Advice on Shuttle XPC Capture Device Build

[ame-otoko]

Hi, after some adventurous tryouts with a Mac, I’d like to build a capturing device for S-/VHS tapes using an old Shuttle XPC… parts are inexpensive and in reach.

It’s been over a decade since I last build a Windows PC and while the guides at digitalfaq are very helpful, I have a few questions left and would appreciate your tech-savvy input.

1. First and foremost, does the ATI AIW 9000 also support PAL60?
2. I could choose from 98, ME and 2000 as operating system, thus I was wondering what is the best choice, also in terms of FAT32 vs. NTFS?
3. Will socket 478 mainboards generally work with the above mentioned operating systems?
4. The mainboard in question supports only up to 2GB RAM - would that be sufficient for MPEG2 and AVI capture?
5. Do I still need to follow an installation scheme for the 9000 drivers/MMC found here?
6. Any suggestions for a decent IDE HDD, what’s the minimum read/write speed "requirement"?
7. How do you treat on-board sound and graphics, e.g. disabling these devices in the Windows system settings or should the ATI AIW rather not be used as GPU?

If I succeed in this little project, expect a "lessons learned" similar to the above mentioned Mac related thread.

Thanks in advance!

[lordsmurf]

- Win98/ME/2K isn't an option. You need Windows XP.
- FAT32 makes for miserable video experience.
- 478 Intel is fine.
- 2gb RAM is plenty.
- IDE is fine for lossless AVI and MPEG-2 capturing. Seagate is best (quiet), Western Digital whines.
- Disable onboard sound, graphics, anything else not needed
- ATI AIW must be graphics to be used, it's not capture only, not how it works

[ame-otoko]

@lordsmurf: Thank you very much for the fast reply!

Regarding Windows XP (I assume the latest SP3), does it matter if I chose Home or Professional edition, let's say in terms of ATI software compatibility or workflow/resource allocation?

Following your advice to disable onboard sound, graphics, anything else not needed... upon a clean install of Windows XP, with both ATI AIW card and a SoundBlaster PCI card inserted, is there still a mandatory install procedure such as mainboard drivers first, followed by graphics card...?

@all:
While not a mandatory feature, I'm wondering if PAL60 support is hardware or rather software related with any ATI AIW (AGP or PCIe)?