AIW X800XL AGP Tuner?

[NightRain]

I just got a AIW X800XL AGP card, I really enjoy AIW cards and just upgraded from my AIW 9600Pro card. I don't have a PCI-E motherboard and don't plan on upgrading anytime soon. I have a AMD 3500+ CPU and think the X800XL is a good match, especially since I got the retail version for $200 Canadian BRAND NEW, I think its a great deal.

My question is how can I tell what the tuner chipset is?

Every review of the X800XT and X800XL I read said they both use the MT2050 tuner and they all complained that the channel surfing was slow (maybe a second to change channel). I'm using Cat 6.2 and MMC 9.08 and I can't notice any difference in channel changing time when compared to my 9600Pro but I do notice improved picture quality.

MMC 9.13 sucks so until they fix it I'm sticking with Cat 6.2 and 9.08 since they seem to work well together for me.

I can't understand why every review bashed the channel surfing delay on this card when I can't notice any delay. Can anyone tell me if it is possible that ATI is not making the X800 with the MT2121 found on the X1800 and X1900?

How can I tell what my card has.

This is the card I have BTW: http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...21&catid=10524

And is looks like this:



Any help would be great.

[mikiem]

AFAIK the compaints I read re: tuning had to do with non-MMC software, which the theater cards (not aiw) couldn't use until v. 9.10 - 9.13, & then upgrading software seemed to help.

[NightRain]

AFAIK the compaints I read re: tuning had to do with non-MMC software, which the theater cards (not aiw) couldn't use until v. 9.10 - 9.13, & then upgrading software seemed to help.

No, many reviews have stated that the MT2050 used in the X800XL and X800XT AIW cards are slow. But I've read some reviews from Europe stating the cards now use the MT2121 chip (same as the X1800 and X1900 AIW) and is much faster. I'm wondering how I can tell what chip mine is using, mine changes channels very fast, which is great so I think I have the MT2121.

Some reviews also stated that in Europe only the MT2121 can do DVB aswell, wish I could get that in Canada.

Here is a link to a X800XT AIW review, http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...onder_x800_xt/

and some quotes:

"If you’ve seen previous ALL-IN-WONDER cards, you’ve no doubt noticed the huge Philips TV tuner ATI typically integrates on their cards. The old tuners didn’t generate a lot of heat, and were quite responsive, switching channels quite rapidly, but they took up an enormous amount of real estate on the AIW board, swamping the entire upper portion of the PCB in most cases."

"The ALL-IN-WONDER X800 XT was the first AIW card ATI announced to use a new silicon tuner from Microtune, the MT2050, which sits underneath a gold-plated casing. The new tuner requires minimal external components, and contains fewer parts -- in turn allowing it to consumer less power and generate less heat. According to ATI, the MT2050 is able to generate a power saving of 11% over older tuners, while requiring 20% less surface area."

"The new tuner delivers good visual quality, although we did notice that it isn’t as responsive as the Philips tuner ATI used previously. Whereas the old tuner was flick-of-a-light quick when changing channels, there’s a definite two second pause when you change channels with the MT2050. If you’re familiar with older ALL-IN-WONDER and TV WONDER products that used the Philips tuner, you’ll definitely notice the difference in performance."


See a two second pause with the MT2050.

Here is a quote from the X1800XL AIW Review:
"But the only downside to the MT2050 was that it wasn’t as responsive as the Philips TV tuner ATI had used on previous ALL-IN-WONDER products. Changing channels took 1-2 seconds to complete with MT2050, whereas the previous tuners could switch channels in the blink of an eye. Fortunately ATI has addressed this issue, replacing Microtune’s MT2050 tuner with the MT2121 for the ALL-IN-WONDER X1800 XL."

[LeonidasVouros]

See a two second pause with the MT2050.

Here is a quote from the X1800XL AIW Review:
"But the only downside to the MT2050 was that it wasn’t as responsive as the Philips TV tuner ATI had used on previous ALL-IN-WONDER products. Changing channels took 1-2 seconds to complete with MT2050, whereas the previous tuners could switch channels in the blink of an eye. Fortunately ATI has addressed this issue, replacing Microtune’s MT2050 tuner with the MT2121 for the ALL-IN-WONDER X1800 XL."

Since X800GT AIW PCIE all new AIW use the 2121 silicon microtuner...Old models like the x800XL AGP use the 2050 version
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/...ewhardware.htm
DVB-T reception has nothinhg to do with either 2050 or 2121 tuners: It uses an extra chip NWTwave 6000...
Being an owner of multiple AIWs since AIW 8500DV I still prefer the old tuners even the big Philips ones. (I think that 8500dv also used as silicon chip tuner that was pretty very good..) as they are more tolerrant to signal stregth issues. My x800gt cannot tune 2 channels that suffer slight interference...All other TVs VCRs and previously 8500DV COULD EASILY TUNE....
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/AIWX1800/index.htm
AIW X1800XL uses same tuners and has similar picture quality.
2121 must have fixed the BAD FM reception issues of previous Xxxx series with 2050 onboard as noted in another thread in this forrum BUT THAT'S ALL!!!!! IT DIDN'T EVEN FIX THE STERO FM BUG ..(YES FM is mono although stereo is indicated...)
THE INFAMOUS CHANNEL CHANGE LAG OF 1-2 SEC in my opinion has nothing to do with the tuners....IT WAS INTRODUCED with the new NSP drivers that forced audio digitally internally through the AGP/PCIE bus and was due to audio/video buffering and it was obvious even in old 9800/9700AIW USING THE NSP driver!!! This still applies for the new unified AVST200 driver but to a lesser degree 0.5 max I could say maybe even less 0.2...! I think that in the next drivers version this might be history..