Preferred ATI All In Wonder (AIW) card model is?

[Eagleaye]

I'm on the lookout for replacement capture card since it looks like my 9800 pro didn't make through a recent house move.
Are all the AIW cards pretty much of a muchness or are particular cards better than others? i.e should I stick with the the 9600s, 9700s or 9800s as I have done in the past or investigate the X600 or X1900 types?
The type of slot isn't an issue as I have a range of PCs to install a "new" card in, and want the best reasonably available to capture my VHS material.
Any advice appreciated.

Would a ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 Edition PCI-E be a suitable card for analogue captures? i.e does it work with the recommended version of MMC (9.02?!?)
Or is a 9800 better still a better option?

[NJRoadfan]

I think the PCIe cards require MMC 9.10 or above, which removed VideoSoap. If you are doing uncompressed capture (via VirtualDub), there isn't any difference. If VideoSoap is important, stick with the AGP cards. Just be aware when buying one that the AIW 9600 and X800 require extra dongles outside of the typical purple breakout box to function.

[Eagleaye]

Typically I have captured uncompressed, and haven't used VideoSoap as yet, so if there isn't a difference I'll look out for an AIW PCIe card, thanks for the information.
I've put my "broken" AIW 9800 into another PC and it's appears to be working, although I haven't tried any captures yet, my immediate need for a new card has gone, It'll be handy though to have a backup available should a reasonably priced card turn up.

[lordsmurf]

My preference is for the older 7200 and 7500 cards.

Some of the 9000 series cards had interference issues, though it was only found on certain sub-versions of certain models. I remember a few members on Videohelp -- many years ago, at this point -- discussing hardware mods to block interference. I remember two fixes: one involved re-soldering, while another merely required wrapping tinfoil around a certain board component. Sometimes it affected capturing, sometimes it only affected the output block.

The PCI Express cards are not always the easiest to get functioning as desired. You're pretty much forced to use ATI MMC 9.14 (with 9.16 being suggested), and the end-of-life Catalyst drivers.

The cards are all essentially the same anyway.

[Eagleaye]

It's good to know there isn't any difference amongst the cards.
Is a "dongle" required all the AIW cards? If so is the purple box compatible across the range?

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJRoadfan

I think the PCIe cards require MMC 9.10 or above, which removed VideoSoap.

The worse removal was the dropped frames counter.

Thus making the AGP and PCI better choice.
There's also an ATI AIW USB model, but it can be more finicky that the internal cards.

All use ATI MMC and VirtualDub for capture.
And ATI MMC 8.7 to 9.02 at what you want. Any version in there is fine.

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