ATI All-in-Wonder X1800 XL Video Card

All-In-Wonder X1800XL Review

Strengths: Quiet, Shader 3.0 support, 256MB of GDDR3 memory, lots of outputs that continue to put the AIW in a class of it's own. The bundled software is worth around $200! *Incredible at running games!

Weakness: The second threaded coaxial connector is NOT a video out feed (it's the radio antenna connector). It CANNOT be used in an SLI configuration without loosing the AIW devices - only the VPU will work.

An excellent upgrade from my AIW 9800 Pro 256MB (AGP 8X). Sure, it costs alot, but you get plenty of bang for your buck with the card alone, not to mention the bundled software! The card is very long - It will probably not work in a MicroATX. It is 1/4" longer than the width of my full-size ATX motherboard. Be SURE to get a PSU (power supply unit) that gives out 30A on the 12V rail for this card.
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An excellent upgrade from my AIW 9800 Pro 256MB (AGP 8X).
Sure, it costs alot, but you get plenty of bang for your buck with the card alone, not to mention the bundled software!
The card is very long - It will probably not work in a MicroATX. It is 1/4" longer than the width of my full-size ATX motherboard.

Be SURE to get a PSU (power supply unit) that gives out 30A on the 12V rail for this card.

By kjvowell - Apr 24, 2006

Good so far!

Strengths: Excellent graphics and multimedia features! Plays Half Life 2 with everything up no problems at all (not max res though! But who usually plays at an extreme res...?)

Weakness: I opened the box...It was as long as my motherboard!

This card really kicks arse, from the domino-like stacking of the output/inputs to the nice remote and excellent rendering technology. These days cards are measured by how well they do in games at the highest resolution, so this card may be a bit of an overkill. But for PCI Express and the All In Wonder line, once you try you just can't go back! The new remote is sleek as well, nice and light...
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This card really kicks arse, from the domino-like stacking of the output/inputs to the nice remote and excellent rendering technology.

These days cards are measured by how well they do in games at the highest resolution, so this card may be a bit of an overkill. But for PCI Express and the All In Wonder line, once you try you just can't go back!

The new remote is sleek as well, nice and light with more buttons it appears. The mouse scrolling is a lot better as well, the ergonomics are very well done.

I also love the HDTV options with this.

HOWEVER - that being said it does not support HDCP (some kind of high-definition technology coming). Though I am against HDCP due to heavy consumer rights violations.

Supposedly with HDCP you won't be able to record these signals/videos onto your computer. You won't be able to capture or backup your media...Plus you'll have to pay extra for hardware that supports it.

BUT...this is a whole other story!

The only con is the size and I'm curious about other 3rd party cooling methods!

Though the fan on this IS EXTREMELY QUIET and has room for overclocking (but why would you need to?) It must be the design of the heatsink itself.

BEWARE! THIS CARD IS HUGE! This will not fit in most cases where the hard drives line up right across the PCI express slot (You'll have to remove the HD to fit it...) And it won't fit in Mini-cases (shuttles).

By attikusrex - Mar 5, 2006

AIW X1800 XL END-USER TEST

Strengths: Incredible Polygon and Effects Rendering, Many Features, FULL support for Shader Model 3.0 W/HDR. Has support for third party Tuner/FM software. wonderful FM/Tuner incredible Features for them as well.

Weakness: FM/Tuner Could use a bit more work but Pretty damn good either way, Just download the latest Drivers and Software or even (thrid-party) For fix of that. A bit pricy

ATI's "ALL-IN-WONDER X1800 XL" is one incredible Card, This card has won my vote by a landslide. I was thinking since I'm WAS a NVidia man that ATI wasn't going to be that great but gave it a try and WOW I was blown AWAY. HIGHY Recommend. It has many Features and Posiblities. OC-able

By Shadow0879 - Jan 15, 2006

x1800xl AIW Review

Strengths: Great overclocker, supports shader model 3.0, TV tuner

Weakness: Huge card and insufficient cooling.

Overall this is an amazing card and I haven't even used the TV tuner yet! The stock speeds on this card are 500/500 and I can overclock it to 600/700 stable. If you use the newest ATI tool you can increase the voltage on the card allowing you to reach speeds like that. However, when you are overclocking this card you must watch the temps as they can get up there, especially when increasing the...
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Overall this is an amazing card and I haven't even used the TV tuner yet! The stock speeds on this card are 500/500 and I can overclock it to 600/700 stable. If you use the newest ATI tool you can increase the voltage on the card allowing you to reach speeds like that. However, when you are overclocking this card you must watch the temps as they can get up there, especially when increasing the voltage. I would definetly recommend an after-market cooler, such as the Zalman VF700, if you plan on doing overclocking. At stock speeds the 7800gt is slightly better than this , but when overclocked this card will beat the 7800gt.

With the x1800xl overclocked with these specs:

AMD 3700+ @ 2.9ghz
1gb OCZ ddr400
ASUS a8n-e

I scored 9334 in 3dMark05

By tonythetiger05 - Feb 21, 2006

ATI Radeon X1800XL

Strengths: Good gaming performance, lots of media features, good software bundle

Weakness: Runs a bit hot, no dual DVI, card is physically large

The X1800XL all-in-wonder is a great card if you want both gaming performance and media features. As a pure gaming card, it performs pretty well. It's slightly below the 7800GT in most benchmarks, you should be able to run at high resolutions with AA/AF in all but the most demanding games. The media features are where this card really shines. The integrated TV tuner has good image quality - there...
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The X1800XL all-in-wonder is a great card if you want both gaming performance and media features. As a pure gaming card, it performs pretty well. It's slightly below the 7800GT in most benchmarks, you should be able to run at high resolutions with AA/AF in all but the most demanding games.

The media features are where this card really shines. The integrated TV tuner has good image quality - there is some amount of grain, but it's minimal. The remote wonder plus works wonderfully. It uses RF singals instead of infared, so you don't have to have line of sight to use it. This card has tons of inputs and outputs - composite, component, S-video, digital audio, everything you could possibly need. The standard video output is DVI, and you can connect the I/O dongle to give you a second analog video output. No dual DVI, unfortunately.

The software bundle is very good. You get the full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 and Premier Elements 2.0. This software costs about $100 by itself.

The card does run a bit warm. ATI's X1800 line is power hungry due to the high clockspeeds; you'll want good case airflow and a solid powersupply with this card. This card is also the longest card I've seen in a while. I have an Antec mid-tower, and there is only about 1/2 inch of clearance between the end of the card and the drive bays. If you have a small case, you might have trouble installing it.

By sellmen - Apr 30, 2006