newbee help

hello
i had this computer for like 4 years, i just got a job to edit and convert videos it take about 2 hours to convert a video, my boss say if i upgrade the memory or the processor it will be quicker, i have look around but my motherboard is out of date to get a new processor, i have 2 512 mb stick of ram if i do upgrade to 2 gb will it matter any thank you for your help


CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 2200 MHz (11 x 200) 3200+
Motherboard Name Asus K8S-LA (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN, IEEE-1394)
Field Value
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2
Physical Memory Total 895 MB

 

A graphics card would help you immensely and yep, likely onboard sucking ram. Another stick of ram would help for sure. Getting rid of XP home would be a better step. XP pro is far better. I wouldn't use XP home for any editing.

However, making it faster completely? video conversion takes time no matter what you use unless you go into pro equipment which is likely far beyond what you need. My PC would take, depending on size of video, many more hours so you aren't doing too bad.
Before I even answer completely, please state the type and size of the video and your conversion method. This makes all the difference as well.

Another note, just because it says 2 gig slots, doesn't mean you can. The motherboard specs would need to be looked at. Many OEM versions , even right from company, will say eg... 2 gig slots but in truth only support 512 or 1 gig total. This has unfortunately led many to buy unusable ram sticks.

If you do become serious about video conversion or editing, many will say buy a MAC. That may be an option as well.

Cheers,

Paul

 

thank you for your help gimpguy2000

how is xp pro better then home
can i add any graphics card or do i need to know some specs 1st
i only have 2 memory slot i was going to buy 2 1gb ram i hope this is the specs you need to know for me to add memory before i waste my money if not tell me what you need to know

thank you for your help


Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 10/29/2004-SiS-760-6A7I7A09-00
Motherboard Name Asus K8S-LA

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type AMD Hammer
Real Clock 200 MHz
Effective Clock 200 MHz
HyperTransport Clock 800 MHz

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 164 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 329 MHz
Bandwidth 2632 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type SiS MuTIOL
Bus Width 16-bit
Real Clock 67 MHz (ODR)
Effective Clock 533 MHz
Bandwidth 1067 MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 754
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 2 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN, IEEE-1394
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset SiS760GX

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Product Information http://www.asus.com/products1.aspx?l1=3
BIOS Download http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

 

I second most everything Gimpguy has told you and would add.

If you are relying on this pc don't make lots of big changes all at once.
Do your upgrades in stages.


I can't accept there is much difference in XP versions, properly setup.
The extra networking and security stuff in XPpro does not affect video editing.
It is only if pro allows you to have more memory than home.
The differences experienced may be due to chipset drivers. Some SIS chipsets have known issues with video editing software.

You are cetainly short of memory for video editing, upgrade to the max you can.
I would also concentrate on your hard drive setup, this is the biggest single bottleneck in modern systems.

Rendering (conversion) can take many many times the playing time of the clip. It all depends on the complexity of the rendering instructions.

To summarise

Tell us about your video software
Tell us about your hard drives