Server Upgrade to support Transcoding.

[Skippman]

All,


I'm in the process of giving my 2K Server an overhaul. I plan to use this box as my media server for my new home theater via a X-Box 360.

Thanks to TVersity (http://www.tversity.com) I've found a way around 2K's complete lack of UPnP support. However many of my video files are in formats other than WMA and AVI so I have to transcode them from say DIVX to a streaming format that the 360 supports.

I've experimented with the program and it seems quite capable of transcoding Quicktime and DivX to that streaming format (uncertain what it is) on the fly but my dual 750's are totally incapable of keeping up with it. I get about 3 minutes of video then it crashes.

So, I'm looking to upgrade from my old Dual PIII 750's to something more... robust. Right now I was thinging of a cheap Socket 775 Celeron w/ 2G of cheap RAM on a DFI board. Something like this:

$59.99 Intel Celeron D 352 LGA775 Processor BX80552352, 3.20GHz, 533MHz FSB
http://www.directron.com/bx80552352.html

$55.99 DFI 662-TMG/G Socket 775 mATX Motherboard
http://www.directron.com/662tmgg.html

Upgrading the board will help out alot. It'll have onboard GigE (using a RealTek card now). Onboard USB 2.0 (using a Promiss card now). Onboard video and sound. This will elimate about 4 PCI cards I'm using now.

Thoughts? Do you think a single core proc is fast enough for this?

FYI, the machine currently supports 4 IDE PATA HD's and two PATA optical drives (Plextor DVD burner, and a DVD Reader). I eventually plan to get a stand alone RAID controller and do a 2T Raid 5 array.

[Darkstar]

according to the tversity website;

# Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz with support for Hyper Threading and with 512 MB of memory is recommended for real-time transcoding of standard definition video (e.g. WMV 720×480 1.5Mbps).
# Dual core or dual CPU systems with 1 Gbyte of memory are required for real-time transcoding of high definition video.
# Non real-time transcoding of any bitrate video can be done on any machine, with the speed of the machine determining the time it takes to complete the transcoding.

so i dont think the celeron would cut it.

[Skippman]

So even though it's 3.2G it's not fast enough. Dang.

Guess I'll have to go Core2Duo. I was trying to keep the project under $200. Guess that's not going to happen.

[DMB2000uk]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116037
Pentium Dual Core 1.6Ghz - $73.99

And it will work with that board that you were eyeing up.

A slight overclock and you could be nearing 2.2Ghz (800Mhz FSB to 1066Mhz FSB won't even give the board a sweat), which is kicking the minimum requirements ass (as it is core 2 based architecture and not pentium 4 based ^_^ ).

Dan

[Skippman]

Overclocking: Stability? Heat?

Remember, this is a file server not my gaming machine. I need this thing to be able to run 24x7 without rebooting. I've only taken the machine down once in the last 6 months, and that was to install TVersity.

[Darkstar]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116037
Pentium Dual Core 1.6Ghz - $73.99

And it will work with that board that you were eyeing up.

A slight overclock and you could be nearing 2.2Ghz (800Mhz FSB to 1066Mhz FSB won't even give the board a sweat), which is kicking the minimum requirements ass (as it is core 2 based architecture and not pentium 4 based ^_^ ).

Dan

I had the same recommendation (forgot to hit "submit") the overclock Dan refers to can be done with the stock cooler as this particular chip has been OC'd to 3.2 and beyond.
(article at Toms Hardware, etc)
not too many options otherwise for a File server under $200

[Skippman]

Guess it's time to fire up the Visa. It's everywhere I shouldn't be.

How bout this one?

Intel Dual-Core E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz for $89.99. 400mhz more stock for $16.


$90 for the Intel Dual-Core E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz
$44 for Corsair XMS2 2GB(2 x 1GB) DDR2 675 PC2 5400 Dual Channel
$56 for the DFI 662-TMG/G Socket 775 mATX Motherboard

So that brings the total to $190 for the whole project. CPU comes w/ heat sync and fan. So I shouldn't be leaving anything out. I'd not even begin to consider this parts list for my main machine. For a file server that needs to transcode on the fly what do you think?

[DMB2000uk]

If you want to pay for peace of mind then go ahead, but the very mild overclock on the cheaper processor would be more than happy at running at that speed 24/7 no problems, and you can guarantee it's happiness with a 24hour stress prime test.

As the board would be running at a factory defined setting of 1066Mhz FSB, the board and RAM would not be overclocked, and it would just be your CPU getting the performance boost. Odds are that the voltage wont even need upping (because it is such a small overclock), but if for some reason it does, the board supports it and the heatsink is more than capable of dispensing the heat (it is after all the same heatsink used with the 3.0Ghz Core 2 Duo's and beyond).

But yeah, either setup will be capable for your on the fly video decoding.

Have fun buying and playing ^_^

Dan

[Skippman]

Is there anyway to force a program to use one processor (core) or another? For instance, TVerstiy does not support SMP or Multipul CPU's. Can I force it to the secondary processor (core) of the CPU and leave the main one free. Run it as a background application?

[Darkstar]

You can set the processor to "background services" in the advanced performance options in the system properties settings in Windows, but i dont know of a way to allocate one core for the program.

[DMB2000uk]

On task manager, right click the process, and click "set affinity" untick the core you don't want it to run on.

Are you sure that you aren't getting mixed up with dual core (single socket) and dual processor (two socket) machines? TVersity's own system requirements recommend dual core processors for high bitrate video converting...

Dan

[Skippman]

I ordered the parts I listed.

I asked because I want to try that on my current dual 750 configuration and see if that improves anything at all. I plan to reinstall the whole OS when I get the new parts. I'd have to do it anyway I suppose. Reinstalling will let me make sure I'm only installing and running the bear minimum of processes to maximize transcoding performance since the only two things this PC does is run TVersity and serve files. Since TVersity runs as a service I'm going to set the machine to give priority to background tasks.

My ultimate goal is to be able to transcode Quicktime, SD-DivX, and MKV's on the fly.

[Skippman]

Processer arrived yesteday. Mobo and RAM should be here today. Jebus am I sore. Moving ones entire home theater is a rather weighty task. I'm glad I'm never doing it again!

As a FYI, TVersity seems to support damn near every appliance there is including the HR20 HD-DVR from DirecTV. Pretty keen.

[DMB2000uk]

It does sound like a really good program, let us know how it goes for you when its all up and running, and your opinions on it.

Dan

[Skippman]

New system online! Reinstalling Win2K Server is a pain in the arse.

Aside from a minor ACPI problem with the boards BIOS (fixed with a flash) everythings working fantastically. Got TVersity reinstalled and working.

TVersity works great. For about 3 mintues. Then the video just crashes. It's totally freaking me out. It'll play, without pausing for buffering, for 3 solid minutes then it just stops. I'm wondering if it's a codec problem.

[Darkstar]

have you checked the log files to see if anything unusual is going on or for clues about what is causing it?