Spec me a pc for encoding.

Grimley

Grimley

Grimley

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OK folks
Another request for PC bits & bobs.

My sister has asked for an upgrade so she's getting my PC hand me downs :p

I want to have the most suitable CPU for encoding a DVD/blu ray rip down to a mpg4 file to watch on my mobile. I was thinking 2500K or 2600K. No idea if the 2600K would be better for this. Thoughts?

I would prefer a m-atx Z68 board. The case (silverstone LC17) will take a full atx board but I think it will get a bit toasty in there when the CPU is encoding. So I want a smaller board better airflow.
Makes - not fussed but prefer gigabyte & avoid MSI.

Ram - corsair preferred.

HD - going to re-use my old intel SSD X25, so I want a normal HD for storage. I prefer western digital.

Graphics - not gaming on this rig as I have another rig for this. re-using my old HD5450.

Also re-using my old PSU (Seasonic S12 430) Case (said already) & cooler (Scythe mini ninja rev b which I think will fit) & reinstall W7.

Budget - for arguments sake say £4-500 to give you an idea.

thanks.
 
Low End of budget:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-M PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £41.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
Total : £403.34 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Just over the high end of the budget, but absolutely top end.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-M PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
2 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99 (£95.98)
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £41.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
Total : £523.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).



kd
 
Don't need the gelid as I think the cooler I have will fit even though it doesn't have the 1155 in its spec. thanks anyway.

Anyone else think the 2600K will be better than the 2500K at encoding.

BTW not that fussed about overclocking.

I don't like seagate hard drives as I've found them to be pretty noisy.
 
Isn't there some sort of feature on Z68 boards that helps video encoding though?

I'll have a look at the samsung thanks. :)
 
Z68 boards enable a feature called quicksync.
If your going to be using a quicksync enabled program (you do have to pay for them)for your media then I'm pretty sure that quick sync is handled by the HD3000 chip rather than the CPU, so there wouldn't be any difference between the i5-2500K and the i7-2600K, except the ££.
 
Grimley said:
Ah, OK. looks like handbrake is not supported by this feature.
Click to expand...

If you want quality blu ray rips, forget about quicksync. However... If your watching it on a mobile device. It's sort of pointless ripping a bluray in the first place. 1920x1080 (the bluray) isn't going to be supported on a mobile device.

Unless it's a 1280x800 Asus transformer and you don't mind compressing it down to 720p. Then I suppose quicksync will be fine.

If it's for an iPad. A bluray is just going to be wasted on that. Stick with normal dvd's and save yourself 4 hours of encoding.

An overclock on a 2600K would greatly improve encoding times. For this type of work, you want as high a clock speed as possible.
 
I'm a bit new to all this encoding/transcoding. I've got about 60 blu-rays in my collection & I don't have time to watch them at home. I thought converting them to watch on my mobile would be better so I can watch them during my drivers break when I'm out on my round. I would be converting them down to 720p as that is the max resolution of the phone (Sony Ericsson Arc?)

I would be a case of ripping the blu-rays onto the PC 1st & then encoding/transcoding afterwards. I don't want to buy a DVD for the sake of encoding if I have the same film on blu-ray.

Thoughts please?
 
Can you not 'acquire' the videos from the internet, you already paid for the original discs.

Decrypting Blu-Rays can take hours then you have the problem of finding a program that supports quick sync that will take the Blu-Ray source as an input file.
 
MakeMKV. Makes ripping blu-rays easy. (20 minute rip time)

Handbrake convert them into a compatible format for your phone. (half an hour to an hour I'd say to compress them) (Using 2500k)

You're still going to end up with a fairly large file though :S

kd
 
Grimley said:
As long as the file isn't more than 32GB I wont be that fussed.
Click to expand...

A straight rip will be varie from 20-30GB on average. Takes half an hour for this in "MakeMKV." Then as mentioned. Fire it through handbrake and select the mobile option on the right. Will take a while... just overclock the nuts off the CPU for the best possible time. Sorted.
 
HandBrake.png


As you can see... get the 2600K and overclock it... will be best for handbrake.
 
This is what I went with in the finish.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
(£149.99) £179.99
(£149.99)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £147.98
(£123.32) £147.98
(£123.32)
Asus P8Z68-M PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Asus P8Z68-M PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £104.99
(£87.49) £104.99
(£87.49)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £69.98
(£58.32) £69.98
(£58.32)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Sub Total : £545.77
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £111.15
Total : £666.92
Click to expand...

Bearing in mind I bought the F3 just before the price rocketed & the Crucial when it was on a weekend offer 3 weeks ago.

Thoughts please?
 
 
Last edited:
bit late now - its ordered & should be here Monday.

Went with the 2500K as I'll probably be popping an Ivybridge chip in it next year anyway.

Coolers too big for the case - AFAIK the existing cooler is compatible, its a mini ninja rev b. which should fit 1156 & 1155 sockets.

The board - I wanted a board with UEFI graphical interface & M-atx & I HATE those sata plugs that stick out on the side of the board. I'm only overclocking when I'm encoding, stock settings for other uses.

RAM - I know where I stand with Corsair.;)

The PSU - I wanted a Modular PSU that was quiet & capable of taking the HD6870 that I have in case the gaming rig has to go.
 
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