CPU maxed, capture drops, audio stuttering

williamc wrote on 4/12/2005, 6:03 AM

I am using Screenblast Movie Studio v3 on a Pentium 3 with 256 MB RAM, installed with Win2000 SP4. Capture (via Firewire) works fine on one 40 GB drive which is connected via the primary controller.

But my 160 GB drive on the secondary controller (shared with the CD-ROM) does not capture (via Firewire) without lots of dropped frames and audio stuttering. I've done various throughput tests using HD Tune and Canopus EZ DVtest and the drive performs better than my 40 GB drive.

I noticed that the CPU is maxed at 100% when capturing to the big drive, and the process consuming all the resources is Movie Studio Capture. When I watch the task monitor while capturing to the 40 GB drive, the capture utilizes only 25-30% of CPU.

How can I isolate this problem and get my big drive working normally? Any ideas appreciated.

Comments

rmack350 wrote on 4/12/2005, 7:43 AM

Okay, I think you're saying that capture from camera or deck is over firewire and the disc drive is on an IDE controller.

It's generally recommended that you not put hdd on the same ribbon cable as an optical disc. First of all most ODD are installed using a 40 conductor cable which won't allow as high performance as the 80 conductor cable used on your primary IDE channel. Secondly, it's my understanding that the mere presence of the much slower optical drive will also slow down an hdd on the same ribbon cable.

If you cannot move that hdd to the slave connection on the other cable then the next best thing will be to remove the odd from the system and replace the ribbon cable with an 80 conductor cable.

Obviously, removing your ODD isn't a great solution. Other options are to buy an IDE controller card to install in a pci slot. This is very reliable. Or you could buy a firewire enclosure and install the hdd in that. It would be nearly as fast as the card and somewhat reliable but it'd be very portable and convenient. For reliability I'd recommend the PCI card by far.

Rob Mack

johnmeyer wrote on 4/12/2005, 7:58 AM

Is DMA enabled for your secondary drive? High CPU utilization when capturing would indicate no DMA (DMA lets the data flow to the disk without the CPU being involved at all).