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What computer do you use to encode movies?

dlegend said:
hmmmm...might be time to build me a custom PC. Really no need right now for a blu-ray drive or such a big internal drive...
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Bluray readers are pretty good in price now. I just looked and saw them at 70 bucks on newegg. If you are building a system you are gonna spend $20 or more on a DVD drive so why not throw in the little extra and get that plus a bluray reader?
 
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dlegend said:
hmmmm...might be time to build me a custom PC. Really no need right now for a blu-ray drive or such a big internal drive...
Click to expand...

I hadn't built a PC before, but I read this article which convinced me it was an easy and worthwhile project. The article talks about building a $200 Linux PC, but of course, it will also run windows 7 just fine.

I beefed up my build and set it up to boot both Linux and Windows 7 64-bit. I found that all the software I really need is available on Linux (MakeMKV, HandBrake, VLC, Firefox, etc.). However, I had a retail Windows 7 license which I could transfer over, so I am just running Windows 7 on the system most of the time.
 
P Mentior said:
Bluray readers are pretty good in price now. I just looked and saw them at 70 bucks on newegg. If you are building a system you are gonna spend $20 or more on a DVD drive so why not throw in the little extra and get that plus a bluray reader?
Click to expand...

Right now I only own 3 bluray movies and they all have the dvd as well. I think for now I would skip this and upgrade later, plus I'm sure I have a DVD drive laying around the house somewhere.

Do you have a build thread or list of components for the computer you built? I really would love to keep this all on Mac OS but I think a Hackintosh is a little out of my realm. Last time I built a PC was around 1997.

I don't really care if it takes 5 minutes or 30 minutes to encode a movie if I build this it'll most likely be on all the time in a different room. Eventually I might use it as a HTPC or a server for an Apple TV.
 
dlegend said:
Do you have a build thread or list of components for the computer you built? I really would love to keep this all on Mac OS but I think a Hackintosh is a little out of my realm. Last time I built a PC was around 1997.
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Here is a list of my components:

Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series 650 Watt
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium (socket 1366)
CPU: Intel i7-970 6-core
Ram: G.Skill DDR3 6GB kit (3 x 2GB sticks)
GPU: EVGA GTX460 768MB

I would also suggest that going with a Sandy Bridge cpu is also a really good choice as they are cheaper than the i7-970 and with a good overclock almost as fast for encoding.


Mobo: something with a P67 or Z67 Chipset (stay away from H67 if you think that you will ever overclock)

CPU: i7-2600K
RAM: Dual Channel DDR3 Kit

Everything else can be used on either system
 
KevinC867 said:
I just built an inexpensive, but great performing, PC for this. It's based on a 4-core, 3 GHz AMD Athlon II available for $100. Total build cost was under $400 including a Blu-Ray drive, 2TB disk, etc. With a smaller hard drive and a DVD instead of the Blu-Ray, it could have been about $300.

It's so much nicer to have this system tucked away in another room than to run the conversions on my C2D MBP which would make it hot, noisy and less responsive. Not to mention the fact that the cheap PC is several times faster. It takes about 35 minutes to run Handbrake on a movie.
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What else did you need to build this? While I would love P Mentior's setup I just priced out some of the components and it's way too expensive for my needs. 35 minutes a movie is fine by me. With a dedicated computer I could leave it encoding all the time until I'm caught up.
 
dlegend said:
What else did you need to build this? While I would love P Mentior's setup I just priced out some of the components and it's way too expensive for my needs. 35 minutes a movie is fine by me. With a dedicated computer I could leave it encoding all the time until I'm caught up.
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Here's a link to the article that got me started on this project:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368511,00.asp

It talks about building a $200 Linux PC. However, just adding some more memory makes it perfectly good for running Windows 7. The most important changes I made to their build was to bump the RAM to 4GB and to bump the processor to the 4-core, 3GHz Athlon II. I also decided to play it safer and buy a better 500W power supply. You should be able to build a very decent (non-gaming) PC for about $300 in parts cost. The NewEgg website is very helpful in selecting the components you'll need:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/Computer.aspx?name=Computer-Hardware

Here's a config that's pretty close to what I built:
Code: 
Biostar N68S3+ Motherboard         $45
AMD Athlon II X4 640 processor    $100
2X Crucial CT25664BA1339 2GB       $48
Apex PC-373-C midtower case        $30
Diablotek PSDA500 power supply     $25
Lite-On IHAS424 DVD drive          $25
Seagate ST3500413AS 500GB disk     $40

Total                             $313

I used Amazon for better prices on a few of these parts.
 
Thanks Kevin. Going to price it all out later. Also considering the Dell Zino as a cheaper mac mini alternative that would fit in nicely in a home theater. We'll see how they compare with cost.
 
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