Doing more than one thing at once
Now examining multi-tasking performance, here's the StaxRip encoding benchmark we've displayed on page four.| StaxRip X264 + AAC encoding - pass one | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i5 750 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | AMD Phenom II X4 905e | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 | Intel Core i5 661 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 |
| 213 | 209 | 277 | 407 | 286.67 | 253.5 |
| Megatasking 1 - StaxRip encoding + QuickTime | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i5 750 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | AMD Phenom II X4 905e | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 | Intel Core i5 661 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 |
| 245 | 245 | 334 | 602.5 | 356 | 328 |
Now here's the same test but with a 1080p QuickTime clip being played at the same time. x264 takes longer to encode with the QuickTime load, of course, but the stinker here is the dual-core E8500. The Core i5 661's performance is the second slowest, yet it's in the same ballpark as the others.
| Megatasking 2 - StaxRip encoding + ET:QW | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i5 750 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | AMD Phenom II X4 905e | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 | Intel Core i5 661 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 |
| 298 | 369 | 490 | 882 | 399 | 356.5 |
The same encoding with ET:QW looping in the foreground. Core i5 661 keeps reasonably close to the two premium quad-core chips.
| Megatasking 3 - ET:QW + StaxRip encoding | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i5 750 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | AMD Phenom II X4 905e | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 | Intel Core i5 661 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 |
| 148.38 | 38.55 | 38.7 | 25.57 | 30.72 | 23 |
And now the average frame-rate with the encoding going on in the background. All IGP-based gaming is slow and jerky. The best of the bunch, from what we observed, was the Phenom II X4 965 BE.
Having a discrete card helps massively, naturally, and the benchmark playback of the GeForce GT 220 is smooth and fast.
