Thoughts
3D Base
A product with so many facets to consider during analysis makes for a heavy conclusion, so strap yourselves in for this one. Starting from first principles as ATI do when creating new high-end AIWs, R580 is a very fine chip to put on any graphics board. AIW Radeon X1900 has that GPU in full configuration, which means support for Shader Model 3.0, fast dynamic branching in Pixelshader 3.0 programs and the best consumer-level image quality available on a PC today due to the GPU's high-quality AF mode and adaptive antialiasing.So the 3D base is a solid one. However AIW Radeon X1900 is a 256MiB product, so while XT or XTX have leg-room at 1600x1200 and 1920x1200 with IQ levels turned up, the AIW Radeon X1900 might start to run out of steam in the latest games, depending on the settings you use to play them.
Keep that in mind when considering an AIW Radeon X1900 on its gaming merits. While it seems absurd to say 256MiB isn't enough, the performance of the 512MiB XT and XTX is seriously alluring at elevated resolutions. Versus the AIW Radeon X1800 XL, though, performance is up by at least 10% almost universally, clock for clock, and that's discounting future games.
Multimedia Features
That understood, you next have to look at AIW's multimedia features, starting with the tuning ability. While video quality when tuning analogue and DVB-T was great, and on a par with the other tested tuners, the AIW wouldn't pick up the channels the other tuners would. FM tuning quality also left a lot to be desired.That ATI assume the AIW is the last device in your TV chain is largely down to backplane space, but it'd be nice if passthrough was available.
On the flipside when doing other AV I/O, the AIW Radeon X1900 excelled at component output, and AIW's quality when capturing from S-Video or composite hasn't been in question for some time. Euro SCART (RGB) gets a smile from me, too, the VIA ASIC doing a fine job with that. But consider the less than stellar VGA output and a single DVI (without HDCP either) and the AV-focussed AIW loses marks. I/O quality isn't top notch across the board.
Form factor has thumbs pointing northwards, though. Anywhere the AIW Radeon X1800 XL could be integrated, the AIW Radeon X1900 can be too. Single-slot and a quieter cooler is a good thing when you think about assigning the board HTPC duties. That said, one area where the form factor does it no favours is cable connection. The custom I/O block connector is close enough to the DVI port so as to make it hard to use a VGA adaptor on that digital output, when the custom connector is in place.
Software
Then we come to software. We'll come right out and say it: MMC needs to be shipped off to the retirement home for creaky software, or at least given a serious makeover. We've been saying the UI is fairly broken for some time now, and while MMC has its definite high points (the transcoding engine for one), it has significant usability issues and it's overdue for a replacement, or the plan for the end of its life.MCE 2005 is where we did most of our AIW testing this time around, and it was for that very reason. The interface and usability of MCE 2005 is lightyears ahead of what's offered in MMC, and while MMC can do things with the hardware that MCE 2005 can't (FM, export to H.264, etc), and it can also be run alongside MCE 2005 if you really need it, things like not being able to tune TV and FM radio at the same time are glaring faults.
The Adobe Elements pair is a bundle deal par-excellence on average, but beware the workflow caveats if you're a keyboard monkey as your author is. Lastly, and we've said it many times on HEXUS already, Avivo is A Very Good Thing Indeed™, now that the big features are exposed and working. Paying for H.264 decode acceleration hurts, but it's worth it if you work in that format, or intend to in the future.
Current AIW Radeon's problems are therefore clear, but they give ATI something to work towards for the next iteration. The next high-end AIW needs a pair of HDCP-compliant dual-link DVI ports; it needs solid analogue output at high resolution to back that up when called on; and it needs tweaks to how I/O is handled (new Theater?) and the TV tuner to bring those bits up to snuff, compared to discrete examples of AV capture and (dual?) tuning.
If ATI can do work in those areas, and improve their H.264 processing performance and quality even further, I'll be there money in hand, begging for the result. If they can then slap Microsoft into making H.264 a first class citizen in Vista's media extensions....
Until then, I find the AIW Radeon X1900 somewhat wanting as a sum of its parts, and therefore the AIW Radeon X1800 XL by the same token, since they share everything but their GPU. If the outlined issues won't trouble you, then you'll find the same compelling mix of speed and features that ATI are famous for. But it's about time the faults were brought into sharper focus, so that ATI don't rest on current laurels while creating future AIWs.
Overall Summary
Niggles aside, for just under £300 when it finally makes its way to retail, you'll get GeForce 7800 GTX performance for less money with the AIW feature set and software to boot. It's that which makes the AIW great, and peerless, in the world of consumer graphics and multimedia technology. No other product offers the same mix for the same cash, and with R580 ATI get to move that game on even further. The best value graphics board currently in production? It's hard to say no.So, largely excellent due to a great technology base, and depending on your AIW usage model there's a lot to love about the AIW Radeon X1900 . Purple PCBs with gold highlights will never go out of fashion, either. I hear Prince's biggest fan - ATI's pint-sized Matthew Witheiler - delivered the also-wee musical maestro's AIW Radeon X1900 system to him personally, just the other day.
