ATI All-In-Wonder 2006
ATI's AIW 2006 is what you'd traditionally expect from their All-In-Wonder series. You get the power of a dedicated video card, with the functionality of a TV Tuner. Well, power is a relative word to use in this article. As this card is built on ATI's X1300 chip, you can't expect to be blasting through games such as Quake 4 with AA and AF turned on and achieve solid frame rates, even at medium quality settings. Really, the main selling point of this card are its price, feature-set and functionality. If you're trying to find a good entry level card for an HTPC system, the AIW 2006 is worth looking into.
Of course we can't ignore another popular selling point for this card, its PCI-Express interface. Yes this card uses the new PEG slot type, which opens it up to a wide range of leading system architectures. Even though you can still find decent motherboards using the AGP format, PCI-E is the future, and AGP will eventually die out completely. This card is also built newer technology than ATI's previous AIW series, though still uses their Theater 200 chip. Instead of being based off of ATI's 9600 Pro, they've gone ahead and modeled after their X1300 card. Though gaming performance was moderate to weak, we can't really hold it against this card too much, as it never claims to be even a mid-range 3D performer. For around $200 you still get a base-level gaming card and a well rounded TV-Tuner with various A/V capabilities as well.
What this card aims for to be is a feature rich, budget solution geared towards someone who's just looking for the Multimedia features of the AIW series. On these terms, it delivers. While you'll get many of the same features from an AIW card as you would from a graphics card and separate TV tuner, it's nice to have them combined in one package and all in one chassis slot. All things considered, we believe this card will find it's way into many homes and businesses in the marketplace, especially within retail chains like Best Buy, CompUSA and others, where cost is king and $500 cards don't move nearly as well. Here, the ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 series provides excellent features, and a hassle free experience at a reasonable price-point.
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| •_Excellent multimedia features •_No need for a separate __Video card/TV Tuner •_Stable and easy to use software •_Guide+ |
•_Light bundle •_Might not fit in all cases •_ATI Theater 200 chip, not the 550 |
