How can i transcode a dvd in a reasonable time with my old PC?

[kmcc]

its a dell dimension 4100 with a p3 866 mhz and a nvidia riva tnt2 model 64 (its 5 or 6 years old). i would be happy with 4 hours for a 2 hr dvd.

heres what i think my options may be:

- get a new motherboard with a faster processor

- switch my cpu out for a faster one (not sure if i can do this)

- i was using powerproducer 2 gold:
- use a better program
- use a program that will use my GPU to help transcode

so, what do you think?

also what cpu speed do you think i need for realtime transcoding?

[FulciLives]

It mostly boils down to the CPU speed.

The faster the CPU the faster the encoding and transcoding time will be.

Second would be memory but for WinXP you only need about 512MB as having more will not really increase speed that much.

The video/graphics card makes little to no difference.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[edDV]

You haven't described what you are trying to do.

What you have is what most of us had in 2001 and we had equal wait time. I don't get what you mean "4 hours for a 2 hr dvd".

If you are encoding a DVD, an 866 MHz CPU will take its time but get the job done. Getting more from a CPU swap may be possible but you would need to understand the motherboard-memory limitations.

Better to look for a P4 on the used market.

"also what cpu speed do you think i need for realtime transcoding?"

Depends but I struggle with a 2.4 GHz P4 for DV->MPeg2. Most times it works. Sometimes it drops seconds to minutes while rebuffering.

[greymalkin]

your best option would be to replace motherboard/processor and memory. but DUDE you got a dell so you have to also get a new power supply as dell's power supplies are proprietary. They will physically fit in a new motherboard but they are wired differently and could screw your new stuff up. Actually if it was a 866 you probably have to get a new power supply anyways...the case might be proprietary as well so you might just have to buy a whole new barebones bundle....

Also your old gpu isn't going to help you out at all. ATI is planning on allowing their newest GPU's to be able to do such encoding but you might as well buy a whole new computer rig as the cost of the latest video card will be more than the rest of the components and as of right now i don't know of any software that supports this feature.

[kschang]

"real-time" transcoding? We ain't there yet, not quite.

I have AutoGK do a DVD the other day and it was doing 20-some frames a second in the final stages, so total time is like 3 hours for a 1.5 hour movie. And I have a 2.67 GHz P4.

[geauxlsu]

but DUDE you got a dell so you have to also get a new power supply as dell's power supplies are proprietary.

Really? Sounds like dell has the consumer market by the hairy ones (as far as parts goes). My laptop is my first and will be my last Dell ever.

[gadgetguy]

... dell's power supplies are proprietary...

Really? I've not heard that before. What about them is proprietary? I've only seen the innards of one Dell PC first hand, but I don't remember seeing anything unusual.

[jagabo]

... dell's power supplies are proprietary...

Really? I've not heard that before. What about them is proprietary? I've only seen the innards of one Dell PC first hand, but I don't remember seeing anything unusual.

The pinouts on the motherboard connector are different on some models. The worst part is they didn't change the connector so it's entirely possible to plug a regular power supply into the motherboard and fry both.

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=31105&seqNum=4&rl=1

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/dellconverter.html

[greymalkin]

just to clarify..wasn't meaning to make fun of anyone who has purchased a dell..if i sound cynical or ticked off it's at dell for being so sneaky...

You can replace everything you need to in a bundle for about $300 (new case/power supply, cpu, heatsink/fan, motherboard, 512mb memory.

this one here looks alright:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1828379&Sku=A458-1116%20B

it's a p4 2.66ghz so it's not top of the line but it's decent for the price. If you want bigger and badder you can certainly pay more..but this will dramatically reduce your encoding times. It has integrated sound/video/lan but you can stick your other cards in there as well. After that you'd just need to put your Hard drive, cd/dvd rom, and floppy (if you have one) and you should have a complete system.

[gadgetguy]

Thanks for the good info about Dell, but I think it's also important to note that Dell returned to standard in 2000 and that only the PCs manufactured between 1996 and 2000 have the proprietary Motherboards and Power Supplies.

[trossin]

Just buy a $300 machine and then you will have two machines to transcode in parallel. You will also get some free crap with the machine like a new OS.

[kschang]

Was doing an AutoGK job this morning, as a test. Started at 8:00 AM, encoding an action movie. I used DVD Decrypter first to "rip" the movie to the HD, let's say that took 10 minutes. Started AutoGK job at about 8:15 AM.

Progress so far?

8:16 Job started
8:42 Audio transcoding finished (from 6ch AC3 to stereo MP3)
9:56 First pass compression complete
11:36 Second pass complete, job complete

Total elapsed time, estimated at 3.4 hours