AIW Radeon 8500 & DV...What's the difference?

[kcbass]

ok...I know that the 8500 DV is only 64 megs of vram, and the 8500 is 128, but other than that, i've been looking at the two cards, and the DV looks like it has more features. They have exactly the same bundled software. The 8500 has the same hookups as the original AIW radeon, and the DV seems to have better ones (including firewire...) so which is the better card?

 

[Alex]

that depends on your needs... goto ati's website for a full comparison and be the judge yourself...

(sorry for quick reply... not too much time on hands here)

 

[kcbass]

thanks franguinho. I don't have time to look right now, but I will soon. meanwhile, any other comments would be appreciated

 

[Rand]

The 8500DV is clocked at 190/230, the AIW R8500 is clocked at 275/275.
The 8500DV has two external IEEE 1394 FireWire ports which the AIW lacks.

So far as I'm aware those are the only differences.

ATi has a chart listing the differences between the AIW 7500/8500DV/AIW8500 on their site so you may want to check it...

 

[rbV5]

Also, AIW 8500 128 uses the same analog phillips tuner as the original AIW andd AIW 7500 and shares the same purple "dongle" for the video-in connectors, the 8500dv uses a tuner on silicon solution (still addresses the same analog channels) and uses a new purple "dongle" that includes both the video-in and video-out connectors on the same cable.

 

[kcbass]

Is the silicon tuner inferior?

 

[Wig]

Accoring to Anand, they are both similar, but the Silicon tuner is faster and may be slightly better quality. He addresses many of these differences in a recent roundup

Roundup

 

[kcbass]

so what i'm hearing is...aside from having half as much memory, the 8500DV is the superior card?...

 

[kcbass]

Ok...I finally got a chance to go to ati's website and check out these cards...I also went to newegg.com and checked out the pics they have of the two cards and their various accessories. The one question I have left is this: The 8500 128 is capable of using s-video connections. Can the 8500 DV use s-video? I can't get a clear view of the dongle for the 8500DV no matter where I go, so I'd appreciate it if someone could help me out

 

[kcbass]

bump

 

[sodcha0s]

I have the 8500DV. It has s-video in and out on the dongle. As far as which one is better, it all depends on what you want and how much you want to pay. I bought the 'bulk' version a couple of months back and paid like $220 for it, the only difference from the retail box version is no software bundle and the packaging. The cards are identical and all the same accessories are included. I am happy with mine...

 

[kcbass]

thanks for that response, sodcha0s. I think you just made my decision for me

 

[step-dawg]

Just remember that the 128MB version will be better for gaming. I think it was designed for those taht wanted AIW capabilities w/o sacrificing core clock and mem speeds. That's the reason i went with the 128Mb version.

 

[kcbass]

I do a little bit of gaming, but I mostly use the card for tv and video capture. I have the original AIW Radeon, but I need more VRAM. I like the DV's dongle better than the 8500

 

[Pabster]

The AIW 128 runs a faster core and much faster RAM. Worth the money if you are going to use the plethora of multimedia capabilities. I loved my 8500DV but just didn't use the features enough to justify the cost. Performance was plenty acceptable, I can only imagine the AIW 128's performance in addition to the multimedia stuff. A bit pricey, but...

 

[kcbass]

So what would you suggest, pabster?

 

[Gog]

There was a review recently on extremetech.com of the 8500DV. They had benchmarks of this card overclocked and it performed between a Geforce3 and Geforce3Ti500. This being the case I don't think 3D performance should be an issue for you, especially if 3D gaming isn't the priority. Keep in mind that the AIW will cost you over $60 more and frankly I doubt thats worth some extra points on 3Dmark.

 

[kcbass]

nice comments, gog, but I don't really pay all that much attention to benchmarks. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the numbers mean half the time

 

[Gog]

Well my point was that the 8500DV (overclocked or not) should be more than enough to suit your 3D gaming needs and that spending an extra $60 for the AIW wasn't worth it...

 

[kcbass]

cool. thanks a bunch, gog. my main concern was wether or not 64 megs of vram would be enough. 32 megs runs out on me a lot

 

[dude]

The extra memory really shouldn't do you much unless you play alot of games. Even then, alot of games don't even utilize the whole 64mb that alot of cards today come equipped with. You'll be fine with 64mb for anything digital video related and windows related. Hell, even if you are doing some heavy photoshopping you wouldn't be able to use the 64mb.

 

[kcbass]

Thanks dude