hardware question - looking to upgrade need help

[DVD_NDN]

ok so I want to upgrade my system. I have had this same system for 3-4 years now (with the exception of adding a new DVD writer - LG GSA 4120B).
I honestly dong know how to make any sense of this stuff, I dont speak "MHz" (yeah I know, sounds like its pretty crucial) or really understand what the Front side bus speed/frequency translates to as far as performance goes.
I DO want to be able to make backups faster (as far as time goes, I'm looking at 5-6 hours each disc with shrink-2 pass.. deep analysis ) - I dont actually know how fast I could get (quotes anyone?) but I would like to shave off at least some time.
heres my multimedia whore's details:

CPU(s)
Number of CPUs 1

Name Intel Pentium 4
Code Name Willamette
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1700MHz
Family / Model / Stepping F 0 A
Extended Family / Model 0 0
Brand ID 8
Package mPGA-478
Core Stepping C1
Technology 0.18 µ
Supported Instructions Sets MMX, SSE, SSE2
CPU Clock Speed 1693.1 MHz
Clock multiplier x 17.0
Front Side Bus Frequency 99.6 MHz
Bus Speed 398.4 MHz
L1 Data Cache 8 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L1 Trace Cache 12 Kµops, 8-way set associative
L2 Cache 256 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L2 Speed 1693.1 MHz (Full)
L2 Location On Chip
L2 Data Prefetch Logic yes
L2 Bus Width 256 bits

Mainboard and chipset
Motherboard manufacturer MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD
Motherboard model MS-6558,
BIOS vendor Award Software International, Inc.
BIOS revision 6.00 PG
BIOS release date 11/23/2001
Chipset SiS SiS645 rev. 1
Southbridge SiS ID8 rev. 0
Sensor chip Winbond W83697HF

Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Status enabled, rev. 2.0
AGP Data Transfert Rate 4x
AGP Max Rate 4x
AGP Side Band Addressing supported, not enabled
AGP Aperture Size 64 MBytes

Memory
DRAM Type DDR-SDRAM
DRAM Size 256 MBytes
CAS# Latency 2.5 clocks
RAS# to CAS# 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge 3 clocks
Cycle Time (TRAS) 6 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (TRC) 10 clocks
# of memory modules 1
Module 0 Apacer Technology DDR-SDRAM PC2300 - 256 MBytes
Software
Windows version Microsoft Windows XP Workstation Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX version 9.0c
****

I'm looking for anyone's (And everyone's) suggestions as to what to improve to gain better performance. I'd like to say money is no object, but so long as its about $200(CAD)/piece, I can do it (try to factor in trade in value if it would help).

thanks ALOT everyone for helping me out, I REALLY appreciate it.

[wwjd]

It takes me about an hour to backup a DVD movie. I use Shrink and DVD Decrypter.

My system is a P4 2.53, 512Mb, Dedicated 120Gb HD, 533Mhz Front side bus, HP 200i DVD Writer, XP SP1.

CPU is the big player in how fast transcoding and or encoding go. There are other factors such as HD speed, how frequently it has been defraged, if it is dedicated, if it is a master or a slave, how stuff is running in the background and so on.

[Skith]

before anything, I would suggest adding more RAM, seeing as you only have 256MB. My next suggestion would be a new CPU. You would have to check MSI's website (Micro-star International - the maker of your motherboard) to see what options you have. The newest CPU models would most likely require a new motherboard (anyone correct me if I am wrong, I am not to familair with INTEL stuff).