Inexpensive machine for encoding - non COx related
By
Call Me Awesome,
Posted on: 2011-03-29 15:14 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
For video compression I believe more cores/threads the better. Not sure about that Adobe product however. The cheapest tri-core at NewEgg is a 2.9GHz Athlon II X3 435 for $72, the 3.2GHZ X3 450 for $80. The cheapest quad is the $100 3.0GHz Athlon II X4 640 and I think that's too much of your limited budget.
DDR3 memory is fairly cheap today, less than $15 a gigabyte for basic memory. Actually it's more like 2GB (2x1GB) DDR3-1333 CAS 9 for less than $30, 4GB (2x2GB) for less than $50.
As for a motherboard one based on the 880G chipset. There are still a few motherboards using one of the AMD 7xxG series chipsets but not from any of the big name motherboard companies.
Most of the 880G microATX MBs still use the older SB710 southbridge so they don't support SATA III (6.0Gb/s), no loss since I doubt you are planning to use one of the new SATA III solid state drives on the market. They are split between having 2 or 4 DDR3 memory slots and most are under $80 new.
You should be able to find an acceptable combo for around. Here is an example.
BIOSTAR A880G+ - $70
AMD Athlon II X3 450 - $80
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS - $40
Total - $190
Only drawbacks with the motherboard is no SATA III, only 2 ram slots and 6 speaker audio.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
Thanks for the suggestions Father, I'll need one PCI slot for the capture device so that fits. Audio wise it needs to support one speaker as a sound test so I imagine literally anything will do there and it'll have one SATA HD and CDROM. One question, I've never built a microATX board, I assume it fits in a standard ATX case? Also Biostar isn't a brand I've ever used before, how's it's stability, quality and durability compare with, say, Asus?|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
For video compression I believe more cores/threads the better. Not sure about that Adobe product however. The cheapest tri-core at NewEgg is a 2.9GHz Athlon II X3 435 for $72, the 3.2GHZ X3 450 for $80. The cheapest quad is the $100 3.0GHz Athlon II X4 640 and I think that's too much of your limited budget.
DDR3 memory is fairly cheap today, less than $15 a gigabyte for basic memory. Actually it's more like 2GB (2x1GB) DDR3-1333 CAS 9 for less than $30, 4GB (2x2GB) for less than $50. As for a motherboard one based on the 880G chipset. There are still a few motherboards using one of the AMD 7xxG series chipsets but not from any of the big name motherboard companies. Most of the 880G microATX MBs still use the older SB710 southbridge so they don't support SATA III (6.0Gb/s), no loss since I doubt you are planning to use one of the new SATA III solid state drives on the market. They are split between having 2 or 4 DDR3 memory slots and most are under $80 new. You should be able to find an acceptable combo for around. Here is an example. BIOSTAR A880G+ - $70 AMD Athlon II X3 450 - $80 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS - $40 Total - $190 Only drawbacks with the motherboard is no SATA III, only 2 ram slots and 6 speaker audio. |
The machine it's replacing is an old single core Intel... I forget the exact details but it's circa about 2006-2007 so I'm not really concerned about processor horsepower since that machine was adequate to the task, albeit running XP. Would you suggest an aftermarket heat sink or would the stock be adequate? The old machine has a rather large Thermaltake on it which I doubt fits a modern socket. This thing will be leading a fairly hard life being hauled around in a trailer, drug into a coliseum and set up to stream 24/7 for a week then carried back to the trailer and taken to the next venue to do it all again.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Yes, microATX should fix in an ATX case fine, there are mounting points shared in common between microATX and ATX however the case does need to have the mounting points for the "bottom" edge of the microATX board. I haven't come across a case yet that can't handle it. Other than that the primary difference is an ATX MB has up to 7 expansion board slots where the shorter microATX only has 4.
The stock heatsink should be adequate but it's not very good. Expect the CPU to run hot so hopefully you have good air flow.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
Hmm, that pretty well means an aftermarket heat sink... the machine will be living in a portable road rack case and ventilation will be limited... and some venues aren't air conditioned. Lexington Kentucky in July under roof but with open sides gets a mite warm. I have a big 24" high power fan keeping ME cool there|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
Yes, microATX should fix in an ATX case fine, there are mounting points shared in common between microATX and ATX however the case does need to have the mounting points for the "bottom" edge of the microATX board. I haven't come across a case yet that can't handle it. Other than that the primary difference is an ATX MB has up to 7 expansion board slots where the shorter microATX only has 4.
The stock heatsink should be adequate but it's not very good. Expect the CPU to run hot so hopefully you have good air flow. |
I'll be rigging exhaust fans on the rack case to improve airflow but I think I'd be asking for trouble with the OEM HS. Ah well, another $30 or so won't break the bank.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
I wouldn't recommend the heatsink in my $1350 build due to the constant movement of the rig. It's a great heatsink but as one review pointed out it can twist due to the how it's held in place. A heatsink with multiple connections between the heatsink and the bracket used to connect it to the motherboard would be better. A good source for heatsink reviews for me are the ones at FrostyTech. Also X-Bit Labs have numerous reviews of heatsinks but not a simple chart like you find in whatever latest review at FrostyTech that ranks them.
I'm sorry I can't be more helpful in this as my experience with any real time encoder is basically nil. The product page says anything faster than a 933MHz PIII but they also say you should keep CPU usage below 75%, hence the multiple cores and fast clock speed. The extra cores should help handle any miscellaneous processes while the encoder is blasting away on it's own core (assuming the encoder isn't multithreaded).
The 4GB of memory should be enough for that app and the OS to coexist without the need for any paging to disk.
Again sorry I can't be more help. Have you tried any AV forums or web sites that cater to real time encoding, they may be able to provide better recommendations.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
You've answered the questions I was a bit hazy on; I'm already pretty familiar with real time encoding/streaming. I agree with the multi core bit; while the old single core could do the job it was running pretty high CPU usage cranking out a 700kbs H.264 live stream. It does help that the Viewcast cards can handle the encoding in hardware... when I've streamed using a laptop and an inexpensive Pinnacle USB capture device I don't get the same results and even a relatively powerful (Core2Duo) laptop is running flat out and occasionally locking up. |
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
I wouldn't recommend the heatsink in my $1350 build due to the constant movement of the rig. It's a great heatsink but as one review pointed out it can twist due to the how it's held in place. A heatsink with multiple connections between the heatsink and the bracket used to connect it to the motherboard would be better. A good source for heatsink reviews for me are the ones at FrostyTech. Also X-Bit Labs have numerous reviews of heatsinks but not a simple chart like you find in whatever latest review at FrostyTech that ranks them.
I'm sorry I can't be more helpful in this as my experience with any real time encoder is basically nil. The product page says anything faster than a 933MHz PIII but they also say you should keep CPU usage below 75%, hence the multiple cores and fast clock speed. The extra cores should help handle any miscellaneous processes while the encoder is blasting away on it's own core (assuming the encoder isn't multithreaded). The 4GB of memory should be enough for that app and the OS to coexist without the need for any paging to disk. Again sorry I can't be more help. Have you tried any AV forums or web sites that cater to real time encoding, they may be able to provide better recommendations. |
I'm assuming that the Adobe encoder is multithreaded; all of their other A/V apps are and have been for a number of years. In any case if a 5-6 year old single core can handle the job anything modern can do it as well or better.
Thanks again for your advice!
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Hey all, I've just found a need for a new machine to handle encoding live video for a webcast. Obviously I know the basics of what's required but I'm not up on current hardware.
What I'm looking for is an inexpensive machine for the purpose; probably AMD powered from price considerations. Onboard video is just fine to drive a basic 17" monitor... all it's going to have to run is Win7, a web browser and Adobe Flash Live Media Encoder. I already have a Viewcast Osprey card for the video capture portion from an older machine that just bit the dust. This is a pure work machine and won't be used for gaming... all the onboard video needs to do is handle Windows on a cheap 17" monitor.
My two concerns on the unit are reliability and cost; the cheaper the better as long as it's enough for the job and reliable, quality components. What MB/CPU combination would you guys suggest for this? The machine will be running 24/7 for a week or so encoding then it'll be transported to another site and do it all again so reliability is a MUST.
I'd like to keep under $250 for MB/CPU/RAM, preferably under $200. Other than that I've got a 4 space rackmount case for the parts to go into and a decent quality 350 watt PSU and I'm sure I can find a HD and CD ROM to toss in. I do have 2 extra Win7 licenses laying around so I don't need worry about that.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes