hi, i have tried flaskmpeg, dr. divx and xmpeg, but with 2-pass settings , almost all of them take around 7-8 hrs. to convert dvd to divx in high quality!! i have a p4 1.7ghz and 256 mb ram with winxp !! does anybody knows of a fast encoder!!
You can try using Gordian Knot to encode your movies. Im not sure about how long it will take, depends on how long and complex the movie is, and sometimes your PC's configuration. But GKnot will give you excellent results. It takes me maybe 4-5 hours to encode a 100 min movie with some pretty intense action scenes using GSPOT and my PC is similar to yours. http://www.doom9.org/guides.htm
There shouldnt be much of a speed difference bwteen DivX and XviD encode rates (not that ive noticed in either case). The virtualDub option with fast encode should probly be sufficient for your needs (~2-2.5hrs)