Theater 650 Pro Discussion

[petst01]

If you look at the "ultimte dorm room" at ATI.com there is mention of the ATI TV Wonder 650. In addition, a Google search for this phrase (you need to enclose it in quotes), found two online stores in the US advertising the the card for $130, although neither is carrying stock, quoted delivery time is 2-3 weeks. Maybe it really is real

[fanbanlo]

Windows Vista Will Not Support CableCARD Add-in Upgrades
see dailytech.com

[Seraphic-]

Links? Can't find the two stores on google.

Also, does anyone know if the PCI-E version of this card outperform the PCI version in someway? I mean, is it better to get PCI-E over PCI?

[sgtscs]

pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail~dpno~7087993.asp
expercom.com/product_detail.html?PRODUCT_ID=397238
shop.ahinc.com/product_info.php/products_id/50672

those are the first three hits if you search for 'tv wonder 650'

I called PC Mall and the guy said ~3-4 weeks. we'll see...

i couldn't post them as links, it said i need 5 posts before i can post URLs

[Seraphic-]

Ah, I had the wrong key words in. But are those the Theater Pro cards? (none have " Theater Pro" with the name, nor even ATI)

Anyway, I called PC Mall too. Guy said maybe 1-2 weeks. But he didn't seem to know anything about the card itself.

Also, all those links you posted look to be for the PCI version. I guess there won't be a PCI-E version for awhile then? I don't understand why, I mean, PCI-E offers more bandwidth.

[hrlslcbr]

Seraphic-: The PCIe version offers more bandwidth, yes; but it has more than enough bandwidth using PCI. Both versions should be the same (at least the 550 pro weren't different).

[Seraphic-]

Well, that's good to know. But I guess my issue is that PCI is an old technology.

Also, is "TV WONDER 650" the same as "Theater 650 Pro"?

[spacded]

PCI is not old technology

PCIE is unecessary technology, PCI and AGP were no where near their max bandwith capapbilities when PCIE (or PCI american express as it is fondly called) came out.

It was just a way to get people to upgrade and spend money uneccessarily
apparently AGP maxes out at a resloution and bandwith way in excess of any HD monitor you are likely to see in the near future

[Billium]

Hi spacded,

There's been X-FI (Creative soundcard) issues exacerbated by that card's high bandwidth on the PCI bus. Also, if you add in gigabit LAN etc.... Check out the first page of an article named, "PCI Express Explained" over on cooltechzone.com (unfortunately I don't have 5 posts yet so I can't post a direct link). Here's the part I'm talking about:

----snip----
Why do we need PCI Express you might ask? Well, the PCI 2.2 bus and other revisions just don’t provide us with enough bandwidth to support the evermore demanding peripheral cards. Hard drive controllers and networking cards just aren’t providing enough bandwidth that some hard drives have the potential to offer.

The reason is because PCI only offers a throughput (maximum theoretical bandwidth) of 1.056Gbps (gigabits per second) while Serial-ATA hard drives can offer a maximum of 1.5Gbps (3.0Gbps with SATA II); however, if a SATA controller can only have a transfer rate of 1.056Gbps, the SATA drive will have a transfer rate of only 132MBps (megabytes per second), which is roughly equivalent to ATA-133 technology. This is true if there are no other peripherals requesting use of the bandwidth. PCI shares that 132MBps bandwidth as it only uses one PCI bus which is connected in parallel. Although there are other PCI versions available, most motherboards and components use the 32-bit PCI which operates at 33MHz.

Now for all of you with the Gigabit LAN cards, just know that at one thousand megabits per second, you are using approximately 95% of your available PCI bus’ bandwidth. This leaves little room for any other peripherals to use bandwidth. Most of the time, however, you will only be using a sound card on the PCI bus, but if you have a few other bandwidth-demanding components, you will have performance loss somewhere in the PCI bus, and that may likely sacrifice data transfer rates with your LAN
----snip----

[hrlslcbr]

Originally Posted by spacded

PCI is not old technology

PCIE is unecessary technology, PCI and AGP were no where near their max bandwith capapbilities when PCIE (or PCI american express as it is fondly called) came out.

It was just a way to get people to upgrade and spend money uneccessarily
apparently AGP maxes out at a resloution and bandwith way in excess of any HD monitor you are likely to see in the near future

I agree with Billium. No bandwidth and IRQ problems with PCIe.

[spacded]

Most motherboards have everything built on these days inc 5.1 or 7.1 sound capabilities. the only pci card in either of my 2 pcs is a TV graphics card and they work great.

That quote doesnt mention AGP , there was loads of headroom left in the graphics department but hey if it means people will spill another £400 on a graphics card then its more dosh for the component manufacturers.

My ancient Athlon 2200 HTPC with a 9600 Radon card and a 550 pro runs MCE perfectly and can stream any video i care to throw at it from my main PC it is networked with.

never had an IRQ problem in about the last 7 years !

If your buying new then sure PCIE makes sense , but it was sold about 2 years too soon, when ultra HD comes out then it will shine

[spacded]

WHHOOOOSSHH roll tumbleweed blows across the prarie

still no sign of the elusive ...............................650 pro

ON ANY WEBSITE APART FROM HERE AND ATI!

oh and the odd review from about 2 months ago!

[Seraphic-]

I just talked with a Rep. from PowerColor. They said that ATI is having a design issue with the 650 Chip, and that it won't be ready until late August or some point in September.

[Multimedia Mike]

Hi guys,
Just a few comments about this latest discussion:
As written on the Theater 650 Pro website, the chip does support both PCI and PCIE. So you should be able to find Theater 650 Pro based products for both interfaces. In terms of performance, there should be no difference between the two. So the choice is only about personal preference and convenience.

Regarding product launch rumours/speculation, I can't comment as usual. Theater 650 Pro based products are coming really soon and you'll just have to wait and see exactly when.

[spacded]

MM

ok you cant say anything , but ATI is SAYING LOADS!!

why dont any of your partners EVEN MENTION it?

most IT companies talk up vapourware months sometimes years in advance, yet there is not a peep from one so called partner!

[jake123]

I figured it out. MM does not really exist. He (it) is a virtual artificial intelligence program that works by seeking key words in the posting we make and responding with pre-programmed responses. Notice the usual line of "I can't comment" or "I'm not at liberty", or "it's coming out real soon". The guy is not real, we have been talking to a damn machine all along. He (it) probably also has an automatic response to this post, denying he (it) is an AI machine. They also probably have a halogram that was created to even look like what we think MM looks like.

Its the same story always... can't tell you when, like its some CIA secret he (it) is holding on to. Screw ATI or AMD, as they are now known. Maybe AMD will do away with ATI and make it a bubble gum division. Then they will sell off the MM AI machine on ebay.

Had to go there...they have been begging for this for some time.