Handbrake fps lower recently?

[lunaoso]

I've been using handbrake for about a year or two now. I'm no expert, but I know my way around enough. I'm using a Mac mini 2,1 which is a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and a MacBook 5,1 which is a 2.00 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. The MacBook has been mine for about a year and a half, and the Mac mini about 2-3 months. Both are saving to the desktop on the main boot drive. The Mac mini still has the original HDD, while the MacBook has been upgraded to a 1TB western digital HDD.

In the past, the MacBook would average around 20 fps, which is what the Mac mini is averaging now. The MacBook recently however, has dropped to about 15 fps, adding another 45 minutes to an hour of encode time.

Basically what I'm getting at here is there any reason why the fps would drop, and anyway to fix it.

PS: Both are using the standard Apple TV 3 Preset.

 

[Gav2k]

When was the last time you cleaned the dust out of your machine? Higher CPU temps would cause throttling and make the machine encode a lot slower.

 

[lunaoso]

When was the last time you cleaned the dust out of your machine? Higher CPU temps would cause throttling and make the machine encode a lot slower.

Not very recently. I know how to get it open, but what should I use to get the dust out? I know canned air isn't advised because of the liquid it produces, so what can I use?

 

[lunaoso]

I took some of the dust out and it seems to be working fine again- ~22fps. I'm not sure if it was the dust or not, because there wasn't much in there, but either way I guess I'm good to go.

 

[Gav2k]

I took some of the dust out and it seems to be working fine again- ~22fps. I'm not sure if it was the dust or not, because there wasn't much in there, but either way I guess I'm good to go.

Compressed air is fine providing you don't put the can upside down or shake it whilst In use.

Remember especially with the MacBook range there very tight when it comes to temperatures so what you think is a little is a lot.