Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no lag?(P

[dxdiag]

Hello, I made a forum account just for this question, it's been driving me insane and I hope you hear can help (I'm sure
someone can). Please also tell me if this is in the wrong category of the forum.
I have two computers. A notebook and a not as good Desktop.

These are my notebook specs:
-NVIDA GeForce 9600M GT GPU
-Intel Core2 Duo CPU T5800 @ 2.00GHz
-4.0 GB Ram
-Windows Vista home Premium
-I'm on a Notebook
-One hard rive with 5400RPM split into two virtual partitions (C: and D: ). C: has 87GB used and the capacity is 144GB. D:
has 39GB used and the capacity is also 144GB.
-If you need more info I can pull up DxDiag and give you my complete specs, I didn't want to flood the post with that
though.

My Desktop Specs
-Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz CPU
-1.00GB RAM
-ATI RADEON X600 256MB GPU
-One hardrive with one partition total space 145GB used space 141GB free space 4GB. Don't know how much RPM this one has.
-Windows XP home SP2.
-Same FRAPS settings exept record location.


I want to record a number of games (Hl2, CSS, Splinter Cell Conviction, GTA4, you get the picture) at a resolution of at
least 1280 x 720 (YouTube viewers demand a lot). The software I am using is called FRAPS (you probably know it).
Here are my FRAPS settings in the movies tab:
-Fraps version 3.0.3(I bought it, no Warez)
-FPS: 30, 60, 40, 29.7 (I often switch them)
-Capturing location: C:/Fraps or D:/Documents/Videos(again I switch often)
-Hotkey F10(is not overlapping with in game key binding)
-Sound capture:Record external input: Stereo Mix(I want to record in game sound and my voice) that is working fine by the

way.
-Full size
-Three options at the bottom all unchecked

I don't care about file size of the videos. I have also worked out a strategy to render the videos so that is not my
problem.
My problem is that I cannot record any game smoothly (even hl1, the first splinter cell and CS 1.6) at lowest in game
resolution and graphics settings. I know by now that my specs aren't good enough to run FRAPS smoothly, I was wondering
if anyone here would know what kind of specs I need. I think it's only the processor but it might be the graphics card,
that kind of sucks since I can hardly upgrade because I'm on a notebook.

I was thinking of getting an Intel core i7 processor, I'm sure that is enough to record the demanded videos, I say this
because I know people who have a i7 processor and they have no problem at all recording with FRAPS at the requested
resolution.

So my final questions are.
1. What specs do you need to record at the desired resolution (1280 x 720) and have NO lag at all (and saves and load
screens it's ok).
2. I don't want to just get this to work at the worst quality and then have a s**t video. I'm ok to spend money on this I
just don't want to overkill this.
3. How much would a new desktop computer cost that has the minimum specs of point 1. And what is this desktop computer
(link please).
4. How much would it cost to upgrade my desktop to the specs I need and what do I need to do it.
5. If it's possible to upgrade my Notebook what will it cost and what do I need.

Thank you for reading, I'm sure someone has the knowledge, time and kindness to help me.

 

[philbar71]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

Well, recording games with FRAPS will always cut your in-game FPS in half, but the video it records will always be about 30FPS. So, don't worry while recording when your FPS gets cut in half, the final video will be smooth.

 

[dxdiag]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

Well, recording games with FRAPS will always cut your in-game FPS in half, but the video it records will always be about 30FPS. So, don't worry while recording when your FPS gets cut in half, the final video will be smooth.

Thank you for replying so soon. But I'm sure your information is only half right. And you probably didn't completely read my problem.
When I record at 40 FPS and have a small lag in game in the video it is smooth. But not if my FPS drops to 15 FPS then it stays that much in the video.
And it can't be that everyone experiences a lag while recording. If one has an i7 processor I'm sure the lag is almost not there. Go check out this user on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/user/pcgamer999
He told me he has an i7 processor and he surely has no lag.
I have done a lot of testing and believe me the videos are not always smooth when you look at them later.
By the way, what evidence are you basing your statement?

 

[Oreo]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

FRAPS is really bad for recording games with in my opinion, while the quality is best, it's performance impact is too high. After some searching i found the best recorder to be ZDSoft Screen Recorder 4.0

If you record at a resolution of 800x600 or less the impact on the game (atleast for me) is next to nothing and the end video is good quality, 720p like you wan't to record at isn't as good - but tolerable. The quality of recording is easily good enough for youtube videos.

It is not just the processor by the way, the ram and the speed of your HDD also has an impact.

My specs are:

Q9550 @ 3.6ghz, i beleive it's similar in speed to a stock i7 920 @ 2.6
3GB 667Mhz RAM (one of my 1gb sticks broke, hence 3 instead of 4gb )
ATI 4870
WD 7200RPM 500GB HDD, just the usuall no thrils HDD


I beleive if you really want to record your screen well, you are better off getting some kind of capture card and a very quick HDD used purely for putting video's on. I'm not quite sure on how best to do this, a forum like this may be able to help better: http://www.videoforums.co.uk/ Or if you can get hold of someone like EricB on here he may have more of an idea.

 

[dxdiag]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

I don't want to record at 800 x 600 I want to record at 1280 x 720
I have read so many software comparisons and 80% say that FRAPS is the best.
1. People at technology stores have said that buying a new HD will not solve my problem.
2. I have 4GB RAM I'm sure that is enough.
3. Q9550 @ 3.6ghz I doubt that is as good as an i7.

Thank you for your time but I need a solution for FRAPS.

 

[KSoD]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

So my final questions are.
1. What specs do you need to record at the desired resolution (1280 x 720) and have NO lag at all (and saves and load
screens it's ok).
2. I don't want to just get this to work at the worst quality and then have a junk video. I'm ok to spend money on this I just don't want to overkill this.
3. How much would a new desktop computer cost that has the minimum specs of point 1. And what is this desktop computer
(link please).
4. How much would it cost to upgrade my desktop to the specs I need and what do I need to do it.
5. If it's possible to upgrade my Notebook what will it cost and what do I need.

Thank you for reading, I'm sure someone has the knowledge, time and kindness to help me.

1. You will need a decent GPU. A i7 will do you good but you also need a good GPU that can handle both FRAPS and the game and still kick out a decent FPS at the resolution you want. So you may want to consider a lower CPU and a higher GPU. If you have the extra cash go with a i7 and a GTS260 or something like that.

2. You dont have to overkill, but a Mobile GPU isnt going to cut it for what you want.

3. That would be better asked in the Build section.

Building, Buying, Upgrading for General PCs - Computer Forums

or

Building, Buying, or Upgrading High Performance PC Systems - Computer Forums

someone can build you a PC with good specs for a price range you specify.

4. You would need a new mobo, CPU, GPU, PSU and RAM.

5. Netbooks are not upgradable. There is nothing you can do.

 

[zedman3d]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

Fraps kills my FPS and i have an I7 and (had) GTX260 SLI.

 

[macdawg]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

dxdiag check out this 2 year old vid running crysis on very high 1280x1024, with 2 gb ram, athlon 64 x2, 8800gts, and raptors in raid 0.

YouTube - Crysis - KPA Hunting (Very High Graphics, Delta Difficulty)

ask in the hardware section of the forum, but I'm pretty sure about any quad core, with 4gb ram, a raptor, and about a $200 video card would easily do what you are asking. I'd disable your AV while do run fraps since that slows HD read/writes

 

[dxdiag]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

Wow productive replies from everyone.
Mak first I will reply to you.
Are you saying that I should move this thread (or have it moved) to a different part of the forum and ask for help to upgrade my desktop or get a new one?
By the way I have a laptop not a netbook.
Thank you this is helpfull.

macdawg
I don't doubt that the settings are on max. But the video quality itself isn't so good, it's also lagging visibly.
Thank you for linking this video I will look at it completely.

 

[Chad711]

Re: Recording high resolution footage with fraps. What specs are needed to have no la

The only thing you can do w/ your current setup to make things better is to drop that Full size recording down to half. I know it's not the res you want but that will greatly improve FPS. I would also shut down any programs running you do not need at that time.