Can't get good cap results with ATI AIWR & current config

Hi there, I'm totally new to all this stuff, and I have a problem.

I never seem able to get good results capturing with my current configuration. I can just about capture a vcd (crap quality) without dropping frames using VirtualDub. I made the mistake of buying the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon after all the rave reviews. So many people have had problems with it. I thought my current setup would be fast enough, but cos the ATI card is a software encoder, probably not.

Operating system is WIndows 98. I'm thinking of using Win XP home. Good idea? Anyone know?

Current Config:

192MB PC100
40GB HD's AT 7200RPM (2x with 3 PARTITIONS EACH)
Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II Soundcard
AMD Athlon 800Mhz CPU

I want to buy these components to make up a new machine:

256 DDR RAM
40GB IBM 7200RPM HDD
PENTIUM 4 1.8Ghz with 256k cache
Asustek Motherboard (not sure which one)
and use the same ATI AIWR capture card.

Will I be able to capture at 720x576 resolution HQ DVD compliant without dropping frames???
Is this machine adequate enough without a question??

P4 is definitely fast enough (full rez captures take less than 50% of the CPU on my P4-1.8A all settings maxed out), although you should be able to capture full resolution on an Athlon 800 without dropping frames using an I-frame only preset.

Did you try MMC 7.6 ? (It's much faster than 7.1)

micramda what OS are you running, what version of drivers(video/capture), and what version of MultiMediaCenter are you using?

I'm running a TV-Wonder on a 800 mHz Athlon & a AIW Radeon on a 1200 mHz Athlon c. The TV-Wonder's running in XP on the worst KT7 motherboard released to the public, and the AIW Radeon on a MSI KT7 with Win2k and not having any problems?

Where can you get MMC 7.6? I only have a TV wonder, will it work with it?

I have the Radeon 64MB VIVO and it does hardware MPEG2 encoding. You sure your AIW Radeon doesn't also do this?

Upgrade to 7.6 and the rest of the driver stuff too.

I use XP Pro. Great OS. Make sure you get the latest drivers (can't stress that enough).

I can cap at 720x480 @ 8mbps MPEG2 realtime. I have p3 800Mhz, 768 MB RAM, 2x 40GB 7200rpms HDDs.

I'm not sure what you mean about the software encoding part. Version 6.3 of MMC used software encoding to achieve MPEG encoding - the newer MMC does hardware (I believe).

I don't cap with VDUB - for one thing, it only uses VFW drivers, and the XP drivers are WDM. You need a wrapper VFW-WDM driver, which degrades performance - capping using MMC to your desired codec is the same deal. Another thing, VDUB is a pre-processor more than a capture app - even the author says so right off the bat. Cap to AVI using MMC then do whatever you need to with VDUB (frameserve, filter, etc.)

I think you'll need 48Khz audio for DVD compliant MPEG2... but I could be wrong.