ATI All In Wonder 8500 128mb

I hear people talking bad about ATI cards in some posts ive read today. I am going to pay $600 for the ATI All In Wonder 8500 128mb tomorrow and im wondering what people are saying about this card? Is it good? Is it awesome? or is it just plain crap? I myself will use it for video capture and playing games like return to castle wolfenstein and Jedi Outcast2 and new games.
The highest grade ATI card i could find, does it live up to all its hype?
>>Garrett

 

As a capture board, it's not bad.

As a video card, [Jay Sherman voice]IT STINKS![/Jay Sherman voice]

Actually, it's okay, but I'm an nVidia die-hard. Whatever floats your boat and saves a slot...

 

Well it cant suck for the money im dishing over for it in like 20 hours..damnit what sucks about it?? I need to know.
>>Garrett

 

I am the perfect person to talk to on this subject...about a year ago i purchased an ATi card, cost me about 600 as well...BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!....I tried loading it ont my computer, couldn't even do that...everytime i tried loading the driver it would load the driver ok (it seemed) but then i caould never use the card , Why?, nooone knows....but i did finally get this dam card on my computer, its works like crap man...just crap, nothing like the pictures or the website says.

About 5 months ago (about 7 months after the ATI failure) i purchased a cheap savage 2000 64 mb card that costs me under 15.00 on ebay...it works 100 times better than the $600 scam ATi card....I tried selling that curse out of my life but the dam thing just its in the closet now...noone will buy it...i weep when i lookat it now..my 600.00...i could have bought every on this forum some Jedi robes and lightsabers or something, it would have been better spent. now i await the day an unexpected kid comes by who i can trick into taking it, and take the curse with him

 

Yea i have an ATI card now that i got 2 years ago...it works fine and all and i have no problems with it except for the fact that i need something stronger to play my pc games will they are getting laggy and choppy...so i went out and bought 256mb of ram and now im gonna grab the card because the Radeons and all in wonders have great reputations for being a good card from some of the computer builders i know so im grabbing it but i wanted to know what you guys thought of it...and Jedidrew i feel sorry for your lose..what card was it? the exact name?
>>Garrett

 

i believe those losers that sold it to me called it the ati ALL-IN-WONDER® 128 RAge 128 (something like that)...but it should be called satan because thats what it is.

 

ROFL, JediDREW. that last sentence cracked me up.

ATI and nVidia use different architectures for their cards. nVidia's is more stable and more powerful than ATI's. ATI cards cost a lot of money because they come with all those extras that they try to stuff in there, like video capture I/O, etc.
nVidia is also expensive (for a top of the line), but a couple of hundred dollars less than ATI's. but all it is, is a powerful video card that outbeats ATI.
i believe that ATI card is 50% video card and 50% capture card. nVidia is a dedicated 100% video card.
if you talk to anyone out there that does graphics or is a gamer, they will recommend the nVidia.
on another note, high-end Apple computers come with nVidia

EDIT: does anyone remember Voodoo cards? ROFLMAO, those were a joke. hehe.

 

well, i'm running an ati radeon 7500 64mb with dual display and tv out. runs perfect, this is my 2nd or 3rd ati card and they've all worked perfect, i'm running a custom built AMD Athlon XP system, with a Soyo Dragon Plus motherboard.

ati are pretty good, not as good as geforce cards for graphics/games but for what i need they work perfect, i love having dual monitors, so much easier.

 

where the heck are you paying 600 for that card?

i see it for about 300 on pricewatch.com and they've sold some on ebay for about the same, why $600?

 

yea so....does anyone wanna buy a perfecly good ati card for 500? i swear its perfectly good!!!

 

I live in canada buddy everything here is more than double or less than double the US price i think, not sure. But anyways i dislike using used parts for anything..im not sure when they will break down and if they do i have no warranty. And for the games and the Geforce stuff..i might just by a geforce4 after this card i guess but whatever ill probably build a super pc in a couple years..right now im trying to save for a Canon GL-1 i heard they were making a canon GL-2? So i hope the GL-1's price will drop because of this...$4000 is a bit much at this moment i might be able to grab it used for cheaper....but then...i hate used things....

 

oh, Canadian Dollers





seriously though, get it off ebay or somewhere else cheaper online, those prices i gave you, assuming they are for the same model, are for it brand new in the package, list is 399 on it, so that's a 100 bucks off

but then again if want to throw good money into the wind go ahead

 

oh well its my dads money what do i care hahaha im getting it brand new and not 64mb, 128mb like it should be just if i need the extra boost..my friends dad makes computers for a living he said the card im getting should be perfect for what im using it for.
he has one and i was watching tv on it..it looks fine but what i loved was him hooking the thing up to his beast 50 inch big screen and playing counter-strike online yea well it runs pretty well and im grabbing it cause it looks awesome to me.
>>Garrett

 

GeForce4 Ti4600 128 DDR RAM. Fastest card on the market as rated by TechTV Labs. But probably a little too fast. Pricewatch.com for a good deal.

Chris

 

Your paying 600 dollars for an ATI?
Don't get me wrong, ATI makes awesome cards, however, terrible drivers.

Spend the 600 bucks on a minidv camera and a 30 dollar firewire card...

 

I also live in Canada (Ottawa, Ontario) and I have always used ATI cards in my home PC. I've never had a problem.

They threw me for a loop when they dropped Video for Windows support in favor of DirectShow last year, but everything still works.

Like fourfools said, they aren't the best choice for a gamer but, I play Unreal and and Jedi Knight II with no problems (not at 2000x1500 resolution though)

Mine is the AIW Rage Pro 128, and I love it.

Here at work they got a couple of AIW Radeon 8500DV, they ROCK!

If you need the capture and want a relatively good video card in one card, there aren't many that could beat it.

Good luck!

Sauja

 

I suggest you DONT get it. Its not that its a bad card but the video card part of it will be outdated in far less time than the capture card of it. So in a year or so when the video card is too slow you will have to fork over another $600 to get another all in wonder with a faster 3d accelorator.

You only have one AGP slot so choose wisely. Get a video card and capture card separately. You will probably save money too!





SWmaster

 

I herd a rumor that galaxies will not run on an ati card....not sure if its true or not...might be important if you plan to play that game.

Moonz

 

Jedi_Slayer,

Why don't you check out the review at Gamespot.com in the hardware section, it will give you an idea of what you're in for.

As for price, the ATI 7500 and 8500DV just went through a big price drop. In the last 2 weeks I was shopping around and saw the 7500 for $250, and the 8500 for $399. And that's in Canadian for the retail box off the shelf. Whoever is charging you $600 (+tax??) is totally ripping you off.

Myself, I just bought a Canon ZR-40 and a new 40gig drive to play with and I was looking at the ATI cards for DV. But I'm going with just a pure firewire card now to save on the cost.

M.

PS : Hey Sauja-Dupen, nice to see that someone else here lives in the Ottawa valley.

 

No. they said galaxies would work with all radeons and new ATI cards...wont work with the old Rage cards. Said something that the cards have to support T & L or something.
Arg i need a good video card damnit...i need it for capture as well and i know people with geforces and they say the capture isnt that good...i dont play games so much the most complex one i have now is Return to castle wolfenstien...im sure when i buy my video card it should fit in well with my overclock and my 384mb of extra ram.
>>Garrett

 

The card is $515 plus the tax which brings it to about $592.22 cents or something. It is the ATI All In Wonder 8500 128mb, not the ATI Radeon. Actually I need some help right now. hmmmm i just found one http://www.icctcomputer.com/Onlineshop/Select.asp?Category=VideoCard its the ATI All In Wonder 8500 128mb AGP for $484...the price keeps dropping at this place. Thats about $556.6 dollars with tax and i think ill be getting it...i was reading on there site i cant really find anything about capturing dv and analog footage?? Read for your self , all i can find is TV support..who has this card and can tell me? I have an analog video camera right now..(It has the red,yellow,white wires to export from it) and i need a card that supports that...will this card do it?http://www.ati.com/products/pc/aiwradeon8500/index.html
>>Garrett

 

Im getting a Dv camera soon to and on the page it says this about the card..
"Capture still images and analog video in MPEG-2 format at resolutions up to 720x480 and 30 frames-per-second
Powerful video editing software allows you to add effects, transitions, sounds, and more to video footage
Create your own personal productions to share with family and friends"
Dosn't say anything about Dv footage???? Im getting a dv camera and need dv support does this card have dv support??? HELP ME!
Thank You.
>>Garrett

 

I might settle for the one before it with only 64mb ddr...http://www.ati.com/products/pc/aiwradeon8500dv/index.html
It has Dv and analog support plus all the other features..just missing the 128mb. its 64 mb what do i lose from that???
>>Garrett

 

8500 doesn't do fire wire.
you'd need the 8500DV

but like swmaster said, (and it applies even more so with you get a DV camera) get separate cards.

A separate firewire card is realively cheap and you can then get a better graphics card with the rest of you budget.

Sauja

 

I have an ATI Rage 32MB that I have had about 2 years now and aside for the drivers not being very good, I have had no problems...

I actually still have an original MOnster 3D card! It has a whopping 4MB on it. It is a true collectors item and I am selling it. Own a piece of graphic history, bidding opens at $3000.00

I also have 3 VooDoo2's for sale also!

If you are going to spend that kind of money, get a GeFroce 4Ti and then get a seperate capture device. Most anything from pinnacle is good, I have a DV300 and I love it. Look on Ebay, I am sure you can find both there for a resonable price...

Gare