how much better is a MP machine

[jackdripper]

hello everyone

I'm thinking of getting a multi-processor machine. How much is this better for ripping/encoding?
Is it worth it ?
Will most of the current apps take advantage of a MP machine ? Are they mostly multi-threaded apps ? Fro example DVDShrink or the dvd2svcd bundle ?


TIA

[BJ_M]

ripping - no diff ..

encoding - big diff with CCE , tmpgenc, MC , procoder

dvdshrink - no

dvd2svcd - no except for the encoder of course

apps -- hit or miss if smp enabled

[mrtristan]

I didn't notice a big difference with tmpgenc, when encoding a single clip. It does run almost as fast, when encoding two clips at a time, though. Frameserving from virtualdub and encoding with tmpgenc also runs a little faster.

It's not so much a speed thing, as it is a multitasking thing. I haven't been able to bog my machine down yet, even while encoding multiple clips of video. I hear that people with their hyperthreading intels can do the same, though.

[rallynavvie]

I certainly think it was well worth my money, so much so that I'm building another one with the latest gear. Although I really only utilize both processors maybe 50% of the time I use my computer I've really noticed it between the single CPU system I'm forced to use at work. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I had SMP in my work computer, or even HT. The ability to do several things at once with little system slowdown is huge for me. Also the speed increase over most any single CPU on the market in SMP aware apps is very nice as well. I can encode a video clip in TMPGEnc in the same time it takes a 3+ GHz P4 and I'm running 2-year old technology. There are also some features on dual CPU boards that aren't as prevalent in the single CPU boards.

If you're looking to get started in SMP and want to go the AMD route (either Opteron or Athlon MP) look at the Tyan boards. If you want to play with the big bus speeds and new OC ability of the Pentiums look into the Asus PC-DL or the upcoming Iwill DH800. Be prepared to spend quite a bit more money. Not only do you have to buy two processors but those processors cost more than their single-system equivalents. Boards are more expensive as well but generally have more features with them offsetting the cost somewhat.

There are also some odd uses for SMP systems for gamers such as running a standalone server app and joining that server from the same machine. At least I know I've been able to do it with BF1942. Otherwise it's kinda nice to be using one processor to work on a video encode while I play games on the other one; get more use out of my machine that way