Best socket A mobo for encoding video

[zeusfaber]

i have a xp 1600 sitting here not being used, and would like to build a machine for ecoding vcd/svcd's. what would be the best board or chipset for the job. how much does DDR play a role in this, i.e. will i notice a difference between 256 and 512, pc2100 and pc2700, brand, ecc or non-ecc? thanx for the help.

 

[Peter]

You need I/O throughput and CPU punch for this. Get speedy hard disks, attach them to a fast controller (SiS chipsets have very fast IDE, for a really fine machine use a 15k rpm SCSI drive on an U160 controller), the fastest RAM the board of your choice takes, and you're set.

Some VIA chipset boards show poor PCI throughput (which is a BIOS issue), so I'd say read lots of reviews before you buy. SiS chipset boards are few and far between, but they're the safer bet for this task.

regards, Peter

 

[Rafael]

Get a DDR based mobo, it will make a difference when it comes to encoding videos.
Also 512 Mb will make a difference, since you gonna be working with large files.
Get a fast hdd, WD SE with 8mb cache, IMO.
About the chipset of the mobo, here's what you get in my opinion.
VIA KT chipsets are faster, but you might find some incompatibilities, and normally depending on the brand of the mobo it's more expensive.
SiS chipsets no big issues, little slower than the KTs, but normally cheaper mobos.
Personally I would stick with Epox 8K5A2+ (VIA KT333) mobo, nice features, has RAID controllers if decide to go with RAID.
And probably you can OC ur XP 1600+ to the limit with some nice PC2700 RAM on it.

Good luck on ur pick!

Raf

 

[zeusfaber]

i have been looking at a couple of boards the msi and epox kt333 and kt400 selections. whats your take? i have decided on 256mb of pc2700 samsung ddr (i cant afford 512mb until the next paycheck) i do like the features (firewire,6.1 audio, support for the 333mhz bus cpu's etc.) on the kt400's are they worth the money? and is there a decent speed difference?

 

[Rafael]

I dont think the KT400 is a good choice yet. Not a big improvement from the KT333, it seems like the the KT266 when it came out. No big improvement. And there are rumors out there about the KT400A. So I wouldnt get a KT400. The benchies shows that there are no big difference between the KT333 and KT400.
Asus(A7V333) and Abit(AT7MAX) has mobos with Firewire, good 5.1 onboard sound, RAID, etc. And they have support for the 333 Mhz FSB processors.

Raf

 

[zeusfaber]

im am kind of partial to epox and msi whats the best mobo between them? i dont need raid.

 

[Actaeon]

Originally posted by: zeusfaber
im am kind of partial to epox and msi whats the best mobo between them? i dont need raid.

No complains from my 8K5A2....

 

[zeusfaber]

i see that epox has a a couple boards with the kt333ce chipset what is that, any benefit?