[markguy]

I followed the guide for H.264 while ripping a basic DVD and was startled to find it took almost 10 hours to go from start to a .mkv file. I can't even imagine how long an HD disc would take, but I'm positively frightened to find out. Also, I got a 7+GB rip encoded to a 1.2GB .mkv... does that also seem reasonable?

Basically, I'm wondering if this is something I should suck up and deal with or if it's wildly out of line with other folks experience. If, in other words, I will be forced... forced, I say!... to spend more money on hardware. Speaking of hardware, I'm running this on an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ with 2GB of RAM, using a LG GGC-H20L for an optical drive.

Thanks kindly for any input! Oh, I wasn't sure what forum my question would be best suited for, so if I've committed a faux pas, please forgive me and shuffle it off to wherever it belongs. XBMC for Linux is what I'm planning on using, soon as I get some installation issues squared away.

[intranix]

Your CPU is letting you down, it's pretty slow by todays standards, as you've found out

a 1.6GHz (e2140) c2d is approx 2x the speed of your processor, and thats without overclocking (an e2140 will do 3.2GHz pretty easy)

and thats a low end dual core chip, that intel dont even make any more!

time to upgrade

[markguy]

Gosh, what a tragedy. New CPU for me!

Thanks again for the response... would you (or anyone else, for that matter) have a recommendation for a sweet spot in the CPU market for price and performance? I'd be tempted to just throw money at the problem, but I'm also building a box for XBMC to live in and it's going to be touch and go getting this past the finance committee as it is!

[intranix]

Really depends how much money you have and how much performance you want, and if you want to stay AMD or upgrade to an intel also energy consumption is important to alot of people these days too

[markguy]

I'm ambivalent about who makes the CPU... I've used both in the past with similar success and don't have the time or energy for fanaticism in that regard. As for price... I was looking at getting a EVGA integrated mobo with an Intel E8400 CPU for the XBMC box, but I'd like to not have to rely on integrated video for this particular box as it's for gaming as well.

So, since I'll need a new motherboard as well, I'd like to be close to $300 for the mobo/CPU. If there's something particularly good outside this range, I'd like to hear about it... who knows, she might be in a particularly forgiving mood that day!

[intranix]

Brilliant CPU choice, you *might* prefer a Q6600 though, with 4 cores itll get through video encodes quicker. But the E8400 will be better for games in most cases...

[markguy]

Would you have a preference for the XBMC box... the E8400 or the Q6600?

[intranix]

if it's just for xbmc, both are overkill, but it will run very well on both

[markguy]

I like overkill. Hard to argue with, certainly. Thanks once again!

[BLKMGK]

As it happens I have both a Q6600 and an E8400 in my systems - neither is running XBMC. A BD movie can take multiple hours to run on either of these. The E8400 is clocked to 3.8ghz running Vista64 with 8gigs RAM. The Q6600 is just under 3ghz (runs HOT!) and has 4gigs RAM - also Vista64.

I use meGUI with a custom set of settings that are fairly high end and probably overkill. When it comes to encoding the Q6600 stomps, by a noticeable margin (as in like hours difference as I recall), the E8400 for encoding H.264! However when it comes to muxing audio and video together the E8400 wins - guess which is multithreaded Day to day I use the E8400, for one thing it's way quieter than the quad. But if I had to get something encoded FAST the quad wins handsdown. The quad is in a Shuttle XPC FWIW, it could be cooled better in another machine perhaps but is a 65nm chip and just plain heats up.

As for XBMC, 3ghz is my target and what I'd advise - will play anything! I am about to build another XBMC box and will be trying out a dual core Celeron as a test. I will be looking to overclock it to about 3ghz or better if it will go - we'll see how Killasample plays on THAT! some details about that build here -> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=34235&page=21 so stay tuned unless you MUST buy now for XBMC.

[intranix]

BLKMGK, I use a dual core celeron in mine, at 2.8GHz on stock intel cooler (will run at 3.2ghz too, but a little too hot for my liking, but with a decent cooler will do it no probs im sure)

plays the killasample just fine through xbmc They are brilliant chips for the money!

[markguy]

Thanks BLKMGK for your input! I've been spending some time looking at Tom's Hardware comparing both the chips, trying to find something to base a decision on. It's good to hear someone's experience with 'em... what mobo are you using for those, by the way? (Yet another decision!)

Is it possible it's the 8GB of memory that's pushing things in favor of the Q6600? I'm not clear on what effect RAM nets you with encoding, although I was working with the assumption that the CPU would be the bottleneck. That's about four times more memory than I was planning on getting initially...

I will follow the other thread with interest... I'm not in a rush, although I'm anxious to see things in action for myself!

[BLKMGK]

The CPU is the difference here, not the memory. I had equal memory in the two machines the quad still won. I only have 8gig in this one because I have open about 100 tabs in various FF windows, meGUI, Skype, and a zillion other things - and because memory has gotten CHEAP! E8400 on this -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131225 The Q6600 is in this -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856101042

Intranix - excellent news! I am surprised that you aren't dropping frames at just 2.8ghz though. Have you watched the stats to see? I got my Celeron today - and nothing else. I suspect the rest will arrive tomorrow and that I won't be able to get my hands on it possibly until Saturday I look forward to puting this together for testing to say the least and appreciate your input.

[markguy]

I've run into another issue... I was planning on buying a mobo with onboard video for the XBMC box. There do not appear to be a over-abundance of boards with this option that might also be considered for XBMC (in my quite-possibly-ignorant opinion). And since it looks like I'll be picking up another mobo/CPU for main box to rip/encode/game with, it might be better if I just double up the mobos for ease-of-use.

Ignoring the rig that will be gaming, what's the best option for a vid card for XBMC box?