ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro

Today we embark on the second part of our All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro adventure. You followed us through the preview, now it's time for a hands-on look at the video card that will have many drooling.

At the end of September we were given the opportunity to bring you an in-depth preview of a product that proved to be very exciting. It promised to offer the fastest desktop 3D graphics available, advanced gaming features, and a powerful multimedia package including a TV tuner and component output support. It has been called the future of computing graphics, but you probably know it as the All-in-Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro.

Approximately a month has passed since our preview of the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro and in that time we were able to get hands on a final product. While our preview was extensive, it was based on a fairly short single day experience with the product in an environment outside our lab. Today we are able to update our original preview of the product and answer some of the questions posed there: namely, what advantages does the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro offer over the already industry-leading All-in-Wonder 8500DV?

The All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro preview posted at the end of September deals with many of the technical aspects of the card, including what has been updated hardware wise, what the new software package offers, and how lots of the technology behind the card works. Our review today is meant to supplement that, not replace it. With that in mind, if you have not already read our All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro preview or have since forgotten what it says we strongly suggest you do so before continuing here. Think of this review as part two of the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro.

So, with an understanding of what the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro brings to the table and what our high expectations for the product were, let's get onto the formal testing that we performed on the card. Follow us as we take a trip through ATI's new Multimedia Center 8.0, demonstrate some of the functionality available only on the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro, and answer the question on everyone's mind: is the ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro worth its $449 MSRP?

The Test

Before we get to some of our results, we should quickly show you what system we tested the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro in.