Hello. Like others here, I am totally new to this stuff. I am an IT guy but my knowledge on all the video stuff is very little. I am looking to build a system specifically for video capture and for storing and playing DVDs from the hard drive. First I was wondering on what I should build. I have an older system with a 1.8GHz processor but I think it can be upgraded to 2.4GHz with about a gig of memory. Is this enough? I want to use multiple 10000RPM SATA drives for the storage (I have to see if the board supports it). As far as the video card and capture card, should I purchase an all in one card or get two seperate cards i.e. a video card and a seperate capture card? I would like to copy some older VHS movies onto DVD and record TV programs if it is possible. I would also like to know what software would be best for this. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
With a hardware card, your current 1.8ghz is plenty. So would 512k and XP. Personally, I much prefer separate video and capture cards. If you want to upgrade video later (or capture), you don't have to buy another card to do both. Also on that note, the better (best?) capture cards are NOT video cards. If I were to build another PVR today, I would get a Hauppauge PVR-150 with remote (the retail version, not the MCE version) and a PVR-500. Run the whole thing with GB-PVR ( http://www.gbpvr.com ). I currently am running an Intel 1.2ghz, with two hard drives (small one for the OS, large for captures), on 512meg, dual PVR-250's and GB-PVR. (main PVR) I also have an Athlon XP2500+ running a PVR-500 (DVD video processing and surfing computer) , and an Athlon 2000+ running a PVR-250. (Wife's computer). All are using 512 RAM, two hard drives, and GB-PVR software.
I would second that advice. The graphic adapter you choose doesn't have to be the biggest and baddest ATI x800 series or Nvidia 6800 SLI set up because video encoding, capturing and processing is more reliant on your CPU and capture device chip. So choose a card that's a generation old but direct x 9 compatible for decent value and lower cost. On the capture card end choose one with hardware encoding ability and then choose a good vcr. Also consider a Time Base Corrector or video processor amp to clean and enhance your signal, remove macrovision, and stabilize it before it gets to your cap card.
