Fastest PC?

[TheLostTimberwolf]

I am currently running,

AMD +2200 (1.8 gig) XP
1 gig of ddr2100 pci ram
Asus A7V333 mobo
Win XP Pro

I am currently looking to upgrade to something faster(Im sick of waiting half a day to get a movie encoded at the quality I like). However the upgrade isnt cheap so Im asking ppl who are running the P4 2.4 Gig (and up) for their input on encoding time on an average movie of 90~100 mins audio 224 kb with a video bitrate around 1400~1600. Using DVD2SVCD with either TMPGEnc/CCE for either DivX or DVD.

That way I can guage if its worth the upgrade or not, any response will be appreciated please state CPU,Memory,Conversion time and input file type -> output file type.

thanks very much for your time

TLTw

[mrtristan]

If you're looking for more speed, you might want to look into a dual CPU system. Kind of pricey, though.

[TheLostTimberwolf]

ok still an idea though, do you have any low down on dual processors and video encoding? doesnt the encoding program need to actually support it for there to be any extra speed?

Im not new but Im a long way from actually underdstanding

thanks for the idea,

TLTw

[EaBa]

I have know idea why you would want to get rid of your old system now...... You can always give it to me

As for the question, most encoding programs support dual processors such as Tmpgenc. It should halve your encode time.

[Faustus]

I know CCE and TMPGenc both support multible processors, but I dont own a box like that so I have no idea how much it helps... usually the rule of thumb with a 2nd CPU is if you get 60% of the performance your doing good. Still it would cut you encode time considerably I would assume.

I'm also using a 2200+ with 512DDR 333, but my encode times are only about 4 hours tops... what the heck program and settings are you using?

[TheLostTimberwolf]

I use DVD2SVCD for My encoding, it took 10 hours yesterday using CCE to convert 93 minutes of movie to svcd. I dont use any filters outside of the telecide(pal) filter.

When using tmpgenc I set it to best quality mode for the encoding process.

audio is usualy 128 kb (smaller for 1 cd) and framesize is 480*480/576

I converted top gun from DivX --> SVCD, and it took My system 15 hours , using tmpgenc, once again I didnt have any of the filters turned on during this encode either.

I keep reading about ppl encoding movies in under 5 hours and Im getting frustrated to the max, so I thought maybe an upgrade would help the speed problem.

TLTw

[Treebeard]

something tells me your system is having problems. i have a 1.4 celeron and i can encode a 2hour SVCD in 9 hours using tmpgenc. your system should be able to outperform mine with ease.

[tgpo]

I converted top gun from DivX --> SVCD, and it took My system 15 hours

I have a 450 PPC and it desn't even take that long.

[easydvd]

I've only got an 850 celeron and I can frameserve with avisynth into either TMPG or CCE, which is all DVD2SVCD does, and do 90 minute of video in about 5 or 5.5 hours in CCE - maybe another 45 minutes more in TMPG. Thats with 2 pass Q90 avg2200 max2613

[TheLostTimberwolf]

this is interesting to hear, might be time to go back to the beginning and see what i can see. cause from what i read here theres something seriously wrong

is good to know though, means that maybe I dont need to fork out cash for a system upgrade...

Kewl lol

Ill look into some of My settings, and see what I can see.

TLTw

[mrtristan]

If you don't have Sandra, you can download it for free. It provides you with benchmarks to test your RAM, CPU speed, and hard drive speed. That might provide some clues as to where the hang up is.

[TheLostTimberwolf]

ok I have a question,

Im currently encoding a DVD(Evangelion Ep 5~8, 95 mins) to svcd with TMPGEnc @ (MPEG-2 480x576 25fps VBR 1238kbps) is a 2pass as tmpgenc dont support more than that at the moment. Time remaining is 8:13.

I have it set to high quality(slow).

does this time sound right for My pc stats given above?

also do different Matrix's effect encoding times with TMPGEnc ?

ciao

[WeedVender]

My Main PC is a 1 ghz with 128 ram bargain PC. I use CCE instead of TMPGEnc and I encoded a movie once in 5 minuets
The thing was that that CRC error hanged up my PC so when I clicked ok, it was still encoding but at a speed of 25 to 30 but hen it went down..
I dunno how i got this (act of God?) But Im hoping for it to happen again...

But the PC I am building has a Quad Proccesor Motherboard and I am waiting till the P4 3.06 Ghz chips come to my area so I can buy 4 of em. So with simple math u can tell how fast my system is going to be...

[rhegedus]

I'm not sure if the following information is of any use to you since it's not exactly what you asked for, but it should give you and indication of the P4's performance.

I'm running a P4 2.26 that's overclocked to 2.53 (using a Zalman flower Al/Cu heatsink = 53C max temp, 33C idle), 1 G of PC2100 DDR and a Gigabyte 8IEXP mobo.

I only use Virtual Dub or TMPGenc to convert framerates or from avi to vcd resp.

File to be converted:

Panic Room DVD rip
640x272 23.976 fps 159700 frames 1hr 51min
min 863 avg 6265 max 48126 total key frame size
Decompressor DivX MPEG-4 Low motion
48000Hz 2 channel stereo Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer 3 codec

Time taken to convert to 25 fps using Virtual Dub (and same codecs) 41 min 17 sec

Time taken to convert (23.976fps) to PAL VCD using TMPGenc 1 hour 21 min

Having made quite a few VCD mpgs from various avis, I can honestly say that conversion is always at least as fast as real-time.

What I also noticed about the P4 chip is that overclocking produces near linear increases in speed. Given the low price of the 2.53 and 2.66 chips now that the 2.8 and 3.0 have hit the shops, you should be able to get some very serious power in your PC – and that’s before you overclock it. The P4 is rock solid when it comes to this – with good cooling and a couple of tweeks with voltage you can get about 25% extra out of the chip with very little adverse effects.

Just don’t quote me on that……

www.overclockers.com

Rob

[mrtristan]

Rob - Do you use any filters? That's pretty fast.

[TheLostTimberwolf]

That is quite fast

thanks for the input, Ive been playing around with My system and have managed to decrease My time quite a bit. Getting that sort of speed in TMPGEnc is impressive. Even with the speed ive found on my system I still might look into an upgrade of some sort.

ciao

TLTw

[Craig Tucker]

I'm running a P4 2.26 that's overclocked to 2.53 (using a Zalman flower Al/Cu heatsink = 53C max temp, 33C idle), 1 G of PC2100 DDR and a Gigabyte 8IEXP mobo.

Zalman flower

I had one of these once on an athlon setup. Epox EP8k7A+ with XP1800+. Installed in a chieftec tower case, so the motherboard is on its side and you have got that great big lump of metal hanging off those flimsy plastic CPU socket lugs.

Can you guess what happened ?

Yes, one of the lugs snapped off, and my CPU fried taking my motherboard with it.

Zalman flower

It wasn't until after this happened that I realised they are way above AMD reccomended weight limit for a heat sink/cooler. Its not like they even cool that well either. The only advantage I can see is that the fans quiet, but when youv'e got another 6 fans in your case anway that doesn't really count for much.

[TheLostTimberwolf]

seems its not the cooler of choice then

[rhegedus]

Zalman flower

I had one of these once on an athlon setup. Epox EP8k7A+ with XP1800+. Installed in a chieftec tower case, so the motherboard is on its side and you have got that great big lump of metal hanging off those flimsy plastic CPU socket lugs.

Can you guess what happened ?

Yes, one of the lugs snapped off, and my CPU fried taking my motherboard with it.

Zalman flower

It wasn't until after this happened that I realised they are way above AMD reccomended weight limit for a heat sink/cooler. Its not like they even cool that well either. The only advantage I can see is that the fans quiet, but when youv'e got another 6 fans in your case anway that doesn't really count for much.

That nearly happenned to me! I bought the Cu one first, thinking that since it was more expensive, then it must be better. I had my doubts when I held it in my hands - it's about 900g!!! Got it changed for the Al/Cu flower which, I think, weighs less than the Intel heat sink/fan combo.

Trust me, the cool very well. I bought it after a bit of research about overclocking and the data on the zalman website, plus it's near silent running won it for me. The volcano coolers are just as good, but only with one of those very noisy delta fans - no thanks!

Here's some data I collected from my mobo:

CPU.....3D Mark....Idle C....Load C.......avi to vcd FPS
2.26.....10633.......33..........51.............39 .18
2.4.......11015.......34..........51.............4 0.97
2.5.......11182.......35..........53.............4 2.31

10% overclock and only a 2C rise in temp under full load

Rob

[Craig Tucker]

They cool ok for a non contacting heat sink fan arrangement, but they just don't compare to the traditional fan attatched to a sink configuration. In fact the zalman flower isnt even capable of cooling the new athlon thoroughbred processors effectively. (read the conclusions in the link)

This is a very comprehensive cooler review, albeit for socket A processors.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?s=e1aff31016ce593618b8aa48e9fb9da1&threadid=276

[rhegedus]

The online store for overclockers states that the heatsink will work only up to the XP 1900. The test system was a XP 2200 - no wonder it didn't work.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Other_CPU_and_System_Coolers_18.html

At least that's my understanding of it though, being an Intel devotee, I am probably wrong since I don't understand AMD's clock speed ratings.

Rob

[rhegedus]

Rob - Do you use any filters? That's pretty fast.

Not that I'm aware of.

Seriously, this is all I do:

1) Rip wav file with Virtual Dub or Goldwave (and convert with Goldwave if necessary)
2) Convert frame rate with Virtual Dub (if necessary)
3) Convert to VCD with TMPGenc

Rob

[Craig Tucker]

The online store for overclockers states that the heatsink will work only up to the XP 1900. The test system was a XP 2200 - no wonder it didn't work.

Rob

This proves my point, the zalman flower cannot dissipate the heat quick enough to be used on anything over an xp1900. So it is not as good at cooling as all the other coolers on test in that review.

[rhegedus]

What it proves is that overclockers should not have used that particular Zalman for the test.

I don't need overclockers to tell me that a fan heatsink combo won't effectively cool a processor that came out a year or so down the line.

Had they used some more up to date products (http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/cnps3100GP.htm), then they would have got more objective results.

Anyway, we're straying form the subject here....

Best wishes,

Rob

[SteveDVD]

You guys need some water cooling....

Costs quite a bit but it cools like none other...

http://www.virtual-hideout.net

I am a case modder thats the website i use. There should be a guide or link for water cooling.

[rhegedus]

I was seriously considering going for the water cooling option but, as this was the first PC that I built myself, I didn't want the added complication of electrocuting myself or shorting out about £700 worth of stuff.

My next one will be different.....

Best wishes,

Rob

[Craig Tucker]

I'm not that into overclocking, just a bit of minor tweaking really. I have been to some overclocking sites and the lengths that some of these guys go to amazes me. Many of them are prepared to spend far more on a cooling system than they do on the PC itself. I saw a system that one guy had built with an external radiator that he actually had outside his bedroom window. When his PC was on he couldn't shut the bedroom window

[rhegedus]

One that really blew my mind was a Finnish university physics lab that glued a polystyrene cup to the CPU and filled it periodically with liquid nitrogen. I think they got a P4 2.26 upto about 3.3!!!

Given that Intel released the P4 3.06 about six months later, it does tend to make overclocking a bit futile. I suppose the only real benefit (let's face it, my 10% improvement isn't noticable in the real world) is to be able to say that you still have a 'cutting edge' system - even though you are reducing it's life-span.

Best wishes,

Rob

[Craig Tucker]

As long as you don't push it too hard, then reducing its lifespan isn't really too much of a problem, as most people replace components before they die of old age anyway. I have only had my XP1900 about 6 months, and I am already considering a new athlon thoroughbred chip.

[mrtristan]

I have an antec pin style cooler, that I bought from CompUSA. I live in Hawaii, so it's usually cheaper for me to buy things at the local store, when you include shipping. Anyway, my 1.1Ghz Thunderbird runs at about 33°C, overclocked to 1.2Ghz. I don't overclock my CPU anymore, but this cooler is great. The only drawback is that it makes more noise than my saws, at work. I can hear my computer all the way down the hall.

I've been looking into a dual CPU setup or the 333FSB Athlons. Waiting all night for a DVD rip sucks.