Help on hardware choice

[TIG]

Since getting a notebook I never use my desktop computer anymore which has been sitting for about 2 years.

Now I want to get back into capturing/encoding old VHS to DVD. When I built the system I was having problems with the VHS tapes showing their age. The VCR I was using was new..but cheap. Also using composite out. Junk in..Junk out

I recently bought a used Panasonic AG-1980 with TBC and the tapes look and capture great now.

I can capture fine with no dropped frames...but mpeg2 encoding is currently it's taking 10+ hours to encode less than an hour using VBR-2 pass with the settings for best quality.

Here's a rundown of the old custom built system which runs fine...just slow

Asus P4C800-E DELUXE
P4 3.4 - Thermaltake' Volcano 7+ fan
1GB RAM (512MBx2) DDR550(PC4400)
ATI - AIW 9600xt
WD2500KS - 250GB - 3 partitions - system C: D: E:
WD2500KS - 250 GB - 1 Partition
WD2500JB - 250 GB - 1 Partition
Case, case fans, power supply and drives are fine.

I was a nice setup when I built it.

A Motherboard/CPU/Memory upgrade is needed!!

Should I continue to use the 9600xt AIW for software capturing in VirtualDub (which I have no problems capturing with)...or should I also replace the 9600xt?

For non hardware encoding..is the 9600xt going to choke on a new system. It's PCIe x16

I'm currently using VirtualDub and TMGPGEnc 2.5
Is there a better/quicker encoder with high quality?

I don't need a brand new cutting edge CPU. Any input on slightly older CPUs and what kind of encoding times your getting would be appreciated.

[davexnet]

Can't you capture directly to mpeg-2 ?

[TIG]

I want to be able to edit, filter, crop, pad, etc

I just turned off "High Quality" under noise reduction (TMPGEnc) . Seems overkill from what I'm reading. Gained some speed.

Just wondering what people are getting speed wise with say an i5 or i7 processor.

[DarrellS]

Can't you capture directly to mpeg-2 ?

That's what I would be doing if I had his setup. It was a high quality rig in it's day. I'd use the ATI MMC software and capture either to ATI VCR and convert to MPEG2 (which only takes a few seconds since it's already MPEG2) or capture straight to MPEG2 with the DVD settings.

There is no reason that it should take ten hours to get an MPEG2 (then again, it's been a long time since I've encoded with a P4 CPU).



That said, the old top of the line PC is a dog compared to even todays low end PCs and the old ATI card will not work in todays PCs if you want HD video capabilities. I would build an I7 machine if I could afford it but a decent I5 machine can be had for around $800.


GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128409

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275

XFX HD-477A-YDFC Radeon HD 4770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150369

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1850 (updated version of 1800) MCE Kit 1128 PCI-Express x1 Interface
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116015

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533