Conversion Times

[OldStyleBob]

Hello, Im new to the Apple scene and am doing my research on buying a Mac Pro. One of the things I will be doing on it will be converting avi's to Apple TV format(large collection) and I guess thats what will decide for me if I should get a 4 or 8 core. Are the conversion times significantly lower when converting, and I guess for that matter ripping DVD content? if the 4 extra cores add alot then it looks like thats the way I wanna go but I am unsure. Thanks in advance and I hope to be joining in on alot of discussion in the future!

Bob

 

[djjclark]

Depends if your converting software is multithreaded and supports multiple processors. Some processes are very efficient so multiple cores will provide a linear increase while others not so much.

 

[Chaos123x]

Use Compresser just set a quick cluster in Qmaster that way you can use all 8 cores instead of just the one. It literally makes it 8 times faster!

 

[Mackilroy]

Eight cores will be faster than four cores (by far) but I don't know if HandBrake utilizes more than four – but still, you can run two instances of HB and have them both use four cores apiece. No idea how many MacTheRipper uses, but MTR only creates a direct copy of the DVD, not a file playable by the ATV.

 

[OldStyleBob]

thanks for the responses, can anyone give me any examples of amount of time it takes per conversion of like a normal 700mb avi file? like how long does it take with a 4-core machine and 8-core machine? am I making sense? not enough coffee today

 

[LurchNC]

thanks for the responses, can anyone give me any examples of amount of time it takes per conversion of like a normal 700mb avi file? like how long does it take with a 4-core machine and 8-core machine? am I making sense? not enough coffee today

Using Handbrake svn1797 (a beta) I'm getting 190-200fps on an 800 mb avi. Its 512x384 and 1:37 min long. I used 1200 kbps m4v file. Looks like it will take approx. 14-15 min.

I'm getting all 8 cores pegged (93% in istat pro)

When ripping dvds for the iPhone (480 x whatever and 700 kbps) I typically get 210-230 fps.

These are h.264 btw. Also keep in mind if you need to de-interlace it will take up to twice as long depending on the methods used.

 

[wheezy]

I've only been ripping straight from DVD's or DVD image files on handbrake, but it's incredibly fast and does use all 8 cores. Recently I had two instances running on two different hard drives, one ripping from a file the other from the drive and it slowed down a little bit.

Timewise - my Macbook 2Ghz C2D would rip a DVD at real time, 2hrs for a 2hour movie. Takes about 20 minutes on my 8 core. Image files (from MacThe Ripper etc) are about 25% faster than that.

Find a refurb 8 core, it's about $100 more than a 4Core new. I bought a refurb and it's fantastic.