Recommendations to transfer video from capture PC to main PC?

[GroverXpup]

Hi. My questions here are about HDD type and also how to best transfer video from my "Capture PC" to my "Main PC." Here are some quick specs of my PCs to provide some background before my question!

"Capture PC":

Windows XP Home 32bit
ATI AIW 9000 (AGP)
512 MB DDR RAM
Mobo with only IDE connectors (ATA 133/100/66/33)
PSU with IDE/SATA power connectors
80 GB 7200 PATA HDD
Open PCI slot
External USB 2.0 and FireWire ports

Specs of my "Main PC" (assume my hardware is up to date and adequate for video work):

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
External USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA ports

My “capture computer” has Windows XP Home (32bit) installed on an 80GB 7200 PATA drive. I’d like for the second drive, the “capture drive” to be a large SATA drive. While my new PSU will have support both SATA and PATA connections, my motherboard only has IDE connectors. So I did some research and wanted your guys’ opinion on what my solution to this problem should be. Keep in mind that I’m also going to have to transfer the video footage from my “capture PC” to my “main PC.” Here are some options as I understand them.

Please correct/suggest as you see fit:

-I could just get a new PATA HDD to use as my “capture drive.” I’d really prefer that any new component I buy be the newer standard rather than the older (for a few different reasons). But if this is the best option, I’ll of course consider it! Would I then use my Vantec “IDE/SATA to USB adapter” to attach the new PATA drive to my “main pc” via USB 2.0 (the device also lets me connect the PATA drive internally).

-I could get an adapter that allows a SATA drive to be utilized internally as a PATA drive. I would only get PATA speeds though, right? To transfer to my “main PC,” would I then just dock the SATA drive in my Thermaltake BlacX HDD dock transfer the footage via eSATA?

-I could get a PCI SATA card that provides internal (and eSATA too) functionality even if my motherboard has no SATA connectors, is this correct? Could I then get full SATA speeds, or would they still be limited?

Unfortunately this is only the BEGINNING of my questions, there will many more to follow I have a list of questions in different categories (all having to do with Video capture though) and I'm not quite sure where to post each set?!

Thanks in advance for your help!

[GroverXpup]

Hi again. Does anyone have any info to offer?

[lordsmurf]

Get the adapter. My oldest computer has a Promise ATA PCI card inside of it, which added more IDE ports to the computer. The main IDE slots on the motherboard are full of optical drives, plus the main OS hard drive. The data drives are all on the Promise. Finding new (or even somewhat large) IDE drives is an exercise in futility. I took a chance, and added a 400GB SATA drive to the Promise card, using a cheap $5 adapter from Geeks.com, and it works perfectly. In fact, that SATA drive works better than the others on that same system -- much more responsive. Go figure.

Amazon also has a number of those SATA<>IDE adapters available.
I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002PN8B1A

Get the two-way adapters, not the one-way versions. Most of them are two-way (IDE>SATA + SATA>IDE)

Using a SATA<>IDE crossover may cause problems on larger drives (1TB+) on older systems. Much of this depends on the BIOS firmware of the motherboard, and what it has set as the max drive size allowed. You could plug a 1TB drive into the computer, only to see that it acknowledges a far lower size. Of course, at only $5 for one of these little adapters, it's worth the trial-and-error, I'd say. As was my situation, sometimes the PCI IDE expansion cards work best for adding newer and larger drives, since those came out during the large-HDD era.

I tried one of those SATA/eSATA PCI cards, and all it did was cause my system to freeze. It just won't work. That may be because my motherboard (an Intel early P4 series) is too old, or maybe it was the cheap PCI card I selected? Not really sure. I wanted to add eSATA, but that was a no-go.
This eSATA/SATA PCI did not work for me: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001JTS83M
I was able to install that same card on a newer system, and it works, but eSATA is as slow as the USB2. So much for that idea.

However, if I found that the motherboard would not work with an adapter, I would consider this card:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001118UEU -- It has an on-board VIA chipset that handles both IDE and SATA.

Does that help?


Sorry this question wasn't answered sooner for you, being a Premium Member.
Appears there was an oversight in the queueing of new questions. Noted.

[kb5050]

Firewire is slightly faster than USB 2.0 and the connection is more solid. But since most firewire drives are smaller, if you plan to move a large amount you may have to use USB drive. But the limitations of USB transfers speed wise in the real world offset the speed that 1394 gives you. You can go up to a 320GB drive typically in older firewire external housings. You can set the AIW software to store in MP4 format instead of its proprietary format, that can be set in the TV software, under VCR section. Do that so that you can just plug in the firewire drive to the target PC. If the faster PC lacks 1394 Port, then you can usually purchase a lot cost PCI express (the small port) to fit the target PC. Some older laptops have the mini 1394 and then all you need is 1394 to Mini 1394 adapter cable, and possibly a USB to power as the mini 1394 does not provide power to the drive. A desktop computer usually has the full-size port. I suggest looking also (I find them in the bargain racks at Goodwill and Salvation Army, or even cheap new ones. Many people throw them out because they do not know what they are. I just like to avoid having to get behind the desktop to plug stuff in all the time. The other best way to go is over Ethernet or WiFi, but WiFi typically is bad droppng large file transfers. For windows, there is free software however that helps, like copy-2-pc it has resume functions for file transfers, to avoid the WiFi dropouts. Then you also have to setup file folder sharing which can be troublesome as well.