low-fat-al
I tried to disable the hardware acceleration with no luck. I actually went and tweaked a few settings. I put both displays at 16 bit. The video out at 800x600. I turned the performance to highest and turned off AA. it looks alright but the FPS are still not acceptable.
One question.. what is more important?
The Memory Clock (900 to 1000mhz), Memory Interface (128 bit or 256 bit), Core Clock (350 to 500mhz), Pixel Pipeline (8 to 12), RAMDAC (400mhz), amount memory (128 to 256mb)... just a little confused on what will be the most important thing to just do video mixing and to make sure it looks good. Don't want to buy a caddy if I only need a toyota to get the job done and well. Keep in mind that there will be a budget to work with... if all I had to do was to spend like maybe $200 for a new card then cool ... I will do that. If it means spending $400 then I will spend the extra and build a new system with PCI-E for the better newer cards.
I remember a time when just to mix MP3's didn't require all this ... just a decent speed and a lot of ram. I guess video is another ball game.
One question.. what is more important?
The Memory Clock (900 to 1000mhz), Memory Interface (128 bit or 256 bit), Core Clock (350 to 500mhz), Pixel Pipeline (8 to 12), RAMDAC (400mhz), amount memory (128 to 256mb)... just a little confused on what will be the most important thing to just do video mixing and to make sure it looks good. Don't want to buy a caddy if I only need a toyota to get the job done and well. Keep in mind that there will be a budget to work with... if all I had to do was to spend like maybe $200 for a new card then cool ... I will do that. If it means spending $400 then I will spend the extra and build a new system with PCI-E for the better newer cards.
I remember a time when just to mix MP3's didn't require all this ... just a decent speed and a lot of ram. I guess video is another ball game.
Posted Tue 10 Jan 06 @ 3:14 am
acw_dj
Andrew87,
We need to mix Video at no more than DVD quality (720x480) in some cases maybe we want to display it in 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024... even there 128MB could do the job done for VDJ mixing videos. But speed is better for us, if you could have DDR3 and 256MB or 512MB and a good price buy it, but $156.50 vs $289 (6800GT) or $489 for 7800GT is not good for and old AGP system.
We need to mix Video at no more than DVD quality (720x480) in some cases maybe we want to display it in 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024... even there 128MB could do the job done for VDJ mixing videos. But speed is better for us, if you could have DDR3 and 256MB or 512MB and a good price buy it, but $156.50 vs $289 (6800GT) or $489 for 7800GT is not good for and old AGP system.
Posted Tue 10 Jan 06 @ 4:52 am
acw_dj
low-fat-al,
I see it this way: How good is for me the 7800GTX or the 6800GT or the 6600GT?
For VirtualDJ you need speed. If you want to do a long scratch maybe you need more Video RAM (128MB is good enough), but if you don't want to change your equipment buy a Video card that do the job. That's why I recommend you the 6600GT with 128MB DDR3. If you find (and can afford) a 6600GT with 256MB DDR3 you could buy it, but it will cost you extra.
If you have o very good budget, then buy a $489 N-Vidia G-Force 7800GTX, but in that matter is better to built a new system with PCI-Express.
If you don't want to change now to a new system or if you want to spend just the right for AGP then buy a 6600GT for $156.50 and get the job well done (for an AGP), if you want the best, then try another system with PCI-e if you like AMD or Intel buy the best you can buy.
AMD 64 is a good choice or a P4 630 too, it really depends in your taste and where you feel comfortable. I use Pentium 4 and Cyder use AMD 64 both have good results, if you ask me I prefer Intel, if you ask Cyder he prefer AMD and both have great response.
Good Luck!
I see it this way: How good is for me the 7800GTX or the 6800GT or the 6600GT?
For VirtualDJ you need speed. If you want to do a long scratch maybe you need more Video RAM (128MB is good enough), but if you don't want to change your equipment buy a Video card that do the job. That's why I recommend you the 6600GT with 128MB DDR3. If you find (and can afford) a 6600GT with 256MB DDR3 you could buy it, but it will cost you extra.
If you have o very good budget, then buy a $489 N-Vidia G-Force 7800GTX, but in that matter is better to built a new system with PCI-Express.
If you don't want to change now to a new system or if you want to spend just the right for AGP then buy a 6600GT for $156.50 and get the job well done (for an AGP), if you want the best, then try another system with PCI-e if you like AMD or Intel buy the best you can buy.
AMD 64 is a good choice or a P4 630 too, it really depends in your taste and where you feel comfortable. I use Pentium 4 and Cyder use AMD 64 both have good results, if you ask me I prefer Intel, if you ask Cyder he prefer AMD and both have great response.
Good Luck!
Posted Tue 10 Jan 06 @ 4:58 am
low-fat-al
hey guys thanks again for speedy responses. I am really liking this forum for all the insight the memebers have to offer. I will in the next few months end up building a new system but for now I will just buy a new card without breaking the bank. I am going to look at all the cards on NEWEGG and see what pops out as a good deal.
I do have the time code vinyl but was't completly impressed with the respose with it. Very digital sounding when trying to scratch. I used MP3's and videos with the same results. I have used Serato Scratch Live and have found that to be the closest to having the same as vinyl effect. Scratching with music videos is cool... but not important to me and my show where ever I may be ... it would be cool to know I had that option if I need it. Just wish I didn't spend the $55.00 on the TCV now just to be disappointed with that.
I will report back with what card I got and say my results ...
any tweak ideas for settings at all is welcome right about now too... (VDJ settings, windows, etc.)
I do have the time code vinyl but was't completly impressed with the respose with it. Very digital sounding when trying to scratch. I used MP3's and videos with the same results. I have used Serato Scratch Live and have found that to be the closest to having the same as vinyl effect. Scratching with music videos is cool... but not important to me and my show where ever I may be ... it would be cool to know I had that option if I need it. Just wish I didn't spend the $55.00 on the TCV now just to be disappointed with that.
I will report back with what card I got and say my results ...
any tweak ideas for settings at all is welcome right about now too... (VDJ settings, windows, etc.)
Posted Tue 10 Jan 06 @ 5:22 am
Killabee44
Al,
I had the same dilema that you are facing now some time ago. My motherboard had an AGP slot and I didnt really want to upgrade it. I didnt think it was neccesary. Well, the speed of the PCI Express slot will give you a lot more advantage.
I ended up upgrading my MB to an athlon64 one, my vid card to a 6600 GT 128 pci-e, and my ram to a gig (matched pair 512's) running in dual channel DDR, which speeds up memory operations considerably.
There are links and model #'s to the items I purchased in my blog, but Im sure you could get a better MB and CPU now for the money I spent on mine some months ago. Peeps here helped me alot in choosing. Good luck.
Killabee44
I had the same dilema that you are facing now some time ago. My motherboard had an AGP slot and I didnt really want to upgrade it. I didnt think it was neccesary. Well, the speed of the PCI Express slot will give you a lot more advantage.
I ended up upgrading my MB to an athlon64 one, my vid card to a 6600 GT 128 pci-e, and my ram to a gig (matched pair 512's) running in dual channel DDR, which speeds up memory operations considerably.
There are links and model #'s to the items I purchased in my blog, but Im sure you could get a better MB and CPU now for the money I spent on mine some months ago. Peeps here helped me alot in choosing. Good luck.
Killabee44
Posted Tue 10 Jan 06 @ 6:47 am
low-fat-al
ok...
I got a EVGA 6600GT 128mb AGP ... had to AGP because that is what my board supports. I will in the near future buy a newer system with PCI-e.
I still can't get the frame rates to look good. I will have one video loaded on say the left player. It looks alright playing, but when I start the other player just for cueing purposes or whatever. The FPS drop A LOT... looks really bad... before I even crossfade over. I have tried a few settings to tweak it but with no luck. I have tried to defrag, play with the settings in virtual DJ, change video card settings with no good results.
Can anyone give advice on what are optimum settings for this sort of senario.
(example.. should the resolution for my S-Video out be 720x480 or 800x600, should the video settings for each monitor be 16 or 32 bit, use the internal decoder or windows decoder and which one, should I have turn off the decode while hidden feature, etc.)
Here are my specs again:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1.5 gigs of RAM
3- 250 gig HD's (ATA)
ABIT VA-20 MOBO
E-VGA 6600GT 128mb Video Card
Windows XP Pro SP2
I got a EVGA 6600GT 128mb AGP ... had to AGP because that is what my board supports. I will in the near future buy a newer system with PCI-e.
I still can't get the frame rates to look good. I will have one video loaded on say the left player. It looks alright playing, but when I start the other player just for cueing purposes or whatever. The FPS drop A LOT... looks really bad... before I even crossfade over. I have tried a few settings to tweak it but with no luck. I have tried to defrag, play with the settings in virtual DJ, change video card settings with no good results.
Can anyone give advice on what are optimum settings for this sort of senario.
(example.. should the resolution for my S-Video out be 720x480 or 800x600, should the video settings for each monitor be 16 or 32 bit, use the internal decoder or windows decoder and which one, should I have turn off the decode while hidden feature, etc.)
Here are my specs again:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1.5 gigs of RAM
3- 250 gig HD's (ATA)
ABIT VA-20 MOBO
E-VGA 6600GT 128mb Video Card
Windows XP Pro SP2
Posted Fri 13 Jan 06 @ 10:12 pm
DJ Cyder
first we need to know what type of files you are playing vob, mpeg-2, 1 avi etc? Do you have the latest drivers from the nvidia website, the stock ones are buggy. Are you outputing to a seperate monitor.
Posted Tue 17 Jan 06 @ 3:59 pm
low-fat-al
I am going to be using MPEG2 files that I am ripping from Promo Only DVD's and others that I have custom produced and outputed from Adobe Premiere Pro. I am trying to have them all with audio resampled to 44khz as the I know the 48khz audio is a problem with quality for now. I am using the S-Video out on my video card and do have the latest drivers from the NVidia's website. Also curious if there is any BIOS settings I need to know about too. I have looked through there and found stuff like fast write, ect? I don't remember exactly... have to be in the BIOS menu to read them off.
BTW... I am still experiementing with the ripping to make sure I have the best quality for this software. This before I rip my huge DVD library over. Don't want to waste my time with ripping and have done it all wrong.
BTW... I am still experiementing with the ripping to make sure I have the best quality for this software. This before I rip my huge DVD library over. Don't want to waste my time with ripping and have done it all wrong.
Posted Tue 17 Jan 06 @ 4:26 pm
low-fat-al
thanks for the response ...
But still unclear of what settings should be considered when actually having the software ready to mix video...
some other examples....
should I set the "image settings" for the displays to high performance or high quality...?
basically ... what video card settings should be look at and what BIOS settings and what VDJ settings?
if no one here can answer this...
help me DJ Cyder... your my only hope... -qoute from star wars...
But still unclear of what settings should be considered when actually having the software ready to mix video...
some other examples....
should I set the "image settings" for the displays to high performance or high quality...?
basically ... what video card settings should be look at and what BIOS settings and what VDJ settings?
if no one here can answer this...
help me DJ Cyder... your my only hope... -qoute from star wars...
Posted Fri 20 Jan 06 @ 12:11 pm
DJ_whiteDVL
well low-fat-al
I don't mix videos although I can possibly help you out on your question.
"image settings" This is determined by what kind of video card you've got. Better the video card the better the quality and performance you will get. If you have a good video card I would recommend putting it to "High Quality"
test that out and if you notice some choppy video try to tune it down towards performance until no clipping or freeze frames occure during the video playback.
In the Bios there shouldn't be any settings to really affect how VDJ handles the video. Only video options in the BIOS would be Video Cacheable. Meaning that Video will use Ram to boost the performace.
Hope this helps you out
DJ White Devil
I don't mix videos although I can possibly help you out on your question.
"image settings" This is determined by what kind of video card you've got. Better the video card the better the quality and performance you will get. If you have a good video card I would recommend putting it to "High Quality"
test that out and if you notice some choppy video try to tune it down towards performance until no clipping or freeze frames occure during the video playback.
In the Bios there shouldn't be any settings to really affect how VDJ handles the video. Only video options in the BIOS would be Video Cacheable. Meaning that Video will use Ram to boost the performace.
Hope this helps you out
DJ White Devil
Posted Fri 20 Jan 06 @ 4:40 pm
acw_dj
low-fat-al,
The recommended Video Card is N-Vidia G-Force 6600GT DDR3 128MB. If you want the best, then N-Vidia G-Force 7800GTX.
All "High Quality" or "High definition" needs more resources of your PC, so If your PC (or laptop) could handle you can use any setting you wish.
A recomended PC or laptop is in the forum. You could have AMD64 or Intel P4, is up to you and your current budget.
Good Luck!
The recommended Video Card is N-Vidia G-Force 6600GT DDR3 128MB. If you want the best, then N-Vidia G-Force 7800GTX.
All "High Quality" or "High definition" needs more resources of your PC, so If your PC (or laptop) could handle you can use any setting you wish.
A recomended PC or laptop is in the forum. You could have AMD64 or Intel P4, is up to you and your current budget.
Good Luck!
Posted Fri 20 Jan 06 @ 8:30 pm
low-fat-al
acw_dj,
I know you are not reading the whole post...
I already have a 6600GT with DDR128 ...
my specs once again:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1.5 gigs of RAM
3- 250 gig HD's (ATA)
ABIT VA-20 MOBO
E-VGA 6600GT 128mb Video Card
Windows XP Pro SP2
I know you are not reading the whole post...
I already have a 6600GT with DDR128 ...
my specs once again:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1.5 gigs of RAM
3- 250 gig HD's (ATA)
ABIT VA-20 MOBO
E-VGA 6600GT 128mb Video Card
Windows XP Pro SP2
Posted Fri 20 Jan 06 @ 8:48 pm
Killabee44
Al,
What brand RAM are you using? What speed is it? Can your motherboard run it in Dual channel mode? If so, then try to run it that way and post the results.
What brand RAM are you using? What speed is it? Can your motherboard run it in Dual channel mode? If so, then try to run it that way and post the results.
Posted Sat 21 Jan 06 @ 7:41 am
acw_dj
low-fat-al,
I read all the post, and almost all the forum posts, but I just forgot you already buy it. you need to tune up your system, Killabee44 already sugest one.
Good Luck!
I read all the post, and almost all the forum posts, but I just forgot you already buy it. you need to tune up your system, Killabee44 already sugest one.
Good Luck!
Posted Sat 21 Jan 06 @ 9:01 pm
low-fat-al
Well after a ton research... and wasted price comparison...
I found that my motherboard doesn't support dual channel.\
I have Trancend 1gig PC2700 RAM that has a CAS of 2.5
I figured that would be fine.
My motherboard does support up to 2 gigs with the two slots it has.
So I guess I will buy another stick and see... don't want to keep wasting money if I can't get it working... pain in the ass. Worked on my other computer just fine. Not my mobile system.
I found that my motherboard doesn't support dual channel.\
I have Trancend 1gig PC2700 RAM that has a CAS of 2.5
I figured that would be fine.
My motherboard does support up to 2 gigs with the two slots it has.
So I guess I will buy another stick and see... don't want to keep wasting money if I can't get it working... pain in the ass. Worked on my other computer just fine. Not my mobile system.
Posted Mon 23 Jan 06 @ 4:45 pm
Andrew87
low-fat-al I don't believe that your problem exists with your hardware; I've experienced video mixing working flawlessly on a properly configured system with a less powerful graphics card than your own (9800 vs 6600). Although the system FSB was 400 compared to your 333 (AMD Athlon XP 3200+), still this should not be a problem as you have double the RAM.
Rather than buying more new hardware if you know how to I'd do the following:
1) Download motherboard / chipset drivers from manufacturers website
2) Download graphics card drivers from manufacturers website
3) Download all other related drivers which you will need (ethernet, modem etc)
-) Download a software firewall (e.g. Sygate Personal Firewall - skip if you already have an alternative)
-) Download an antivirus software (e.g. AVG Free - skip if you already have an alternative)
4) Store these on a CD-ROM or usbpen etc
5) If you do not have a Windows XP SP2 disc, create a slipstreamed Windows XP SP2 disc using nLite http://nuhi.msfn.org/
6) Backup everything you need onto external media
7) Format your computer using QuickNTFS from the Windows XP slipstreamed SP2 cd (you will lose all data at this point so make sure you backed up!)
8) After Windows is installed, the first thing you need to do is install your motherboard drivers. Make sure your network interface is not connected, you do not want internet access at this point.
9) Restart, install graphics card drivers
10) Restart and install any other drivers you need to, check Device Manager to see what hardware is missing drivers
11) Install your firewall software
12) Install your antivirus software
13) At this point do not install any unecessary software/hardware, e.g. iPods or even XP10s if you have them
14) Connect to the internet, visit www.windowsupdate.com and download all security fixes
15) Restart and try video mixing with VDJ now.
This may take a long time but it all depends how much your time is worth to you I guess. If you want to risk buying more RAM its upto you, although starting afresh will generally give you a nice overall system performance gain anyway.
Rather than buying more new hardware if you know how to I'd do the following:
1) Download motherboard / chipset drivers from manufacturers website
2) Download graphics card drivers from manufacturers website
3) Download all other related drivers which you will need (ethernet, modem etc)
-) Download a software firewall (e.g. Sygate Personal Firewall - skip if you already have an alternative)
-) Download an antivirus software (e.g. AVG Free - skip if you already have an alternative)
4) Store these on a CD-ROM or usbpen etc
5) If you do not have a Windows XP SP2 disc, create a slipstreamed Windows XP SP2 disc using nLite http://nuhi.msfn.org/
6) Backup everything you need onto external media
7) Format your computer using QuickNTFS from the Windows XP slipstreamed SP2 cd (you will lose all data at this point so make sure you backed up!)
8) After Windows is installed, the first thing you need to do is install your motherboard drivers. Make sure your network interface is not connected, you do not want internet access at this point.
9) Restart, install graphics card drivers
10) Restart and install any other drivers you need to, check Device Manager to see what hardware is missing drivers
11) Install your firewall software
12) Install your antivirus software
13) At this point do not install any unecessary software/hardware, e.g. iPods or even XP10s if you have them
14) Connect to the internet, visit www.windowsupdate.com and download all security fixes
15) Restart and try video mixing with VDJ now.
This may take a long time but it all depends how much your time is worth to you I guess. If you want to risk buying more RAM its upto you, although starting afresh will generally give you a nice overall system performance gain anyway.
Posted Mon 23 Jan 06 @ 6:20 pm
low-fat-al
I have been pulling my hair out trying to figure this whole thing out...
I don't want to spend any more money if I don't have too...
So I will take your advice and start over from scratch to see if I get better results...
I figured I had the correct specs to get it working... just something is not right.
I don't want to spend any more money if I don't have too...
So I will take your advice and start over from scratch to see if I get better results...
I figured I had the correct specs to get it working... just something is not right.
Posted Mon 23 Jan 06 @ 6:28 pm
low-fat-al
well... after many many hours of messing with my computer... I officially give up.
I have re-installed windows ...updated windows... motherboard drivers... video and soundcard drivers...only installed VDJ ............ and yet the same results.
I actually found another stick of RAM that I robbed from another computer. so the total RAM was 1.5 gigs.. that should be plenty.
It absolutely will NOT work on my mobile machine.
I guess I will have to save up and buy a new system.. I really didn't want to spend another $1000 or so to build a new one from scratch.
The only thing left to do to my current machine is to upgrade the CPU and maybe get new RAM... that is it. But I am not to far away from maxing that out with my current CPU and RAM...
very frustrating!!!
I have re-installed windows ...updated windows... motherboard drivers... video and soundcard drivers...only installed VDJ ............ and yet the same results.
I actually found another stick of RAM that I robbed from another computer. so the total RAM was 1.5 gigs.. that should be plenty.
It absolutely will NOT work on my mobile machine.
I guess I will have to save up and buy a new system.. I really didn't want to spend another $1000 or so to build a new one from scratch.
The only thing left to do to my current machine is to upgrade the CPU and maybe get new RAM... that is it. But I am not to far away from maxing that out with my current CPU and RAM...
very frustrating!!!
Posted Tue 24 Jan 06 @ 9:27 pm
Andrew87
When you reinstalled windows did you do it by booting from the CDROM and not just overwriting your previous installation from windows? You probably did but it seems odd that your computer won't run the software properly :(
Just curious, your mobile machine with the 6600GT is a desktop and not a laptop?
Just curious, your mobile machine with the 6600GT is a desktop and not a laptop?
Posted Tue 24 Jan 06 @ 10:22 pm
low-fat-al
I installed windows from scratch... reformatted drive and everything...
I am using a CUBE style computer. Micro-ATX motherboard ABIT VA-20
It maxs the RAM at 2 GIG's
It supports socket A CPU's... the fastest AMD made was Athlon 3200+ (I actually found one for $150... didn't buy it though) 400mhz FSB
Like I said before... I yanked out the video card and tried it another machine with similiar specs... the only thing is this computer is in a server size case and I wouldn't take this machine out for anything. It worked flawless in there. Not a re-install or anything.
I am using a CUBE style computer. Micro-ATX motherboard ABIT VA-20
It maxs the RAM at 2 GIG's
It supports socket A CPU's... the fastest AMD made was Athlon 3200+ (I actually found one for $150... didn't buy it though) 400mhz FSB
Like I said before... I yanked out the video card and tried it another machine with similiar specs... the only thing is this computer is in a server size case and I wouldn't take this machine out for anything. It worked flawless in there. Not a re-install or anything.
Posted Tue 24 Jan 06 @ 10:30 pm
