So, a few encoding benchmarks: Phenom II X3 710 (2.6GHz) versus overclocked FX-8120 (4.0GHz)

I finally got my new computer in a state where I could do some encoding, so it was the perfect time for some quick (and non-authoritative) benchmarks comparing my old encoding computer to my new encoding computer.

(Incidentally, this MacBook is not a valid encoding computer.)

For those of you who don't know how I do encodes, my basic procedure is to do a master lossless raw with most of the preprocessing and filtering done, and from there use that to encode the hardsubbed final encode.   I am benchmarking the final encode step.  All my encodes are two-pass encodes to a target bitrate.

Basically, I loaded two-pass encodes for the following episodes into MeGUI, which I use for the frontend:

1. Pollyanna episode 10: This one had an uncompressed YV12 master raw.  The resolution is 640x480, at 29.97fps.
2. Pollyanna episode 51: This one had a YV12 master raw that was compressed with Lagarith.  The resolution is 640x480, at 29.97fps.
3. Les Miserables episode 52: This one had an uncompressed YV12 master raw.  The resolution is 1280x720, at 23.976fps.

They were all encoded with the 32-bit version of 10-bit x264, release 2074r2 from JEEB's site.

First, let me show you the results from my old encoding computer.

If you were wondering, I was not able to unlock the 4th core on the processor. The 4th core simply would not work at all.

Now for my new encoding computer. CPU-Z gives an erroneous reading on the processor. The processor is a AMD FX-8120, overclocked to 4.0GHz.

Basically, we can draw a few conclusions:

1. x264 is capable of utilizing all 8 of the FX-8120's cores on the second pass of the encodes.
2. The IPC of the FX processor is lower than the Phenom II processor. However, the number of cores and the overclock I applied to that easily erases the difference.
3. With this setup, I'm able to encode 720p at twice the speed of real-time.
4. Notice how the first pass for Les Miserables 52 is not all that much faster on the FX versus on the Phenom II. One of the things I noted was that during the Pollyanna first passes, each of the 8 cores was evenly loaded about 20%. With Les Miserables' first pass, only three of the 8 cores was loaded. I do not know right off the bat why this is the case.

So, this is the performance of my encoding computer. I hope it will last me a really long time and allow me to encode more releases in a shorter amount of time.

We will be back from hiatus next Sunday; I will begin the translation of the first of the three selections for our next WMT project then.

(Edit: Yes, I know about the performance of Intel's processors based on Sandy Bridge.  However, I choose this option because the nature of the encoding done here requires more cores over IPC.)