Just got comp.#2's AIW8500DV... Questions.

[ragejg]

Hey I just scored this card (64mb version) for $125, which I thought was a good deal for even a used unit... I however did not receive any sort of usb connected rf reciever for the remote... Uhhh I'm supposed to have one, right? The big purple cable junction thingy does not house the rf reciever on some models, right? I'll score one if I'm missing one....

But anyways:
I have some heasink/fan setups that would fit on the DV edition just fine, but I'm wondering if it would benifit the card at all to mount some heatsinks on the tv tuner box... I heard it puts off some hest... Any feedback?

These are clocked a little low. Anybody had one of these @ 270/275 or anywhere near that? I'll probably give all myheatsinks (and the core) a mirror-like finish before installation, and plan on using arctic silver as my hsf compound...

As an ATI n00b (not a convert, my 310/585 4200 is still my bread n butter, no offense to ati fans), I am a little foggy about the driver sets for these cardz... What's the best Catalyst version to use with the 8500DV?

...and could this card benifit possibly from a 9100 BIOS? Or is AIW BIOS proprietary?

Any help would be appreciated...

[Nedzalife]

>>usb connected rf reciever for the remote... Uhhh I'm supposed to have one, right?

Yup you are

>>I'm wondering if it would benifit the card at all to mount some heatsinks on the tv tuner box

it'll offset the heat, but I doubt you'll notice any performance difference, unless you have a fan config taking the heat completely away from the card.

>>Anybody had one of these @ 270/275 or anywhere near that?

No with stock fan n heatsink using Rage3d Tweak i was able to bump the 230/190 to 245/205 stable. I never testing uping one or the other to see if I could get one value higher. Just remember that the memory on the 8500dv is cheaper than the stock 8500s and can't be pushed as hard. The core is pretty much the same as far as I know though, just clocked lower to reduce heat?? (guessing)

>>What's the best Catalyst version to use with the 8500DV?
Depends what you want. If you want the highest 3D Mark scores, use 2.3. If you want game / driver enhancements w/DX9 support, use 3.0.

>>and could this card benifit possibly from a 9100 BIOS? Or is AIW BIOS proprietary?
haven't read up much on that, but i doubt it since the dv uses the digital tuner. (guessing again) You'd need a newer 8500dv bios only to flash with. Check www.rage3d.com for all the aftermarket stuff with the AIWs... they have a section dedicated to the AIWs stuff, which I read regularly.

[ragejg]

thx!