Very slow movie converting

[Illusionist]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum. I have recently downloaded EdtiStudio pro, and love the software program. I am using XP os, athlon 1800, geforce 5200 128mb card. I changed to ATI 256mb card, but converting speed was the same, no difference. So put the Geforce back into my computer. I have 2 gigs of ram.

When I convert with VirtualDub, it's very fast. TMPGEnc very fast. But programs such as Nero vision & EditStudio pro, is very slow, Nero vision converts faster then EditStudio pro.

I love using EditStudio pro, for all it's features & function, software of my choice, but it is so slow. When I try to convert a 15 second clip with fade effect, it takes 2.5-3 minutes to convert. I don't get it. Or when I try to do a direct convert with a 2 minute wmv to mpeg 2, it takes 10-12 minutes.

Is there a reason for this ??

I spoke with a computer tech yesturday at a store, and he said increasing my ram, or upgrading to higher Athlon will not improve my video converting speeds, because I'm running Socket A.

So what will increase video converting speeds ?? from my computer specs ?? Or is it just the software program works very slowly. Has anyone else experience this with EditStudio pro or similar programs.
Thanks for any help.

[aedipuss]

might be time to build a new comp? it's just your cpu that's slowing you down. not much can be done. an athlon 64 x2 and motherboard with agp support to replace yours can be had for about $100. check out newegg.com

[redwudz]

Those Athlon 1800+ CPUs run at 1.53GHz, fairly slow by todays standards. Unfortunately, if you can find a faster Socket A CPU still around, it would likely cost more than a newer CPU. The popular 2500+ Barton Socket A CPU goes for about $100US, though you may be able to find used ones. You would also have to make sure it was compatible with your motherboard. More RAM won't help either with your problem.

BTW, your graphics card is just there for display. No help at all for encoding.

If you can't afford to replace the motherboard, CPU and RAM, then you may have to live with the processing speed. When I used a Athlon 1800 (And slower}, I let most of my long encodes run overnight.

One example of a CPU/MB/RAM combination:

GIGABYTE GA-M61SME-S2 AM2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128045
Mushkin 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146117
Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane CPU w/Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103774

TOTAL= ~ $133US without shippin or tax.

But I would budget about $200 -250 minimum and upgrade those components somewhat.

[aedipuss]

hard to believe socket a stuff is still in demand. my 3200+ is worth more now than when i bought it

[redwudz]

I managed to trade/sell off my socket A computers a while back. Still good for net surfing and some light video or office work. It's surprising the changes in CPUs/Motherboards in the last few years, both in performance and reduced cost. PC 133 SD RAM also now comes at a premium compared to DDR2.

[Illusionist]

Those Athlon 1800+ CPUs run at 1.53GHz, fairly slow by todays standards. Unfortunately, if you can find a faster Socket A CPU still around, it would likely cost more than a newer CPU. The popular 2500+ Barton Socket A CPU goes for about $100US, though you may be able to find used ones. You would also have to make sure it was compatible with your motherboard. More RAM won't help either with your problem.

BTW, your graphics card is just there for display. No help at all for encoding.

Thanks Redwudz,
Actually my computer is quite fast, for daily task, internet, Photoshop, Autocad, etc.... It's fast with Virtualdub, TMPGEnc, etc.... It's only slow video editing with EditStudio 5. Was wondering if it was my computer or the software. I thought of building a newer faster computer, but it doesn't make any sense to do so, just to have faster converting speeds, also I do not play games on the computer, have an Xbox 360.

Most of my conversions are for youtube video etc..... I never do any serious video editing, like many othres do, dvd format's etc.... I enjoy all the functions and features of EditStudio 5, it just takes forever on small video clips, particulary wmv. EditStudio 5 is a major upgrade for me, from wmm, which was the most worst program I have ever used.

But thanks for sharing all the computer info, I did check out the links your provided, great prices !! I'll keep the links in mind, next time I build.

[redwudz]

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with Edit Studio. Editing programs may use RAM for storing data. Just guessing here. Watch your hard drive light for frequent access during editing. That may tell you it's using virtual memory from your hard drive. That will slow things down considerably. The usual cure is more memory.

Or check to see where the program saves the temp files. If it uses a slow drive, that can also slow it down. Editing shouldn't really take that much computer power. You might look for a forum for the program and see if others have the same problem.

Or shop around for a different editor. Just from what you say, it's the software.

[Illusionist]

Hi Redwudz,
Thanks for sharing. I've been looking at the links you sent me, and have one question. I ordered the AMD 64 x2 3.0 Ghz processor. But having problems choosing a mother board.

Is there is a reason, newer mother boards only have one IDE channel connection ?? I have an MSI motherboard right now, with 2 IDE channel connections. Is there any AM2 socket boards with 2 IDE channels ?? and an AGP slot ??
Thanks

[zoobie]

I ran into the same problem
they're assuming the one IDE channel is going to go to your optical drive
of course, most optical drives these days are also SATA so it doesn't make sense
to get the most speed and optimization out of your drives, it's now recommended to also update all drives to SATA
however, I had just bought IDE so I will use them until they fail
you can also get a PCI card that will give you more IDE channels if necessary

[Illusionist]

I ran into the same problem
they're assuming the one IDE channel is going to go to your optical drive
of course, most optical drives these days are also SATA so it doesn't make sense
to get the most speed and optimization out of your drives, it's now recommended to also update all drives to SATA
however, I had just bought IDE so I will use them until they fail
you can also get a PCI card that will give you more IDE channels if necessary

Hi Zoobie,
Thanks for info. Computer hobby sure is getting expensive !!

[redwudz]

Actually most newer motherboards have two IDE PATA channels, but just one controller. That works for two IDE devices. Sorry, it's where most motherboards are going, AMD and Intel both.

AGP is also an endangered species. Most MBs use PCI-E now days. Much more bandwidth. And the other bad news is that they almost always require DDR2 memory or higher. As mentioned, if you have a lot of PATA (IDE) devices, you may want to think about adding a IDE PATA controller card. The other problem with PCI-E motherboards is they have only 2 or 3 PCI slots. So add-on card use is limited most times.

But most newer motherboard have excellent audio on-board and you really don't need much in the way of add-on cards. SATA drives are what most newer systems are using. They can usually transfer data faster than the average PATA drive.

That's the bad news. The good news is that PCI-E MBs have the capability of operating much faster than the earlier MBs. They have more bandwidth for memory, video and hard drive control.

Actually, computers can be built cheaper than a few years ago for equal performance. For about $500US, you can build a system that would have cost you much more in the past and still have twice the performance.

With a AM2 CPU or even a Socket 939, there are Micro-ATX mother boards that have most everything included, even video. That's the economical solution. You can always add a faster video card if needed.