Dual processor results using TMPEenc!!!!

[jonnywalker2]

I would just like to share the results using TMPEenc that I got from going from one P3 866 MHz to a dual 866 MHz machine. I did each one of these tests 6 different times and averaged out the times. I encoded one minute of video into VCD and SVCD, each using a different motion search precision of normal, high, and high quality. Here are the results:

1 CPU

VCD – Normal 18.93 frames per second
VCD – High 13.13 frames per second
VCD – Higher 6.56 frames per second
SVCD – Normal 8.81 frames per second
SVCD – High 6.79 frames per second
SVCD – Higher 4.09 frames per second

2 CPU’s

VCD – Normal 32.69 frames per second (73% increase)
VCD – High 25.33 frames per second (93% increase)
VCD – Higher 13.03 frames per second (98% increase)
SVCD – Normal 17.13 frames per second (93% increase)
SVCD – High 13.42 frames per second (98% increase)
SVCD – Higher 8.10 frames per second (98% increase)

Other than encoding a VCD in normal, the increase was over 93%. This makes me very happy that I went out and spent little extra cash to get the second CPU. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I can run more tests with other programs if you want.

Jonny Walker
Jonny_walker2@hotmail.com

2 – 866 MHz PIII
256 MB PC800 RDRAM
Intel OR840 Motherboard
40 GB WD400BB Hard Drive
41 GB Maxtor Hard Drive
32 MB GeForce
Plextor 16/10/40 CDRW
ATI TV Wonder VE

[pinoy2201]

thanks for the info ....now im really going to buy a second CPU...i was having doubts becuase the maker said it only efects some options ... now thats all cleared im going to buy one next week

[SatStorm]

OK with intels...
Who knows what happens with AMDs?
Should I buy a dual AMD proccessor motherboard? Ain't cheap...

[tinycorkscrew]

I have a dual AMD setup with 1.2 ghz MP processors. I encode to VCD at better than realtime. A 90 minute widescreen movie usually encodes in a little over 70 minutes in TMPGEnc 12j with quality settings on high.

[SatStorm]

Wow!!!!!
Seems like I just found the present for myself this x-mass !!! (or wait 2 more months for Lowe prices ? Hmm... No!)

[jonnywalker2]

I would recommend any dual processor setup, either AMD or Intel. I picked up my MB off of Ebay for only $85, it usually runs for over $350 on Pricewatch.com. It is an OEM board, so no support, but I haven't had a problem yet.

Jonny Walker

[vcd4u]

Is it possible to run two P4 processor? If so, how?
Please post your reply?

[jonnywalker2]

The P4 Xeon's are the only P4 CPU's that can be used as a dual processor system. You also need the motherboard for it, like the Tyan Thunder I860 or the SuperMicro P4DC6+, both of which cost over $500. The P4 Xeon's run about $225 for a 1.5 GHz and up to $700 for the 2.0 GHz Xeon. Obviously this is way over most peoples budgets so they either go with a dual P3 or dual AMD. So, if you have a P4 system, you are stuck with a single processor machine, sorry.

[heathcot]

All sounds too good to be true! I actually have a humble 466 Celeron dual mobo which I have just purchased a second CPU for. Will stick it in and hope for similar performance increases. This machine is my 'other' box, but would be good to get some crunching power out of it!

What OS are you running in these tests?

Thanks.

[jonnywalker2]

I am running Windows XP. And I know it sounds too good to be true, but that is why I posted the results, because I was amazed. I can rip a DVD faster than realtime now using normal VCD settings. I can run some tests on other programs, but I just used TMPEenc because I knew it supported dual processors. I also use Virtualdub, but that doesn't support dual, although I can now play Max Payne and capture video at the same time, since neither support dual processor and just use one of them at a time. That is another bonus by having a dual setup, doing many things at once or in the background without a performance loss.

Jonny

[jwhitlow]

I am going to add my results to the mix.
My source file is a 113MB MPEG-1 at 640x480, 7500kbps. I am encoding to non-standard VCD at 1850VBR at highest motion search. I tested it on both of my computers.
I have a single CPU P3 machine running at 1000/133 and my other machine is a dual P3 600/100. I encoded the file on both machines twice. Once with multithreading turned off and once with it turned on (I wanted to see if multithreading made a difference on the single CPU machine).

1000 single thread..> 21:56
1000 multithreading.> 22:06
600 single thread...> 32:19
600 multithreading..> 18:55

[jonnywalker2]

Thanks for more benchmarks. That just proves just how good a multiprocessor system can be for encoding. Does anybody else have some benchmark times for other systems, maybe some AMD dual processor machines or a single P4 system. I would like to compare all of these. Thanks.

Jonny

[heathcot]

Some more test results for multi-processing platforms. This test was run on my (outdated) Celeron 466MHZ. Pretty slow machine, but still getting significant increase when the additional CPU was added (but still lucky I have a 1.2Ghz Athlon to do my real work

Results of converting a 100MB DV format input stream into PAL VCD format. There were 692 frames in the conversion, and I had no additional filters etc. turned on:

1 CPU 2 CPU
TIME F/S TIME F/S %Delta

Low Quality 2:54 3.977 1:58 5.864 47%
Normal Quality 3:41 3.131 2:02 5.672 81%
Medium Quality 5:28 2.109 2:53 4.000 89%
Best Quality 9:26 1.222 5:07 2.254 84%

[WildStyle]

If you really want to get good numbers people should be encoding the same clip.

P4 1.7, Cheetah X15 LP

Here's some number's from encoding a 1min 14sec divx clip.
The clip is 512 x 384, 29.97fps. Tmpgenc templates were
used at the high quality setting. Tmpgenc v2.01 was used.

SVCD :
Frame's = 2240
Average bitrate of video = 2261.75 kbps
Time = 3min 13sec

VCD :
Frame's = 2240
Average bitrate of video = 1151.01 kbps
Time = 1min 38sec

[amRayu]

i have a single p3 800mhz. thinking of getting a dual motherboard, since you guys have posted this info up. but i dont know nothing about dual boards, or what i should get. can win 98 SE run on dual boards??
thanks for any info.

[d4n13l]

Win 9x/ME will not recognise any more than one CPU, Win 9x will run, but it only use one CPU. You need to have an OS that is SMP compatible. M$ SMP OS's are WinNT, Win2000 and XP (excluding XP Home). Linux, BeOS, OS/2 and many other OS's also support multiple CPUs.

[jonnywalker2]

First of all, only Windows NT, 2000, and XP Professional support dual processors. So, keep that in mind if you upgrade to XP, get the Pro version. There are many dual capible boards out there to choose from, some more expensive than others. I have the OR840 board from Intel which can be found on Ebay for around $100. That is fairly cheap for a dual board, although it uses dual channel RDRAM, so you need to buy two identical sticks of RAM for it. Since you already have a p3, I would suggest getting this board because it is one of the best performing dual processor board for a Pentium 3. You need a 300 watt power supply and the rest is the same as any other system. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Jonny

[amRayu]

thanks for all the advice. i knew that i wouldnt be able to run win 98 on a dual board
just asking to make sure. i guess ill have to wait awhile until theres available drivers for my cards for win xp.

[jwhitlow]

Check your Windows 98 drivers. If they show to be WDM drivers, then they should work in XP. I know that a single WDM drive will work for both 98 & 2000. When I was in the Windows 2000 CPP program using Windows 2000 Beta 3, I sought out the Windows 98 WDM drivers for stuff without 2000 specific drivers. I never loaded a 98 WMD driver in 2000 that did not work. I am assuming that XP also supports WDM drivers. Can someone confirm or deny this?
Also, if drivers are an issue, you might consider Windows 2000 instead of XP. It has been around longer and has drivers for most modern hardware.

[Greg12]

Wouldn't you get heat probelms from two 2.0GHZ processors.

[jonnywalker2]

I have never been around a dual P4 system, but yes I would think the heat might be an issue. With my dual P3 system, I did notice a bit of an increase in heat with both CPU's running, but nothing to worry about. So, maybe the dual P4 system is the same way.

Also, I have been looking and Tyan makes a fairly cheap (around $200) dual Athlon board and as far as I know the Athlon XP will work in dual processor systems. This will soon change, but all the XP CPU's so far are the same as the MP's. This is the cheapest and highest performing dual processor system out there, so anybody thinking of building a new system should maybe look at this option.

Jonny

[jwhitlow]

It would seem to me that the dual Athlon would probably have the worst problems with heat.
I think it very important in a high performance, dual CPU machine that you get a good case and keep it as closed as possible (no missing expansion card covers, no missing drive bay covers etc.) so that the air flow through the case is as it is supposed to be. A good case (Antec, etc) will have not only a processor fan but an additional fan on the back of the case and holes in the front of the case to let air in. If the case is closed up and there is a strong airflow from front to back, the air over the processors (and other heatsinks) will be constantly exchanged.

[jonnywalker2]

As you pointed out, a good case takes care of much of this problem. I have the Antec SX-830 case with 2 case fans in the front and two in the back. The noice created by all of these fans is still less than the CPU fan, so I don't mind it at all. I actually still have room for one more fan in the front, this case offers 3 front fans and 2 rear fans. But, with a good case and good CPU fans, I don't think you need to worry about heat as a problem. I have one expensive fan and one cheap fan on my system right now. The expensive fan keeps the CPU at around 40 degrees C when under full stress and the cheap one keeps it around 53 degrees C. So, even with a cheap fan, heat isn't really an issue with a P3 system. Since I don't have experience with AMD's, I can testify to their heat situation. Can anybody with a dual AMD setup give us any answers?

Jonny

[THE RIPPER]

If your interested in more faqs about dual cpu setups go to
2cpu.com .I just ordered a dual 1800 athlon system, can't wait.

[jwhitlow]

Ripper: Consider me jealous!
I have been considering replacing my aging system with a dual AMD system. What motherboard did you order? I think their are 3 on the market now.
I have a friend that bought a Tyan Tiger and a single Athlon MP 1800. He is planning on buying another CPU in the future, but he has hit his spending limit for the moment.
BTW, don't cripple your system by adding an "IDE anchor". Get yourself a nice Cheetah X15LP hard drive. In my old system, I have a Quantum Atlas 10K. It does not compare to modern drives, but it still whips any IDE drive on the market (5.0ms access time).

[d4n13l]

Talking of cases, I think that the Coolermaster cases would keep even a 10GHz dual Athlon system cool - They are like igloos.
www.coolermaster.com/home.html
They also look better than any other case that I have ever seen.

[tinycorkscrew]

jonnywalker2 asked about AMD temps in a dual-processor setting. I have two 1.2 ghz AMD MPs, and I use very inexpensive Volcano II heatsinks. My processors run at about 43C at boot, 45-47C during normal use, and top out at 50C when under full stress for an extended period of time. They've never once gone above 50C.

My case, I'm sure, does play a role in keeping the processors cool. It's a humongous Addtronics W8500 server case with four fans in front (one positioned directly in front of the hard drive rack), four in back, and a fan on the side for the 5 1/4 bays (CDRW drives, etc).

The case is not quiet, but I use Panaflo fans, so it's not distractingly loud, either. I actually need a little surface noise to concentrate, so I like to hum of the fans.

When I put my hand behind the case, the air coming from the bottom of the case (which blows over the processors) is noticeably cooler than the air that blows out of the power supply fan.

I love the case, but it was pricey.

[THE RIPPER]

Hey guys actually i ordered the tiger mp board with one 1800
athlon mp. Got it off pricewatch for 499, also 512 of ram and gforce 2 pro vcard.plan on ordering the other chip within the next week.

[d4n13l]

I made a post in off topic a few weeks ago, it had a link on where to buy super quite PC fans. The site also sell really nice heatsink and fan combos.
www.dvdrhelp.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=60617&forum=6

[sommersby]

Another option, and far cheaper, I just picked up an AMD 1600xp system with cpu/mb, case/350w ps, 256mb ddr, 16x sony dvd, and maxtor 40gb 7200 hd for $418 at a computer show, I get 28.2 fps with tpmpeg encoding to vcd. Not bad for the buck! And the best part was, I took all the drives out of my hardware out of the 1g system, which has worked flawlessly for over a year, and put the new hard drive and dvd in the old system. now I have my new system, a gaming system for my son which will also serve as a great back up system!