Other Hardware upgrading graphics card & ram?

[unclebubbies]

Currently am using a Emachine bought at best buy 3 years ago. Very slow compression from 50 gb to 25 gb. Usually 10 to 14 hours. If I upgrade to 2 Gb of ram and get a video graphic card like GeForce Gtx 260 or above will that speed things up? Can anyone suggest a reasonable priced card for someone on a budget. Any suggestions other than buying a whole new machine would be welcome.

[martythebrit]

I assume Vista and 1GB of ram?

Another 1GB would benefit the whole computer. Ram is so cheap now I would go to 4GB (2 x 2GB).

The NVidia GTX460 is nice, Newegg has them starting at $120. Then you could use CUDA.

[unclebubbies]

Here's what i have:
Windows Vista, Amd Athlon 2.1Ghz
3 Gb of Ram (will go up to 8 Gb)
Nvidia Geforce 6150se graphic
So if I up the Ram and get a more modern graphic/video card will that help my compression time to decrease?
Dvdfab bluray copy works great with this machine but the con is it's very slow.
Please advise.

[maineman]

While I agree with martythebrit...
Given the fact that you're already running 3 GB of RAM on vista, you'll experience little to no gain by adding more RAM, ie., a poor cost to benefit ratio

By far, your cpu is the where the rubber meets the road with respect to BD processing.
Nothing wrong with your current cpu for many tasks, but it's about 5 years old now and relative to what's out there now...or even the last 2 years,
it is marginal re: performance.
(It's fine as long as the times you're getting are reasonable to you).

The NVidia GTX460 is a solid choice for improving your performance, but don't think for a minute that it's a substitute for a newer, faster cpu

[martythebrit]

If you have 3GB of ram you're probably running Vista 32 bit. If you add more memory you'll need to switch to Vista 64 bit.

The Windows install number you have will work with either 32 bit or 64 bit Vista, same version which is probably Home Premium. You just have to find a 64 bit disk.

Having said that maineman is right, after all this you still have an outdated CPU.

Maybe you would be better off waiting a while and buying a new computer as and when funds permit.

Have you though about building your own system? It would be much cheaper than going to Best Buy or the like.

[unclebubbies]

Great advise. I think i'll just make do with the long compression times until I'm ready to upgrade to a more efficient machine.

[unclebubbies]

Could someone give me an A-Z list of what I need to look for when buying or building a new computer that will make Dvdfab blu ray function at it's best capabilities? Thanks in advance.

[martythebrit]

Look for a computer based on the Z68 motherboard which has Intel Quick Sync, the i5-2500K CPU is a good deal right now, get at least 4GB's of ram, 8GB's shouldn't be much more if you build it yourself. At least a 500GB hard drive, more is better. Windows 7 64 bit.

[unclebubbies]

Thanks. What about the video card?

[martythebrit]

The i5-2500K has the GPU on the CPU so you don't need another video card.

Is that to many U's?

If you're on a budget this can be added later. Make sure the motherboard has VGA and HDMI.

[unclebubbies]

Not too many U's! But it may be too many $$$

[maineman]

So have you decided...build or buy?

I'm with martythebrit.
Build it.
You'll get exactly what you want (and no bloatware) and you can tailor it to your own budget.

Don't be intimidated...everyone one of us started at the same place...the beginning.
As a matter of fact, another member, 8855A, just recently finished his first build. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but jumped in with both feet.
He's smokin' the BD's now...

If you're in the US, newegg is an excellent retailer.
Over the years, most of my components have come from the egg.
Also, there's tons of good feedback from a wide spectrum of users.

In addition to martythebrit's solid advice, get a decent psu (power supply unit)...and forget the stock cooler...they're woefully inadequate for today's cpu's

Anyway, go ahead and rough out a list and post it.
We'll be happy to offer our opinions and any pointers.

[martythebrit]

If money is tight now stick with a Z68 motherboard and a lower end CPU like a Pentium G620. When you have the money an i3, i5 or i7 will drop right in there and sell the Pentium on eBay.

This will still be faster than what you have now and you'll have upgrade options down the road.

All my parts come from Newegg, which is an excellent choice.

[unclebubbies]

Well you guys have given me a lot to think about. Not sure right now what I'll do. I'm going to check out some costs and then decide. Thanks for the input.
Building a computer with my limited experience is almost to much for me to imagine.