Cheapest way to boost some encoding performance on this system?

[episodic]

AMD Duron 1800
1 gig of pc 2100 ram
kt 400 via motherboard
7200 133 ata harddrive

I'm thinking my duron is the bottleneck here.

What would be the best socket a replacement that'd make sense on this system? (if you think that is the bottleneck?)

 

[episodic]

One more comment. The reason Im not sure about the Duron being the bottleneck is because when I watch it (processor activity, it rarely goes aboce 65-70 percent during the encode. . .

 

[Crusty]

Something with more cache, ie a Athlon. Not sure if your board supports a Barton or not..but I would get at least a 2000+

If you wanna run at 200mhz fsb too you will need better ram as well.

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: episodic
One more comment. The reason Im not sure about the Duron being the bottleneck is because when I watch it (processor activity, it rarely goes aboce 65-70 percent during the encode. . .

Well, it could be that your HDD's can't supply the info fast enough

 

[episodic]

I've got a pretty good ATA 133 7200 Harddrive (Samsung 80 giger).
It is working fine.

So given that a barton would not help?

 

[episodic]

I was looking at one part of it dumb me - there is a frame server program and the encode program. Together they have my processor maxed out.

 

[tiap]

There is a huge diference in encoding engines too.

 

[episodic]

Im just using tmpgenc is that not what everyone uses? I am encoding to svcd. . .

 

[tiap]

Yes tmpgenc is a good prog. I'm sure you don't want to spend thousands to do better. Your cpu is probably the biggest difference. Tmpgenc can use hyperthreading as well as multiple cpu's. Basically, the faster the system the faster the encoding. Encoding can bring a dual cpu system to it's knees. Also many people swear that encoding to a second master drive helps.
Most people just let the encode process run overnite. For instance, I went from a 2.4 northwood to a 3.0 prescott and it only cut the encode time of a 2 hr dvd grade movie by about 1 hour.

 

[oldfart]

More CPU power is needed.