i7 930 or Phenom x6 for x264 encoding ?

[Umen Pich]

Hello cpu maniacs
I am about to buy a new PC in July and I wondered what would be the best CPU in the price range of approx. $280
Recently I use mainly avidemux for x264 encoding (fortunately it supports multi-core)

I also do some minor graphics editing to my photos (shadow highlight, noise reduction, etc) but that shouldn't be a problem with any modern CPU.

Both i7 930 and Phenom X6 are reported to overclock well. I'm not an overclock guru, so I would expect 10% OC normally, 15% at best. And the standard fan might be enough to do the job.

Any ideas and suggestions on that topic will be highly appreciated.

[Moontrash]

I've always been told to look at what you wanna do with the processor. If u wanna game, Intel produces better scores. If u wanna encode, AMD does much better in terms of speed and time. I do both but I'm a budget person so i went with an phenom x4. Does just fine.

[Umen Pich]

Yeah, video editing itself is quite an interesting and rewarding game
As to the other games - no, I am not planning to play cpu hungry games.

[Moontrash]

i'm not sure if bd rebuilder does it but dvd re builder uses multiple encoder processes and speeds up the dvd shrink process tremendously. if u do much x264 encoding and those apps that do, have multiple processes, the choice would be easy for me. Plus, when ou build this new pc, around july, you can bet the price of that AMD x6 will have come down by then, and intels will have stayed the same.

[poisondeathray]

intel is faster clock for clock, higher ipc (instructions per cycle), and better single threaded performance, but more expensive. x6 offers great value, but slower than i7 for x264 encoding. The x264 authors concur, and there is a several threads on doom9 about this.

have a look at various reviews, benchmarks. 2nd pass results are more important, because that's were the actual encoding is being done (and if you do a crf encode, that's the pertinent one to look at). If you scroll back there are some photoshop benchmarks too

e.g
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/6

[HotDamn!]

You can look here: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/benchmarks,60.html

Just navigate the page and depending on what you want to do with your CPU will determine which testings you should be looking at. In some, the Phenom II X4 beats out the X6. Be sure to look at the RAM used, I didn't look at them all but seen that a couple tests used different speeds of RAM to compare them too..

As for what was mentioned above, I always thought that Intel was more for encoding and that AMD was more for gaming? May be a mixed debate, who knows.

Good luck

[usually_quiet]

There is an encoding benchmark comparing the two here http://www.techspot.com/review/269-amd-phenom2-x6-1090T-and-1055T/page7.html

I'd say they are very close in performance, and you would be happy either way.

The 1090T is apparently a good overclocker. http://www.anandtech.com/show/3676/phenom-ii-x6-4ghz-and-beyond-in-64bit-oses

[wulf109]

If your not looking to overclock or very mild overclock I would go with AMD 6 core. If your looking to overclock 33-50% then go with Intel i7-930. Graphic work needs a lot of RAM,the more the better. BD Rebuilder uses multiple cores.

[Umen Pich]

Nice links, nice advice.
I still have time to think.
Thank you guys !

[Umen Pich]

ahaaaa !
see here: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=669&pgno=3

[DarrellS]

[QUOTE=Umen Pich;1990640]ahaaaa !
see here: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=669&pgno=3[/QUOTE]

Here is one without the overclocked CPUs (they don't list the I7 930 which would be somewhere between the 920 @ 44.48 and the 940 @ 46.29)

[usually_quiet]

@DarrellS There are some entries for the Phenom II x6 1055T in your chart that don't seem right. 4 cores?

[DarrellS]

@DarrellS There are some entries for the Phenom II x6 1055T in your chart that don't seem right. 4 cores?

Yeah, I messed up when making that in Photoshop.

The 3.4Ghz 4 core should've been an AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz.

Fixed it.

[deadmeow]

I just upgraded from my old Celeron 3 ghz. I was leaning toward i5-750 or lower end i7 until the AMD 6 cores came out, and I bought the x6 1090t. If flies through video encoding. Encoding h264 in handbrake is super fast. Converting 1080 HD format to another 1080 HD format, maxes out all the cores at 100%. The right applications will take advantage of all the cores.

For me too, my main use is video encoding and there is plenty of juice there now.

[pepegot1]

According to Maximum PC magazine, and their tests, the i7 Intel processor is better for video work-though AMD is better in other areas. So, for encoding, I would go for the Intel i7.

[DarrellS]

Talked to my friend from Intel yesterday and he said that the I7s were way superior to the AMDs. Said that you had to go by more than a video benchmark test. That the 6 cores are really two 3 core processors on one chip and not a true 6 core chip. That the I7's architecture makes them run way more efficient.

I don't know what to believe. It seems that Intel is going to have to lower their prices though if they want to compete with the AMD chips.

He said to wait until the end of the year if I was going to build a new PC. He couldn't tell me what they're working on but it's supposed to blow AMD out of the water.

[usually_quiet]

Intel is reportedly working on their own six-core CPU, but I don't know what else they may be getting ready to release. I would be surprised if their six-core CPU will be priced like AMD's.

When someone is ready to buy, all that person can do is put together a list of parts for both and see who comes out ahead within the allotted budget, taking over-clocking into account, if that is their intent.

[redwudz]

Intel has at least one six core on the market, but you won't like the price : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115223

[usually_quiet]

Intel has at least one six core on the market, but you won't like the price : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115223

I forgot about that one. I guess I should have said more 6-core CPUs...

[jagabo]

It seems that Intel is going to have to lower their prices though if they want to compete with the AMD chips.

Since Core 2 Duo Intel has owned the top of the performance market and sets whatever prices they want there. Where Intel and AMD chips meet (in a general performance sense) the prices are similar -- ie, AMD sets their prices just under Intel's.

Yes, there are short term variations -- like right now since AMD six core chips are just hitting the market. Intel has already announced new models that are price competitive in that performance range, i7 875 and i5 655.

[DarrellS]

The K models (i5 655 and i7 875) with unlocked multipliers are supposed to overclock up to 4.8Ghz on air.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-875k-core-i5-655k-unlocked-multiplier,2641.html

I forgot to mention earlier that if you plan to overclock your CPU then you need to take that into account when shopping for a CPU. According to these charts (which don't list the K models yet), the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, Intel Core I5-750 and the Intel Core I7-920 are the best overclockers.

The AMD Phenom II 1090T looked like the best bargain before but don't seem to overclock well according to this list. That might change when more data is collected but for now...

[RabidDog]

I would say its a very difficult choice.. six cores may be useful in one application, whilst another may only use one or two cores. Intel does have the advantage with the turbo boost that if some cores aren't working then the other ones will/can speed up. Funny, I always thought it was Intel for encoding and Amd for Gaming and Via for price.
I take all this stuff about possible/probable overclocks with a pinch of salt, nobody is gt'ing these speeds, and they can be very variable. I have noticed that many retailers are now selling pre-overclocked bundles which is a bad sign, it means they are probably whipping out the best chips for themselves.

And as to future developments ?? I'm saving my money as the Mayan long count calendar predicts the world will end in 2012, HA ! Your six core CPU wont save from the wrath of QuatzeCotl then!

I, for one, welcome our New Mayan Overlords.(along with their 12 and 60 based numbering system)

[DarrellS]

Looks like the Intel K model chips with unlocked multipliers are out now.

Intel Core i5-655K Clarkdale 3.2GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor
New Unlocked CPU - $219.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116369

Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor
New Unlocked CPU - $349.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116368