littlebrother 0 Posted January 9, 2010 Hello. I've got an old computer I want to convert to a dvr for my business. The machine is an acer f1 http://www.acersupport.com/acerpanam/desktop/0000/Acer/PowerF1/PowerF1sp2.shtml I bought a kodicom 4400 card for it, i realize now it's likely a clone. I don't want to break forum rules, but this is my situation... It appears the card does not to work with sis chipsets and xp. My question is: Would I be better off buying an intel mb and using win2k (keeping the 4400), buying a card that supports the sis chipset (do any cards support this?), or should i buy a new mb and a new card. I'm trying to do it cheap, hopefully under $200, not including cameras. thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted January 11, 2010 That looks like a marginal PC to run a DVR on (depending on the RAM and drive space you have in it), but honestly, you could get a far better all-new system for probably less than it would cost you in total to upgrade it. Check out the two base systems here for about $300: http://a-power.com/home-457 - just as an example... and that's a brick-and-mortar store (online-only stores will be even cheaper). If you upgrade your current system, it's not just a new motherboard, but a new CPU, new RAM (that one uses DDR, which is twice as expensive as the current standard, DDR2), a beefier power supply (230W won't even start up a modern board), a bigger hard drive (that one lists as shipping with 20-80GB max; 800GB+ is common now), and most certainly a DVD writer. About the only thing worth keeping would be the case... Getting a different card, you'd still need to at the very least upgrade your drive space substantially... and probably RAM as well. IF yours has the DVD-ROM option, you'll also probably want to go to a DVD writer there too. Again, at that point, you're better off with a new system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted January 12, 2010 If you are not wanting to upgrade the PC you might wish to consider using IP based cameras - the reason for this is that IP cameras do the compression at the camera itself and therefore the recording PC does not work as hard - also you may want to consider a Capture Card that is hardware Based Compression - this means that the compression is handled by the capture card rather than the PC - again this measn you could use a PC that is not as powerful - I have not looked at the PC spec, however the higher the spec the better usually Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebrother 0 Posted January 14, 2010 Thanks for the replies. Sorry it has taken me a bit to get back. I think you guys are right on, and a new system is in order. I'm thinking now about getting a standalone dvr and using the old pc for archiving and viewing. Here's one i'm thinking about: http://www.webgateinc.com/wgi_htdocs/eng/product/view.php?id=wgi_eng&no=85 Probably in the wrong forum now... but does this look alright? Apparently it has usb for connecting to the computer. thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomcctv 187 Posted January 14, 2010 Thanks for the replies. Sorry it has taken me a bit to get back. I think you guys are right on, and a new system is in order. I'm thinking now about getting a standalone dvr and using the old pc for archiving and viewing. Here's one i'm thinking about: http://www.webgateinc.com/wgi_htdocs/eng/product/view.php?id=wgi_eng&no=85 Probably in the wrong forum now... but does this look alright? Apparently it has usb for connecting to the computer. thanks. for the same money and better dvrs look at avtech or avermedia 1304 sata net. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C.O.P. 0 Posted January 14, 2010 I think it's been decided already (get a new one) but... I suspect the case would not be worth keeping either. When I upgraded mine, the power supply connectors did not match either. (making an attempt to contribute) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C.O.P. 0 Posted January 14, 2010 Ok I do have a question on this topic. Is it the playback/viewing that uses most of the PC's resources (memory, processor, graphic card), the recording, or both? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebrother 0 Posted January 15, 2010 I went ahead and got the webgate standalone. I found it on ebay used for $250, seems like a good price. Hopefully it doesn't have any issues. Thanks for everyone's input. This is a great forum, looking forward to using it more. c.o.p., Not sure on your question. But, according to a previous post, some cards are equipped to convert video signals, lessening the strain on computer's resources. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fort Myers Security 0 Posted January 15, 2010 Thanks for the replies. Sorry it has taken me a bit to get back. I think you guys are right on, and a new system is in order. I'm thinking now about getting a standalone dvr and using the old pc for archiving and viewing. Here's one i'm thinking about: http://www.webgateinc.com/wgi_htdocs/eng/product/view.php?id=wgi_eng&no=85 Probably in the wrong forum now... but does this look alright? Apparently it has usb for connecting to the computer. thanks. Add additional cost for a hard drive. Go with a GV card for your PC... ESPCCTV Ok I do have a question on this topic. Is it the playback/viewing that uses most of the PC's resources (memory, processor, graphic card), the recording, or both? Both use resources. Having a dual core will help out playing back at the same time as viewing. Extra memory would be helpfull 2... ESPCCTV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted January 15, 2010 Ok I do have a question on this topic. Is it the playback/viewing that uses most of the PC's resources (memory, processor, graphic card), the recording, or both? For analog video, the recording will be far more processor-intensive, digitizing and compressing video in realtime. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
