Asus A8js beat by year-old Dell in Video Rendering - Why?

Overall I love the size and power of the Asus AJ8s that I purchased a couple of months ago but recently I've come across an issue with a low/no memory error and inability to process large video files and sketch-up models.

Case in point - I was rendering a movie in Adobe Premiere ultimately 4.6G in size for school and after 45 minutes of working time the computer quit rendering and issued a not enough memory error box and wouldn't finish. I'm far from being computer spec literate so I have no idea what the problem is. I have over 40+G of hard disk space available on the machine and there was no additional memory I could free up - very confusing. I would think with 2G RAM and Killer graphics card (512 dedicated memory) I thought I would be fine doing this kind of work. Now I'm not sure about the capabilities of the computer. A classmates year old Dell with 2G RAM as well but a lesser video card on the otherhand was able to fully render the project. What am I missing, I don't get it?

Anyone have any thoughts or advice they can share?

 

You don't mention what Dell model your classmate has. At least you should let us know if its a 17inch (i.e. a desktop replacement).

Too many variables without any specs. For example the Dell may have a "high end" graphics such as the 7800GTX but with 256mb. The a8js has the top side of "mid end" GFX. A laptop with 256mb 7800GTX would easily outperform 512mb 7700.

 

if the a8jm is like the a8js, it could have something to do with having the hd formatted as fat32 instead of ntfs. fat32 has difficulty moving files of a certain size (something like 2 gigs....i forget)

 

Yes fat32 can only handle files below 4GB (a single file cannot be larger than 4GB). If its above this you will encounter problems. If you're dealing with large video files you need to covert FAT32 file system to NTFS.

 

FAT32 has a 4GB limit...

 

I know the Dell is a 17" Inspiron model at least a year old. Probably has a high end graphics card I can find out tomorrow. Interesting on the difference by the cards - in my naivity I thought getting a 512 dedicated memory card would offer better performance than a 256mb card. Would that explain the no memory failure and the program not completing the rendering job though or is there something else in play here? I'm concerned because I have 6 more months of having to make mini movies for class and if this machine won't render them... I'll need to look at a back-up option to finish out the year.

 

Thanks, I'll google it and check to see if that's what's happening.

 

first, i would convert to ntfs. i don't think this is an issue with the gpu. and just having more vram does not mean better performance (e.g. 256 mb 7900gs will far and beyond outperform the 7700go). in fact, almost all games and programs can't even utilize the full 256 mb, so most likely won't be able to utilize the full 512 mb.

 

This sticky will help your understanding of graphics.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

As for not completing the job its most likely the file system of FAT32 as mentioned. Do you know how big the files you're dealing with?

You need to covert it to NTFS.

 

do you have swap space set up?

It's "virtual memory" in the windows world, right?

 

Thanks, the primer on video cards helped. I googled how to convert to NTFS and I think I'll hold off on trying to do this myself and contact a friend who is much more computer savy to help - seems you can really mess this up if done wrong and there is no easy recovery.

FYI, the last file was 4.6G when it was finally done on the DELL. We tried to transfer it later to my computer and received the same no memory error message and it wouldn't copy the file. So maybe it is the FAT32 afterall and not the video card. Though rendering a file through a program and copying an already rendered file seem like two completely different operations - yet I guess in this case (size exceeding 4G) they are the same.

 

it is fat 32

your computer comes with the conversion program on the desktop

it sats convert to nfts shortcut

this is your problem.

 

To convert to NTFS:
- go to START > Run
- type: cmd
- press enter
- (in command prompt) type: convert c: /fs:ntfs
- restart your computer, then it should take a couple of minutes to convert.
Thats it.

Enjoy.

Another reason for the less than expected performance in conversion is that you might not have optimized your Windows XP to utilize the dual-core CPU... for that you will need to do the Multi-Core hotfix for XP.
Read here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

 

If a blonde can convert from Fat 32 to NTFS, you surely should be able to do it!

 

Please backup all your critical data before you convert. Just a reminder!