Computer specs for video processing

[RickN]

I have access to an old surplus machine from work that I can use for uh, work purposes at home... :D System specs: P4 2.53 Ghz machine with 512 MB RAM, XP pro OS w/ SP2, 120 GB HD, and an old nvidia video card. I was thinking that it would make a reasonably good machine for running WinTV2000 (with HVR 1600 tv tuner PCI card), VRD, and burning DVD's.

Questions,

What are the primary *system* factors that drive time to process video?

How much RAM should I purchase for this Dell computer? Shoot for 1 GB?

The old nvidia card (Geforce4 MX 420) handles HD movie trailers without stuttering. Should I upgrade this AGP/PCI card? If so, any suggestions? (prefer to limit cost to ~$100).

HD space is obviously limited. I would plan on adding a 320 GB HD. Estimated total upgrade costs are $250 to $300 ($80 for 320 GB HD, $80 for 512 MB RAM, and $100 for new video card). Is this a smart investment?

Thanks for you thoughts!

Best,

Rick

[Anole]

It's all personal opinion.
Here is mine:

1). the CPU should be fine.
2). 500mb on XP is snug, if not downright tight.
- don't be multitasking with this box
- or, add another gig. That should bring you up to acceptable.
3). an nVidia MX420 video card is garbage.
- I think it'll get by.
- try it and if you're happy, there's your answer.
4). I think you are high on RAM price - I can get 2gb DDR2 for $125 or less
- not exactly an apples to apples comparison, I know.
- I'd put in more RAM and no video and give it a test drive.
5). the biggest remaining performance choke point in this system, will be disc drives.
- if you can put in two SATA II drives and ping-pong between them, that'd be best.
- second best would be one SATA II drive on a cheap controller.
- not even interesting: another IDE drive.
6). I'd put in extra ram, no video, and at least one SATA II drive and cheap controller, but that's just me. :)
7). make sure your cooling and power supply can deal with the new load.
8). adding "the right stuff" that can be moved forward to a later machine, will in the long run be cheaper.
- so buying a PCI video card is unwise.
- if you needed more video or DVI port, a used Ti4200 or 5600/5700/5800/5900 would do the job (under $50).

The local Fry's has/had an AMD 3800 dual core (low end) and passable motherboard (http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?DetailID=685&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=46&LanID=9) for $89.
It's microATX size and has an nVidia 1-chip chipset.
I think it had one IDE port (master and slave) and two SATA II ports, along with USB 2, and 6100 nVidia video, and 5.1? sound.
The down side is that you'd need DDR2 ram at about $125/2gb.

My point is, watch where you spend money, because everything becomes obsolete tomorrow, and whatever you have today already is! :D

[ghealy]

As Anole says, it's all personal opinions :)

I picked up an old Dell GX260 SFF, P4 - 2.4 ghz CPU. Came with 256 Meg Ram to which I added another 512.

The small form factor case only had room for a single hard drive and a half height CD/DVD drive (So I added a LG GSA-E10L external DVD writer and it works like a charm).

I use the Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 to capture my TV shows. It's a hardware mpeg encoder, so no effect on the CPU load.

Use Videoredo to edit the shows, DVDAuthorGUI to author, and Nero 6 Burning rom to burn to DVD-RW discs.

As I already mentions, it all works like a charm.

One word of caution -- Dell & RAM. Dell has been know to use slightly different RAM than most other PCs. I would suggest that you buy Kingston or Crucial RAM made specifically for the Dell Model you have.

Hope you have as much fun and enjoyment recording and watching your shows as the rest of us.

--Gene

[zaphod7501]

For NTSC you won't have any problems and you can probably do background recording of ATSC (HD) with third party applications. You'll need third party applications to use both tuners simultaneously anyway. It is a true dual tuner card but the native application (WinTV2000) will only control one at a time.

You will have a lot of trouble viewing HD, however; especially with WinTV2000 since it uses a software decoded overlay. A new graphics card might be advisable; or a MyHD card with a hardware mpeg decoder (SD and HD). Use the HVR for recording and the MyHD for playback and HD output interface. The MYHD is perfect for ATSC but not for recording NTSC.

[laserfan]

I have access to an old surplus machine from work...You are off to a good start! ;)

If you get a MyHD MDP130 you won't have to do much of anything to this PC--even RAM is prolly OK. I don't know the WinTV card you mention, but if your intent is to Record OTA HDTV, which basically means grabbing the transport streams and saving to disk, you don't need a lot of horsepower for that. If you want to PLAY HDTV either on this PC or to an HDTV, then you may want a better video card and/or a MyHD (which does component or DVI HD-out without needing a fancy videocard).

For recording ATSC or unencrypted cable a slick box is the HDHomerun--it's external and comms w/any PC you have via Ethernet. No PCI card needed & works w/any of the PCs on your network.

I have an MX400 in my PC and despite what Anole says it works well enough for me! ;) But then all I do is record and edit OTA ATSC and only use my PC monitor with VRD and to check quality/sync etc (always perfect w/VRD of course!).

The only thing you ABSOLUTELY need is a 2nd drive; any modern PATA is fine. Then you have the flexibility to read-from-one-and-write-to-the-other which is vastly more efficient that using a single drive.

Don't forget also to leave room on that thing for at least one small business app! Maybe telnet... :D

[RickN]

Wow, great information and advice! Thanks!

After considering your comments, I probably will use this "surplus computer" as a basic workstation for internet surfing, word processing, photo mgmt, etc and use my present home computer for the video station. It's specs are similar: P4, 2.4 Ghz, 120 GB HD, 768 MB RDRAM, and ATI 9800 Pro video card. VRD, Wintv2000, and the Hauppauge HVR 1600 are already installed on this machine. ATI drivers and Catalyst are current and optimized for high PQ. Plus it has a DVD burner and the workstation does not. I'll simply add a 320 GB hard drive to this computer for $80 and spend another $45 for an additional 512 MB of ram for the work station computer (max RAM for this system is 1 GB).

I'll be adding a 720p HDTV with VGA connection to the video computer. This 26 inch TV has NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. Currently we are paying for digital cable + HD stations through our local cable co. Most of the non-HD digital channels are available with a QAM tuner, plus two local HD channels and three HD channels. Family uses the DVR box upstairs. I'm setting up a computer based PVR system so I can occasionally watch TV while in the computer room + save programs that I want to burn to DVD.

The MyHD MDP130 card and HDHomeRun are intriguing options. Our cableco is reworking their system and promise to add several more HD stations this summer. We may see a significant increase in cost and/or may see scrambling of digital + HD channels. Kicker is how long will digital channels remain unscrambled? Given your comments, my system limitations and my limited computer skills, the MyHD MDP130 is probably the better choice of the two for my situation. I'll have to check it out further...

Thanks again for your great advice!

All the best,

Rick