Old PC: How to make TMPGEnc run faster?

[a529612]

Here's my current setup:

P4 1.8Ghz 400FSB
256Mb RDRAM
Win XP Pro
Matrox G400 Max vidcard (32Mb SGRAM)
40Gb 7200rpm internal HDD
750Gb USB 2.0 external HDD for storing source and TMPGEnc files

TMPGEnc will run and can get the job done but the constant access to virtual memory is slowing its performance significantly. If I upgrade the memory to 1GB RDRAM, do you think it
TMPGEnc will run much better on my setup or I'm just wasting money trying to upgrade an old PC?

Thanks!

[Chewy]

another 512 megs of memory will do wonders for video encoding, if you can get it off ebay cheap enough

but what I would worry about is? Does your computer support usb2, if not then you are limited to 1 meg/sec transfers to the external hard drive

[a529612]

but what I would worry about is? Does your computer support usb2, if not then you are limited to 1 meg/sec transfers to the external hard drive

It should. I have a USB 2.0 card installed.

[Chewy]

how much will rdram cost you?

[a529612]

how much will rdram cost you?

Around $200 for 1GB or $300 for 2GB. Would you recommend 1GB or 2GB for my setup? I'm wondering if 2GB is overkill for my case. Thanks!

[Chewy]

512 more megs for 50-75$ would be reasonable, otherwise you are throwing good money after bad