Processor power

[Fixet]

Hello!

I've been doing some encoding with Xvid4PSP, using AMD Athlon 64 x2 4800+ processor and 2GB DDR400 memory. With this system, it takes about 12-13 hours to convert 720p MKV movie (lenght a bit over 2 hours) to MP4 PS3 compatible file (using constant quality 20, high profile, level 4.1 settings). I'm also hardcoding subs to the file at the same time. Could somebody make an estimation, how long it would take Core i7 (3 GHz) with 6 Gb DDR3 memory to encode this same file with same settings to the same MP4 file? What I've understood, if not mistaken here, it would take only about 1/4 or even 1/5 of that 12-13 hours. Am I totally wrong?

[jagabo]

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-q3-2008/Mainconcept-Reference-1.5.1,832.html

MainConcept h.264 encoder:
A64 X2 4800+: 402 seconds
Core i7 940: 93 seconds

[Baldrick]

I'm now encoding a blu-ray 1080p 2 hour movie to 720p using similar settings and it takes about 2.5 hours on my Core i7. Using Xvid4psp(x264).

x264 [info]: using SAR=1/1
x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 FastShuffle SSE4.2
x264 [info]: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0x113 me=umh subme=7 psy=1 psy_rd=1.0:0.0 mixed_ref=1 me_range=12 chroma_me=1 trellis=2 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=12 nr=0 decimate=1 mbaff=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=0 b_adapt=2 b_bias=0 direct=3 wpredb=1 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 rc_lookahead=60 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=21.0000 qcomp=0.50 qpmin=10 qpmax=51 qpstep=4 vbv_maxrate=24000 vbv_bufsize=24000 ip_ratio=1.10 aq=1:1.00
x264 [info]: profile High, level 4.1

[Fixet]

Nice readings indeed. It surely wouldn't hurt to upgrade this system to something more faster. That 402 seconds result in the second post might be even faster than what I would get with this one, since that system uses DDR2 memory, and mine uses DDR

[jagabo]

Memory speed and amount doesn't have much of an effect on h.264 encoding speed -- especially on slower systems.

[Fixet]

I see...well thanks for clearing that up, and thanks for the answers!

[jagabo]

I should clarify that a bit -- as long as you have enough memory to keep from VM swapping the amount doesn't matter. 2 GB is fine for XP. It's probably OK for Vista if you don't do anything else while encoding. Of course, having more doesn't hurt.