DV to mpeg encode time with TMPG

[gsh]

How long should I expect the following to take?
Just under 4hrs Microsoft DV AVI converted to mpeg 2 using TMPGEnc Plus 2.5(21.58.169)
2 pass vbr - min 0, max 8000, ave 4750. Mp2@160kbs.
No filters. Only masking the edges of the picture (15,15,10,10) .
PC specs - P4 3.2 HT 1 Gb ram, mobo ASUS P5P800.
TMPG has Hyper threading enabled. Showing as using 94-98% of CPU resources. No other programmes running.
Source and destination are seperate drives.
This is looking like taking 17hrs+ which seems a tad on the long side. Are there any particular settings I should be checking/changing to reduce encode time? If looking to build a new system, what setup would I be looking at to maximise encode speed (without breaking the bank)?
Thanks.

[mats.hogberg]

Not all that way off. What motion search precision have you used? This setting affects encoding times enormously.
CCE is much faster than TMPGEnc.
I don't think better hardware is your solution.

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

If source is DV, then setting Motion search precision to motion estimate search (fast) should provide a substantial speed boost without compromising quality noticably. I would also recommend using AVISynth to mask the edges as it will be signifcantly quicker than TMPGEnc's internal routines.

Your script could be as simple as:

AVISource("c:\path\to\yourfile.avi")
crop(15,15,-10,-10) 
AddBorders(15,15,10,10)

[stars]

Hi...
I have been using TMPGenc for a long time, but i wasnt satisfied with the quality, even if the setting for
HQ was set...And if I used the parameters for the highest quality the encoding time was VERY long...

So I searched for another soulution...and I came up with this one....

1 - DV file in avi1 format approx (25Mbit/s) using... WinDV
2 - editing or filtering in Virtualdub
3 - Save wave file (2ch 48kHZ)
4 - encode wave to DD2 (.ac3) using Quenc
5 - Frameserve with Avisynth
6 - Encode with HC encoder (using highest quality options)
7 - author the DVD with GUIforDVDauthor

Encoding time for video (2pass) 4h video approx 9h using P4 2.5GHz
Encoding time for audio approx 10 min

The final output is much better than TMPGenc and Im only using freeware

regards stars....

[gsh]

Thanks for the replies. Motion precision is set to fast.
When this project has finished I shall try both CCE and HC encoder on a (shorter!) test file. It's about time I learned to use Avisynth anyway.