Which hardware does video encoding rely on the most?

[BrittQ]

I am going to make the switch to a mac soon (probably when the macbook pros are updated). I am also getting into video editing/encoding/making. What hardware specs play the biggest role in video encoding speed?

 

[admiraldennis]

For encoding speed? CPU.

 

[velocityg4]

RAM also plays a major roll, especially with larger videos and HD video.

 

[Canerican]

Most C2D processors will speed it up alot, especially with hyper threading.