Intel e2xx0 and video editing

[prodystopian]

I have been starting to turn my old Dell into an HTPC recently, and while it records well enough (occasionally recordings are in slow motion), I can't really do any video editing. My current processor is a 3 GHz P4 and any editing I do takes too long and the file comes out with errors.

I am wondering if any of you perform significant video editing with one of the Core Duo e21x0 chips (stock or overclocked). How does it perform for you? I have seen the benchmarks and it looks like it performs quite well, but those are only short tasks. Anyone try encoding large files?

I am planning to purchase a new system and am leaning toward buying a e21xo or possibly the e2200 when it comes out in December and overclocking it. Then, in about a year, when the prices drop, purchasing a quad core Penryn.
Also in system will be 2gb OCZ DDR2 800 RAM, WD 750gb HDD, and 8800gt or ATI 3870. Likely going to use the Gigabyte DS3L but will be researching that more later.
Suggestions/comments on the rig as a whole are welcome, but I am mostly interested in how those with this processor family feel about using it for video editing.

Thanks.

 

[akhilles]

My o/c'ed e2180@3.2Ghz beats out my 5000+@3.1Ghz by as much as 10-20 mins in video encoding. If it's a home pc, I don't think it matters very much. If it's a professional workstation, that's a different story.

How about this mobo?

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA23929&RSKU=BA23929

 

[epsilon84]

What program do you use for video editing? Perhaps look for a review online to see how it stacks up with your program of choice?

 

[prodystopian]

I've just started playing with adobe premier (difficult to use at first). But I tried super c and windows movie maker for smaller projects. I'm mostly just trying to make my recorder TV shows smaller and cut out unwanted parts (for example, just have one fight instead of an entire PPV).

Akhilles, is that with stock cooling? voltage increase?

 

[akhilles]

No, all the same cooling from my sig. Right now the e2180 + DS3L is in my family pc at stock. Voltages were increased. Right now I'm running my 5000+ at stock voltages at 3ghz. I love it. It's cool.

 

[prodystopian]

Which one do you prefer Akhilles? Also, is there a chipset that will allow me to use the 5000+ Black AND then a Phenom when it comes out?

 

[akhilles]

Me? I want the next best thing. Wouldn't you? I'm playing with 5000+ for a while. Wait... Didn't we have threads about how Phenom loses to C2D in benchmarks? If Phenom x4 overclocks better than or the same as 5000+, I'm getting one.

 

[prodystopian]

What I meant was, do you prefer the 5000 or the 2160 (I see that I wasn't clear about that). Even if Phenom loses to C2d, if it is close I would consider going for the AMD route based on the probability of lower prices and reasonable overclockability.

 

[joefriday]

Interesting that sometimes your 3 GHz P4 will do a slow-mo record. I use a 2.4C with a software capture card and it seems to fare well for mpeg2 and WMV captures. For general use, I always capture in 1400 kbps WMV (the highest setting that's able to be chosen), and use Windows Movie Maker to edit out commercials and cut two programs recorded back to back into separate files. I do this editing on my Pentium D 805, and it usually takes ~7 minutes of encoding time in WMM per half hour of captured video, using the auto recommended setting of 1300 kbps, to take out all the commericials. I don't seem to be experiencing any real problems to note. Most importantly the audio always remains in sync with the video, something I've had numerous problems with before when using the DivX codecs.

 

[akhilles]

Sorry I misunderstood your question.

For multimedia encoding, I'd prefer C2D.

You were asking for a chipset for both black & Phenom as in AM2 & AM2+. Right now there are a few choices like Biostar TF560 A+ (not true AM2+, but compatible), ASUS 590 SLI (update BIOS for AM2+), etc. FYI, the new AM2+ boards are coming out next week. They're premium boards based on the RD790. True AM2+ with HTT 3.0 (much faster bus speed) & core power management. This is one of the boards:

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA24354&RSKU=BA24354

 

[prodystopian]

I do this editing on my Pentium D 805

I've highlighted the important part of your post. The dual core has a significant impact I am sure.

Akhilles, thanks. The price on that board makes me pretty confident I am going to go with the e2160 (or 2200) unless Phenom happens to be amazing or the price on the AM2+ boards comes down significantly in the next few weeks. Are all the AM2+ boards that expensive?

Edit: Actually this bard seems reasonable and is AM2+ (or so it says) will it be able to use a Phenom?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138081

 

[akhilles]

That tf560 is a good, budget overclocker. My 550 SE goes up to x13 cpu multiplier in bios. The 560 goes to 25 something. The 560 layout is better. Look at the ATX mobo power connector. Yes, it will work with Phenom, but you won't get HTT 3.0 bus speed, PCI-E 2.0 & some other features. For a budget build, those are not very important. You can drop a 5000+ black in & wait for Phenom to come down in prices. I don't think they'll be cheap. Some have o/c'ed 5000+ to 3.2ghz on stock volts with TF560.

Well, AM2+ cpus haven't been out yet. New things are always expensive. AM2+ boards are coming out first. They're backward compatible with AM2:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD790

These are the to-be-released boards:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=164111

I think the Jetway, Soyo & ECS mobos will be cheaper than the rest.

 

[WHITEROCK]

I'd actually look at other components besides the P4.

I had one for Adobe and It worked fine ( a bit slow ) no problems.

How much Ram is installed in your system ? 1GB should be fine ...

Have you recorded your media to another HD besides the the OS drive ? Adode will really appreciate this.

Have you disabled all spyware / virus software ?

Have your tweaked XP for video editing ( some great notes at videoguys.com )

What media are you trying to edit ?

Adobe is a semi professional suite and as such won't support all media files ( ? ).

I know sounds weird but, if your editing a commercial for TV, you wouldn't be editing a compressed file ( even though it's near impossible in HD without it ).

In editing you always start with the highest form of media then export it to the medium for which it will be used.

Adobe has adopted this practice within Premiere. If you think about it it makes sense.

When editing a AVI file there is just the video file and the audio file. So when you want to make a precise cut, that's exactly where the cut will happen.

With a compressed file, there is the video file, an audio file, then a line of code that runs through those two tracks to tell the computer how to play said media.
When you make a cut your actually cutting into this code. This then makes the practice imprecise hence unreliable, and bloody difficult.

P.S..

Premiere is multi-threading program. Even though the P4 has hyperthreading, it's cheating dual core. the Duo Cores will kick P4's ass.
The P4 does something like 3 instructions per clock while Duo Core will do 4. Hence even the lower clocks will out power them...

All the best..