The most distinctive thing about the AIW 9600XT is the redesigned cooling unit. Instead of reusing the standard cooler found on stock 9600XT cards, ATI updated the AIW 9600XT to a more sleeker looking design that features an offset fan and a shrouded heatsink. Offsetting the fan frees up the area directly above the VPU which allows heatsink fins to be placed where they are needed the most. The added benefit is that the fan motor doesn't have to directly deal with the heat of the VPU, thus extending its life span. The shroud around the heatsink ensures that airflow from the fan travels over the full length of the heatsink fins, maximizing the cooling effect. At initial glance, it appears that the cooler also serves to cool the memory modules. This is not the case however as the cooler does not touch or even completely cover any of the memory modules. Because of this, should you wish to cool the memory modules using aftermarket ramsinks, you will also need to replace the stock heatsink with something smaller.

Other than the new heatsink/fan, the AIW 9600XT doesn't differ physically from the AIW 9600 Pro at all. The same cables and adapters are included in both bundles and the PCB layout is identical on both cards including the same Samsung DDR BGA, Phillips Tuner, and Theater200 chip. With the coolers removed you would have a hard time telling the AIW 9600XT and AIW 9600 Pro apart.

As with the AIW 9600 Pro, the AIW 9600XT does not have a DVI port but does offer Dual-VGA, something no other modern AIW offers. The lack of a DVI port might be a turn off for some, but it shouldn't really be a problem for most users considering the target market of the AIW 9600XT. The Dual-VGA makes much more sense because now you can do nifty things like edit video on one display while having a full screen preview of the same video on the second display.

Audio/Video-In	Audio/Video-Out	Video-Out Connection
Philips Tuner	Theater200 Chip	Video Ports