DVD Encoding Spec?

Tricky

Tricky

Tricky

Associate
Joined
2 Mar 2003
Posts
129
Hi
Long time since I was here but I remembered where the best advice comes from.
Just started to use Handbrake to encode some DVD's into an iPad 2 format but was horrified to see my old system was going to take around 18 hours to encode a 30 minute episode.
I didn't realise my old PC was so out of spec:
DFI nFoce 4 motherboard,
AMD Athlon 3200+ 2 GHz cpu,
1 GB RAM,
Radeon X800 graphics card

Anyway, I don't play games on this machine anymore just need it to do encoding and a few other cpu/memory intensive tasks.
I don't want to spend more than £300 on components if possible, can you please spec me a machine within this budget?
I presume I can get away with CPU, motherboard, RAM?
I'm using Windows XP at the moment which limits the RAM I suppose?

Many thanks

Tricky
 
Thanks for the reply.
I'm not at home so can't check out the PSU but I know it was top spec when I bought it. I remember checking out the current ratings for all the lines to see which was best for overclocking.
I could upgrade to Windows 7 but that adds another £100 to the cost.
I might try using my Dell XPS laptop to see if that's faster. Windows 7 64 bit with an i5 dual core CPU. I was trying to avoid using my laptop as experience has told me that these program's sometimes have a tendency to mess up your system when you really don't need the hassle.
Just as an aside, which type of processor is recommended for encoding?
Dual core, quad core, intel, amd?
Cheers
T
 
Hi
Interesting system, thank you for your input.
It's been a long time since I last built a system and too be honest I really don't have the energy to gain the knowledge as to which component works with each other. If you're part of the scene it comes naturally but is a steep learning curve when you've been out for some time.
I made a small alteration to your list as I recognise I'll have to go down the Windows 7 route and might as well utilise more memory.

How does this one look now?


Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.38
(£67.82) £81.38
(£67.82)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
(£66.65) £79.98
(£66.65)
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1156/1155/AM2/AM2(+)/AM3/FM1) £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
* Sub Total : £316.10
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £65.12
* Total : £390.72

A bit more expensive than first planned but will this encode a movie in under 2 hours say with handbrake?

Many thanks for all of your help.

T
 
Updated with better RAM.

Thanks again for your input.

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.38
(£67.82) £81.38
(£67.82)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
(£66.65) £79.98
(£66.65)
Crucial Ballistix Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLE2CP4G3D1608DE1TX0CEU) £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1156/1155/AM2/AM2(+)/AM3/FM1) £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
* Sub Total : £324.44
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £66.79
Total £400.73
 
Grimley said:
I'm running a similar system to the one I specced but with 8GB ram, a 128GB SSD & a samsung TB HD. At stock speed it will encode a 2 hour DVD into a 720x405 mpeg4 file in about 15-20 Minutes. It would be quicker if I overclocked (Probably would get the CPU speed up to 4.5) probably cut at at least 5 Minutes off the encoding time. Can't be arsed though. :p
Click to expand...

Sounds impressive.
I think I'll go for this although have missed out on the free shipping and reduced VAT now.
Thank you for all of your help.
T
 
honosuseri said:
I'd check your HDDs first fella. Your original rig could well be using IDE not sata drives. Almost all current mobo's have dropped the IDE connector!

Don't want you to buy this i5 setup and have no way to install the OS as the DVD and HDD can't be hooked up.
Click to expand...

I know the HDD is SATA will have to check if the DVD's have both connectors though as I'm sure they're connected with IDE cables.
Forgot about that, thank you.
 
Tricky said:
I know the HDD is SATA will have to check if the DVD's have both connectors though as I'm sure they're connected with IDE cables.
Forgot about that, thank you.
Click to expand...

Nope, IDE only.
At this rate it would be cheaper to buy my DVD's again through itunes.
 
honosuseri said:
No worries fella. Sometimes we get carried away and forget the basics. What are you watching the rips on?
Click to expand...

Mainly on iPad 2 but will eventually watch the rips on a networked HDTV.

I currently use DVD Decrypter to Rip the DVD's to the HDD before starting the encoding process, works well for me.

Cheers

T
 
honosuseri said:
Well I did suggest the AMD Llano to help keep the price down. You can get the whole mobo bundle for the price of the i5 CPU. Even adding a bluray drive will keep it well in budget.

If I remember right from the anandtech encoding benchmarks the A6 Llano CPU is on par with the i3. The A6 is well under £100 which is the rough price of the i3.

The i5 is a monster of a CPU but you have to pay the premium for that performance.

*EDIT*

You have been a member a good long while but your number of posts is keeping you from qualifying for free delivery I believe. Certainly worth discussing your options to get your posts to 100+ ;)
Click to expand...

I think I will stick to the i5, thanks for mentioning the other options though.
I will be doing some video editing on this machine as well now, need to do more on it to justify the price to be honest.
 
Alexrose1uk said:
Think of it this way, the cables are neater, easier to route, and will hamper your airflow less (and the drive will have a fresh warranty) :)
SATA has been taking over from IDE for at least 5-6 years now, it was bounded to be dropped sooner or later. Bit of a PITA, but it does have it's benefits. The connections are smaller too so they can fit more of them on a board easily, can you imagine fitting more than 3 IDE connectors on a normal board :D
Click to expand...
I think my last board or last but one had 5 IDE ports but I do see your point.
I remember when rounded IDE cables came in and we were able to get rid of those horrid grey ribbons.
I used to build a new system every 2 years to keep up with the new games but no matter how careful I was about future proofing it, some if not all of the components were redundant when the upgrade was due. I'm not an eco warrier but do find this whole cycle very wasteful.

Thanks for the benchmarks by the way, it's good to see a comparison of the h.264 benches.

Thanks
T
 
honosuseri said:
That's cool bud, I don't blame you either. I apologise for not linking the anandtech link as I usually do.....I meant to but life got in the way :(

You now have a good idea what you can get for your money. I would suggest you start another thread when you intend to buy. Weekly and today only offers and promo codes can seriously alter what parts we suggest in a build.

As I mentioned, if you can get 100 posts you qualify for free delivery. Ok that might only be £10ish but you could use the cash to improve the heatsink to a gelid tranquillo for £25 for example.

Your lucky you didn't need a sata HDD, now is not a good time to be buying one. You do need a DVD drive though, that's £15-20 but hey with the free delivery you reclaim £10 to go towards that don't you :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for all of your advice.
I feel like I'm starting to get back on the horse now but I don't want to stay for the whole ride. I think I have picked up enough to put together a decent build without making any major basic mistakes.
I'll start another thread with my propsosed spec and will take it from there.
All the best and thank you again
T
 
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