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Back From the Dead: AMD Resurrects ATI's All-In-Wonder Series

Posted 06/26/08 at 02:53:08 PM  by Paul Lilly

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With home theater PCs becoming increasing commonplace and the line between computers and fully fledged media centers continuing to blur, we can't think of a better time for AMD to bring back ATI's once popular All-In-Wonder series. Apparently AMD has seen the writing on the wall too, and today announced the AIW's return, now with HD.

If you can't remember anything about the All-In-Wonder series and why it was so popular, don't feel bad - it's been two years since we last saw a videocard sporting the AIW moniker. That will soon change, as both Diamond Multimedia and VisionTek have jumped on board to offer AIW videocards by late July. All-In-Wonder HD videocards will come equipped with ATI's Theater 650 Pro hardware MPEG-2 encoding technology, which will allow for recording of both HDTV and analog programming, while also maintaining ATI's unified video decoder (UVD) technology to offset cycling chores from the processor to the GPU. On the software front, AIW cards will come with ATI's Catalyst Media Center. Dolby 5.1 Digital surround sound via HDMI and a dual-link DVI port round out the accouterment of goodies. First run AIW cards are rumored to center around the HD 3650 GPU, but if past products are any indication, expect to see higher end videocards also touting the AIW label before long.

Image Credit: ATI

COMMENTS:3
TAGS: amd, videocard, ati, gpu, hardware, build a pc, All-In-Wonder, Diamond Multimedia, VisionTek
COMMENTS
avatarAbout Damn Time!

Submitted by arfisalf on Fri, 06/27/2008 - 1:46pm

Well it's about damn time they did!

I have had pretty much all the AIW cards in the past, and they were absolutely great for those who wanted to play moderately but had the desire to use their pc as a PVR.

The only thing that they need to fix though this time around is driver support, and the abysmal scheduled recording with Gemstar Guide+ & MMC. They never recorded properly with the very last generation- the AIW X1900.

So if ATI (sorry i prefer ATI rather than ATI/AMD) does decide to serve up a higher end card for the AIW line, and the pricing and software are good..well then they got theirselves the faithful AIW users of yesterdays!

Keep in mind however they are pricing it at $199 with the AIW 3650 HD...while the AIW X1900 price was $499..and for that time that card kicked some arse!

*rant ended*

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avatarLooking Good for ATI

Submitted by One4yu2c on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 1:19pm

Indeed they are, and have been on a roll as of late.  Between the talk of interoperability between the 4xxx and 3xxx series, lifting the OC restrictions on 4850 cards, and other recent news, its looks as though they're finally back in the game. Let's hope we can say the same thing about AMD's processor line this time next year!

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avatarHere's hoping for good Windows Media Center support

Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 1:00pm

I've owned a couple of the All-in-Wonder cards in the past, and I'm glad they're coming back. Hopefully, they'll be fully ready for the digital TV and cable world of 2009 and beyond - along with good Windows Media Center (and third-party MC) support. At the moment, things are looking good for ATI.

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