"Hey Folks...Is the ATI ALL-IN-WONDER Radeon 8500 a formidable 3D card??"

DarkFudge2000

Senior member
Dec 11, 2000
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Guys...how is the Ati Wonder 8500 Radeon Card compared to the GainWorth GeForce 3 450Ti?

I want a 3D gaming card thats really solid with a nice pure as silk framerate for all my gaming needs AS well as the extra advantages of watching crisp DVD movies...TVOUT, and a TV tuner card

how are the TV Tuner features of this card and how is the quality of the TV OUT picture on a 27' TV??

FOlks can someone comment on this card....I am very interested


thanks!
 

AA0

Golden Member
Sep 5, 2001
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Unfortunately the 8500 DV isn't as fast as the normal 8500, the tv tuner generates lots of heat and forces them to use different, cooler RAM. Its still a good gaming card though. I know a 3rd party is going to be making the DV, maybe they'll include faster RAM, who knows. Since I'm able to run well over 100fps in wolfenstein at 1024, all the details up, AFx4 and AAx2, it should be fast enough for you.

As for quality, its great. The tv tuner and tv out are excellent. Just as good as any separte tv cards out there.
 

DarkFudge2000

Senior member
Dec 11, 2000
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thanks for the feedback...anyone else have opinions?


Also, is it actually possible to plug my cable line directly into the back of the TV tuner INPUT to recieve cable TV?......
 

*kjm

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,222
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<< thanks for the feedback...anyone else have opinions?


Also, is it actually possible to plug my cable line directly into the back of the TV tuner INPUT to recieve cable TV?......
>>




The card has yet to let me down in any games I play.... and yes you can plug your cable directly into the back of the tuner to get cable TV.
 

Narse

Moderator<br>Computer Help
Moderator
Mar 14, 2000
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<< is there software you can download that allows you to view premium channels? >>



Wouldn't that be stealing?? but anyway if there is some I would like to know as well.

And the 8500DV is a good gameing card, my roomie fried his GF3 and used the DV for awhile and he said it worked great
 

DarkFudge2000

Senior member
Dec 11, 2000
442
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wouldnt that be stealing??.....not at all, unless you arent going to notify your cable provider that your recieving the premium channels!

the whole purpose of getting software to unlock the premium channels is so that you can view premium channels your paying for! Currently I am paying for premium service on my cable box that gets me all the premium channels like Showtime, HBO, ect.....if I run this cable thru the video card, how is it going to descramble all these premium channels that i am already paying for???.......With a cable box. the cable box descrambles the premium channels you pay for....i dont know how it would work for premium channels when you plug your cable to the tv tuner in the video card.

Thats why I am asking this question
 

Wolfsraider

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2002
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i don't know for sure as i haven't had cable lately but cable boxes are for tv's that can't handle more than min 13 channels.

my aiw radeon (not 8500) can handle 125 channels and the premium channels are conyrolled usually on the pole or at a junction box outside not by the actual cable box that usually just allows older tv's to get the higher # channels

when i did have cable hooked up i watched hbo and showtime on my old radeon so correct me if the new ones don't allow this?
 

jfunk

Golden Member
Oct 16, 2000
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I believe premium channels like HBO are descrambled at the box by bullets they put on your line.

However, digital cable is another story and is something I would like to know about too. My friend has a Hauppage TV card and would like to know if there is a way to be able to get his digital channels on it.


j
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
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If you want to view premium channels on your PC, you simply route the signal from your cable box to one of your other inputs, and use the cable tuner's remote to change channels.
 

DarkFudge2000

Senior member
Dec 11, 2000
442
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RBv5....thats not a good solution...your introducing too many variables into the setup, thus degrading your best possible picture. There is no reason any of us would need to have our cable line coming in....then routing into a cable descrambler box......then routing back out to the back of our TV Tuner video cards....thats one too many breaks in the line , when we can simply have the cable line connected directly to the back of the TV Tuner video card ( Ati All in Wonder card ) running cable descrambling software.......I repeat, does anyone know where we could inquire about this either for purchase, free download, whatever......I just want the best possible picture for all my premium channels


 

NicColt

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2000
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>I just want the best possible picture for all my premium channels

I honesly tried about 20 of them, and none are worth it. and yes it's stealing if your not paying for them. as for me I am paying for premium channels but I have to use my diigtal box to decode them. With the advent of digital it's getting to be more and more difficult all the time.
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
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<< RBv5....thats not a good solution...your introducing too many variables into the setup, thus degrading your best possible picture >>



Its the same solution I use for using my tuner from my VCR for my VIVO, and it works very well. Using the s-video out of a satellite reciever to record premium channels is a totally acceptable and offers very high quality captures.

You think some kind of descrambling scheme(good luck with NTSC) will yield a higher quality picture than the clean signal from your reciever? Interesting.

Take a look at the Hauppage WinTV-D or the WinTV-HD here. They may have a better solution for you. Save that, my method does work and adds no more connections than you would have watching your TV with your digital cable box or Satellite dish.