Perfect system for G400TV

[Rob100]

Hi all,

Right then... can anyone here honestly say that they have a perfect set up using the G400TV for capture? To qualify you must be able to...

1) Capture and playback Matrox MJPEG's with perfect sync. I deally this would be using Media Player, PCTV and AVI_IO.

2) Have no green flashes or other glitches

3) Be able to capture using huffyuv full frame (704x576) without problems

The list could go on...

If so, please tell me your set-up. Motherboard, CPU, sound card, raid controller, hard drives etc...?

Thanks, Rob

[Dr Mordrid]

Here's one of my Marvel G400-TV systems that can consistantly capture well over 140,000 frames with NO drops (YUY2 or MJPeg);

Asus P3B-F 6/1/1 (44OBX) w/ver. 1006 BIOS
CPU: PIII/600 CuMine FCPGA single
Gigabyte GA-6R7Pro/6R7+ jumperless slotkey
256 megs PC-100 RAM
Win98SE/Windows 2000 Professional SP-1/Linux multiboot
Boot drive: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 ATA100 (20gig)
MSPro6.x/Premiere 6.01
Matrox drivers: VT1.52/DD5.41.008
Capture software: AVI_IO 3.19
Matrox G400-TV
SIIG 3 port IEEE-1394
Promise FastTrak100 w/80 gig RAID0 array
RAID0 drives: 2 x 40gig (Maxtor DiamondMax Plus40)
Promise drivers: 1.30 build 25
NIC: Linksys LNE100TX
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (4081 drivers, 405 multi-mixer patch)

AGP: G400-TV
PCI1: NIC
PCI2: Fasttrak
PCI4: SIIG 3 port IEEE-1394
PCI6: Santa Cruz

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 01 May 2001).]

[Rob100]

Thanks for that. Let's look at that hardware...

>Asus P3B-F 6/1/1 (44OBX) w/ver. 1006 BIOS

Anyone know where I can get one (preferably new) in the UK? Tried looking on e-bay, but noboday actually selling one ATM.

>CPU: PIII/600 CuMine FCPGA single

I have a PIII 866 (133 fsb) Coppermine which I could stick in an ABit Slotket III that I have here and underclock to 650 ;-) Also I have a mate with a 700 PIII (100FSB) and he's looking to upgrade so we could always do a swap. We'd both be happy then...

>256 megs PC-100 RAM

Have 256mb Crucial CAS2 PC133 so that should be no problem.

>Promise FastTrak100 w/80 gig RAID0 array

Seen those advertised in the UK, so should be no problem to obtain.

>RAID0 drives: 2 x 40gig (Maxtor DiamondMax >Plus40)

All my drives are IBM 7200 GXP's, but I assume these are okay on the FastTrack?

>NIC: Linksys LNE100TX

I have "cheapo" Realtek 8029 based NIC, but could get a descent one if it causes problems.

How come the NIC is in PCI slot 1? Surely this is sharing an IRQ with the G400?

>Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (4081 drivers, 405 >multi-mixer patch)

Got one of these already. Called a Sonic Fury over here, but I always use latest drivers from Turtle Beach site as Videologic drivers shipped with card were crap. What's the multi-mixer patch you refer to?

Thanks for the advise.

Rob.


[This message has been edited by Rob100 (edited 01 May 2001).]

[Dr Mordrid]

You might have a problem getting the P3B-F since they don't make it anymore. The closest is the CUBX, which is basically a P3B-F with socket 370 instead of slot 1. The key point is that Asus makes very stable boards. Add that to a BX chipset and you have a very stable combo.

The IBM 75GXP drives work great on a Fasttrak100. My RT-2000 system has four 60g IBM's on a Fasttrak100 for a 240 gig RAID 0. The 1.30 build 25 drivers are not up to date by intent. Some folks have problems with build 33. Build 25 works in all my systems and as my good 'ole Dad used to say: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The Linksys LNE100TX is one of my favorite NIC cards. I've tried others, but it's the one I go back to because its benign to other hardware and shares IRQ's well. The Marvel also shares well as long as the device isn't real hard on resources. The LNE100TX isn't.

The multi-mixer patch is for those systems where you have either multiple audio cards or devices like the RT-2000 editing card which have their own onboard audio and install their own mixer. The patch prevents the systray mixers from thrashing each other by putting them into a menu.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 02 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 02 May 2001).]

[Rob100]

Dr Mordrid,

I have managed to locate a 2nd hand P3B-F for a good price. Don't have my hands on it yet, but hope to soon...

You stated earlier that you can capture well over 140,000 frames YUY2 or MJpeg using your P3B-F system. Is this using Matrox MJpeg? If so at what quality setting? Medium, Medium-High or High? When using YUY2, do you compress with huffyuv? If so what resolution are you able to capture with without drops?

Thanks for all you time.


Rob.