Encoding speeds ?

[JonRead]

I currently own a 1800XP with 512mb 2100DDR. I am looking to upgrade as most of my work is encoding in software like TMPG. Basically I want as fast as possible for a reasonable price. Would 2gb DDR be even better ?

How much more speed, on average, would 1gb and a 2400XP give me ? I already have a 133ATA 7200rpm hard disk. I am a bit fed up waiting 6 hours for a movie to encode. Would a similar speed P4 be even faster ?

Sadly I can't afford a brand new XP or P4, so I am looking around the mid-2ghz mark.

Any ideas ? Cheers.

[Palone5]

Adding more memory will give to a little more speed. However its not going to be the speed your looking for. ie 3hrs of encoding. You might want want to look at a dual Processor and more Ram. then there will be other considerations also which get in to more money.

faster harddrives etc. but all of this will only be as helpful as your Processors Speed.

Hope that helps you.

[Palone5]

Also forgot to tell you.
I have 2.4 ghz P4 w/ 512 meg and I use TMPEG also. Depending on the Quality you are looking for, you'll be looking at some time.(endoding) I always use 2 pass encoding which takes more time, (sometimes 6-8hrs) but the end result is worth the wait. (just my opinion) I think up to 1.5 gig will be the most notable. hopefully one of the moderators can better help you.