Minimum (Linux) PC specs for DVD burning?
 

Hi,

I currently have an older computer and considering getting a DVD burner for it. The question is, will a DVD burner work decently with my PC?

Some of my PC specs are as follows:
Pentium III CPU 650MHz
100MHz FSB
Intel i810-type motherboard
256 MB RAM
9.5 GB WD HDD (might be upgraded soon)

Trouble is, one of my friends say it won't be able to handle it, due to bus bandwidth limitations. The bus he mentioned is probably the main CPU bus or something to do with the IDE controller. I'm not sure, but I heard someone burning a CD with Linux on a 486.

I had an AMD Athlon of slightly less power that burned CDs fine.
If you buy it, worst case scenario you have an extra dvd burner around for if you upgrade your system later on.

there shouldent be a problem, a even a slow PC can still burn DVD's, the bandwith is nothing, but dont expect to burn DVD's quickly, lowing PC bandwith will only mean slower burn speeds, but it wont stop the burning

You can do it on pretty much anything that can use a DVD burner (motherboard, etc.). You just need patience.

it will work.

i just dont see how you can fit an operating system and 5 gigs worth of to-be-written-to-DVD data on that hard drive.

yeah with a drive that small you may not have the capacity to take fulla dvantage of a DVD burner but as someone else said you would have one more part for a newer PC :-p

the speed of the hard drive is the only big difference maker, but you're going to have trouble with the low drive space.

do yourself a favour http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...144-175&depa=0

Guys,

I did mention that I might be upgrading the HDD as well. Worthwhile since that'll give me more space to play with distros.

Now with regards to performance, will I get coasters and what burn speed do you reckon I can achieve?

And is there an issue with >137GB HDD's on this older mobo?

Thanks for your replies, and keep them coming.

coasters depends on burnspeed and the quality of the dvdrw and the optical disk. it has little to do with your computer.

also, the biggest bottleneck here is the dvdrw, not your computer. unless you are encoding videos and creating a video dvd from an avi or something, everything should go smoothly.

best spec, have at least enough harddrive space for what you are burning. the cache of data is what you need to worry about, and have a fast enough HD to serve the cached file, a Old ATA33 HD might not be the best to use when burning DVD's. Not saying it will not work, but I'm sure it will be hella slow.

also use quality media, do not use crappy media, or expect crappy results.

and the minimum Specs on the Box of the DVD drive you buy, should be more than fine.

@nuka_t

with DVD burning speeds up at 16X, i don't see the burner being a problem. Burn-free, burn-proof, whatever it may be called for your drive, should be able to handle the coaster issue, that is if they have implimented that feature to DVD drives for DVD's.
The burner I have has never once burned a coaster on me. It's an older 2x burner, but has done me well.

if it does have a problem with it, nothing an ATA card can't fix.
If your motherboards Bios supports 48Bit logical Addressing, then you should be fine, if it doesn't, then you will either need to purchase an ATA card (at least ATA100) or if a bios upgrade is available that will enable 48bit LBA support, then you will have to upgrade your bios.

I'm pretty sure the Intel i810 chipset didn't support 48bit LBA, as it is an aged chipset. But I could be wrong, get me an exact model and I can tell you.

ya, im not saying its a problem. but it can happen. and the best way to prevent it is by burning at slower speeds and, like oyu said, using higher quality parts.

im still waiting for blu-ray. 200gigs. :drool:

I've been outta the loop for a bit, but i just learned they now should have available, the new Dual Layer burners, and the Media to go with it! They had the burners for the longest time, just the media was hard to find.

and Yeah burning at slower speeds always increases the sucess rate. But even then, I've seen some of the oddest problems on some machines. Really it depends on what the user has done to the system, and if it's a windows machine, then all that really matters is the time of day(anytime with win98), and the alignment of the planets. :p this coming from someone booted into WinXP atm. :D

if im not mistaken, the 200gb blu-ray discs are 3 layers. i dont think that they will be affordable for another few years however. only now can you buy a dvdrw for less than a hundred dollars, and DVD has been mainstreem for more than 5 years. blu-ray readers dont even exist to teh public at the moment.

sorry, didn't mean the blue ray, been reading about those, should be kick ass, once the public gets a chance.

I need to upgrade my aging burner. Pioneer DVR-104 (a04). SO I figured a nice dual layer burner would be a good choice.