gaming, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. That day has finally come; let us see what it’s all about… read the review here

Aug 8, 2005, 01:36 AM	#2
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,268 Rep Power: 167 System Specs	I was curious about that card, it may be a good option once the R520 arrives and the price drops. My AIW 9700 Pro was great in it's day. __________________

Aug 9, 2005, 01:04 PM	#10
kobe2 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Will it be available in PCIe!? I need the multimidia features and wanted an AIW on my last upgrade but it would had to be PCIe so I went to the X800XT from Sapphire since it has VIVO. __________________ ASUS P5LD2 Deluxe [color=yellow][color=seagreen]#[/color] [/color]P4 640 [color=seagreen]#[/color] 1GB OCZ Platinum EB 3.2.2.8 in dual channel [color=seagreen]#[/color] Sapphire X800XT PCIe [color=seagreen]#[/color] 2x250GB WD Caviar [color=seagreen]# [/color]LG 4163B [color=seagreen]#[/color] Tt Kandalf w/ 600w OCZ Powerstream

Aug 25, 2005, 08:21 PM	#12
chiddicks DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	x800 xt aiw firmware I bought an OEM version of this card, and typical to OEM cards, it was underclocked. It runs at 400/490 stock, whereas retail runs at 500/500 stock. Otherwise, I'm sure it's identical to Retail. I can overclock it far beyond 500/500, but it's irritating to have to run ATItool everytime I want to play games. I'd like to see if I can reflash it back to retail firmware. If you own the retail version of this card, do me a favour and send me your firmware binary. You can use the 'Dump BIOS' tool in the settings menu of ATItool. On a noise note, the only time my card is noisy is when I'm firing up a benchmark or a game. Thanks.

Aug 8, 2005, 02:40 AM	#3
Alex_D Guest Posts: n/a	The card seems quite interesting indeed. My 9600XT is getting very old.

Aug 8, 2005, 02:44 AM	#4
[hobo]eclipse ...just bummin 'round Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,907 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	i was eyein these up on newegg, its $380 ish, but bout a month bak there was a $50 rebate, $330 for an AGP x800xt AIW!!, juss couldnt make it happen though,

Aug 8, 2005, 10:39 PM	#5
brywalker DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	Its a good card but that fan is LOUD! Temps are always out of control too. Had to give mine up for an x850XT PE

Aug 8, 2005, 11:19 PM	#7
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 182	My sample def does not sound loud. It sits in my livingroom and if there was a constant loud fan noise i would have been divorced a while ago

Aug 8, 2005, 11:29 PM	#8
brywalker DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	OK let me rephrase... When going into a 3D app, the fan goes into overdrive. Normally, the fan noise is nonexistant.

Aug 9, 2005, 09:43 AM	#9
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 182	Again, nope. I play games on the same system and again, if it was to cause a loud noise then i would have an annoyed other half. I think you had a dodgy sample, or something was off with the case cooling. Like most media centre systems i have taken great care to ensure it runs as quite and cool as possible (not easy when you have a X800 + P4 EE!) however as i say in my system the X800XT AIW runs cool, quiet and very well.

Aug 26, 2005, 04:15 AM	#14
chiddicks DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Never mind, I finally found what I was looking for. As I was saying before, my OEM card was underclocked. I found a BIOS editing tool called RaBiT, which allowed me to change the default clock. I had almost given up because the two widely available BIOS editors, RadEdit and BiosEdit, did not work for the x800 BIOS since they haven't been updated since 2003. A simple reflash and my card runs at 500/500 stock. For future reference, the techPowerUp Bios Collections has every stock BIOS you might need.