optimizing system processing speed?

[BabaG]

i'm looking to process timelapse sequences of raw images. the tests i've
done so far work well but are very slow. my main experience is in audio
and video editing so i'm a bit uncertain as to how to optimize a system
for still image processing. which of these areas would have the greatest
impact on efficiency in an imagemagick workflow?

processor speed
bus speed
hard drive speed
memory speed
amount of memory

my guess is that it's the processor speed but the loading of the image
seems to be a point where things bog down. that's why i include bus
speed and hard drive speed.

tests are being done on an inexpensive compaq sempron 3400+ system
with 1gb memory. would love to get something 4-8 times faster but not
sure how to go about it while getting the most bang for the buck.
suggestions please?

thanks,
BabaG

[anthony]

Not much you can do about an IO problem except by throwing money at it.
however you can avoid reading images multiple times.

Eitehr read the image once, and clone or use "MPR:" to make copies in memory.
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/basics/#clone
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/files/#mpr

If you must read an image numpile times convert the image into a "MPC:" format
so that IM can read parts of the image as needed directly from disk, without needing to decode the format.
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/files/#mpc

Finally for writing multiple images see...
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/files/#write

Also look at 'feedback' or 'api & scripts' section for other speedup hints...
basically read IM examples

[BabaG]

thanks for the tips anthony. i expect that money will be
thrown. i'd just like to know in which of the following
directions to throw it:

processor speed
bus speed
hard drive speed
memory speed
amount of memory

which will give the most improvements?

thanks
BabaG

[anthony]

processor and memory. Especially memory, as if that runs out with a large image, then you have problems.