how would you build a fast dvd backup system?

[linkuhvich]

hello,

i believe it's time to build myself a new system, and since the most intense use of my system right now is dvd backups (not too into PC games anymore), i'd like to build it around that. My current machine (amd 1.8ghz, 1gb ram, 7200ide hds, nec 8x dvdr) can shrink movies at about an average of 40 minutes and then 10 to 20 minutes to burn them.

I guess there isn't much i can do about the burning speeds short of a faster drive but how can I speed up my shrink times? Would you purchase 2gb+ of ram? dual operton processors? 64bit processor? 10k harddrives? or is it all in the dvd-rom? if you built a machine for speed in dvd backing up what components would you be sure to include?

thanks!

[Cinemagic]

If you're building from scratch, I'd start by looking at motherboards. You want a fast bus speed. There are lots of good motherboards and everyone has their favorites. I have build several systems around Asus motherboards and have been quite pleased. Supermicro has been equally good for me, but Asus seems the better value. Their P5WD2 Premium is the latest employing all the latest and greatest. I like the Intel chipsets over the others. I've had trouble with non-intel chipsets.

The processor speed will help a great deal with faster encoding. I have typically gotten the next to the fastest Intel processor. The fastest is usually the most expensive and the difference between the fastest and the second fastest is usually negligible in terms of the encoding speed and yet significant in dollars cost. 64-bit processor will not help you sine 1)you'd need to get the Windows XP - 64bit edition, and 2) the shrink programs are not written for 64-bit processors. No advantage here.

My machine has 2 GB RAM. Maybe overkill for encoding, but I do video editing as well. If you take the RAM required for normal computer operations and programs running and then take the memory required for encoding a single frame, double it and add it to the base RAM, that would be the absolute minimum RAM to have. 1 gig should be plenty, but 2 gig would be better. Better to have faster RAM.

The motherboards now have SATA drives that are somewhat faster than IDE (but not significantly faster). The drives are sufficiently fast, but you can stripe them for increased performance. I don't think striping will improve your overall backup speed since the drive can write a frame faster than the processor can encode it.

Burn speeds are really more limited to the media. Most current burners are faster than most of the media we get. Media is getting better all the time, so I'd get a top of the line burner.

That's my opinion, and my system.

[scustalow]

Plus I would never hook it up to the internet..I built just such a system that you are and never will hook it up to the internet..also I only use the sp1 for xp and I only installed the bare min of software I needed to back up with.I used 1.5 gig of mem.a 250gig hard drive,P4 Intel chip.From this forum you can look and see what software u need..Good Luck

[archaeo]

add two SCSI 10K rpm hard drives - prevents the bottlenecks that occur with one drive.

[stiltman]

Buy the latest and greatest of everything you can afford. Install the OS and your encoder of choice.

Don't install anything else.

[Stormin Norman]

You can build an awsome machine for less than 1500$. check out zipzoomfly. Just as stiltman said.

[lordsmurf]

You can build a computer that does it in reasonable fast speeds for under $300. But it all depends on how impatient you are. Is it worth an extra $1000+ just to get back an extra 20 minutes here and there? Likely minutes you won't miss, due to leaving the computer while it does its thing.

[Zen of Encoding]

nec 8x dvdr can shrink movies at about an average of 40 minutes and then 10 to 20 minutes to burn them.

how can I speed up my shrink times? 10k harddrives? or is it all in the dvd-rom?

40 minutes to shrink a movie seems a little bit too long.
You could probably cut that time in half without spending any money at
all by flashing to a modified "Rip-Lock Removed" firmware on the drive
you use to read the movies.

What is the exact model number of your NEC drive, or do you read the
discs with a separate DVD-ROM drive? If you use a DVD-ROM, you need
to flash the firmware on that drive.

Find more info on your NEC drive: (look for NEC drive hardware forum)

http://club.cdfreaks.com/


Get modified firmware here, but BE CAREFUL, a bad flash with incorrect
(wrong model number) can ruin your drive:

http://forum.rpc1.org

[normcar]

512MB RAM is sufficient, and you should do a memory check. Dual chanel memory is also better. A 3.2 Intel CPU will be both a vast improvement in speed over your current system, and reasonably priced. Having 3 drives will improve shrinking speed, 1 for OS/programs, 1 as a copy from, and 1 as a copy to drive. Also important if your computer is used for internet access is to use programs such as Adaware to delete programs that use up system resources. You should be able to build a very good system for about $600 - $800. Anything more will only be small gains in speed. I suggest you stay away from prebuilts from Dell/HP/Sony etc. because they generally use cheap parts to save money.

[linkuhvich]

hey guys,

thanks for the input so far, it's been very useful. so is it safe to say the consensus is that the processor speed is most important for encoding? And it seems almost everyone suggests an Intel, has it been proven that Intel outperforms the AMD in workloads like this?

I've been building machines for several years and have always stuck to AMD although I wouldn't mind building an Intel box if it's proven to out perform in encoding.

Zen: I appericate the tip on the firmware, I'm using a Lite-On LTC-48161H and I will check into a firmware update and see what that does...

lord: Your right, I'm not willing to spend a couple thousand on a machine devoted completely to saving myself a few minutes. I'm just looking for my new machine (old machine is just starting to get old) to include the one or two components that the experienced people at these forums think are most responsible for encoding. Since that will be by far the most intense application I run.

thanks guys

[INFRATOM]

The way you are explaining, you are ok spending on a new computer will Not gain that much speed eg you cannot reduce your time to 10 minutes all together. What I suggest don't buy a computer now technology is changing save your money for next generation CPU (next year) . For now you could make lot of improvement by getting fast hard drive eg 10000 Raptor and buy 8x or faster dvd's, you will save minimum of 10 minutes by these 2 items right there also make your memory timing a bit aggressive or over clock your computer a bit. don't forget DMA setting for all your ide drives and uninstall what you don't need.

[normcar]

In another topic the following post was entered by Cobra, which indicates that P4s are better for Video processing:
I always thought that the P4 didn't have more pipelines as such, but much longer ones allowing for efficient processing of non-variable tasks. As I understand it, AMD CPUs have short execution pipelines so if the prefetch thingy doesn't predict what it needs next then a pipeline flush and reset is less expensive time-wise than a P4 pipeline flush which is a lot longer. That's why P4s excel at video encoding - it isn't hard to predict so it can hammer through it quicker, and AMDs are better at gaming because the P4 loses time making mistakes and paying for it.

It's like a P4 is a drag racing car, and an Athlon is an F1 car. If it's a straight road then the P4 leaves the Athlon for dead, but if there's complexities like turns the Athlon can handle it but the P4 keeps bumping into the sides.