Dual or Single CPU for a Handbrake PC Build?

[khorn06]

Correct me if I am wrong but whend dealing with handbrake, more cores equals faster encode times, right?? So wouldn't I want to go with dual Xeon E5 2620 for 12 cores instead of a single hexacore i7 3930k processor. The dual Xeon would give me twice as many cores meaning twice the encode speeds, for about an extra $250, Right? Haha please say yes. Also wouldn't the dual xeons be better in terms of running them 24/7?

 

[Jaxem]

Yes, handbrake will eat up whatever you have to give it, 2, 4, 8 cores...it'll use it all, i can't say i've ever seen someone do any encodes with 12 cores, that'd be wicked fast. Xeons are server processors, so yes, they're made to always be on...but they usually have server grade cooling too, so make sure you have something GOOD to cool them with, especially if you're going to keep them pegged encoding all the time. I couldn't say for sure if you'd get 2x the encode speed, but it would be crazy fast.

 

[khorn06]

Yes, handbrake will eat up whatever you have to give it, 2, 4, 8 cores...it'll use it all, i can't say i've ever seen someone do any encodes with 12 cores, that'd be wicked fast. Xeons are server processors, so yes, they're made to always be on...but they usually have server grade cooling too, so make sure you have something GOOD to cool them with, especially if you're going to keep them pegged encoding all the time. I couldn't say for sure if you'd get 2x the encode speed, but it would be crazy fast.

Here is the benchmark I found for the dual Xeon and the i7 3930k compared with each other using passmark. The dual Xeon scored about 12800 and the i7 3930k scored about 12000. Based off those numbers would you be able to estimate if the encodes speeds are going to vary enough to spend an extra $250. That's the best I can find for benchmarks comparing the two CPUs. I would like to be abe to see handbrake specific benchmarks between the two if you know of any.

 

[ethereal essence]

There is the law of diminishing returns that you must consider. While the dual xeons would most certainly be faster, I doubt the difference would be worth spending the extra money. especially considering the cost of dual cpu server boards.

 

[Jaxem]

If i'm not mistaken, that Xeon is clocked at 2.0 GHz, and the i7 at 3.2GHz...this is going to leave a pretty big disparity. Clock speed has a lot to do with encoding times, the much higher clock speed of the i7 will probably make up a lot of the difference the cores would make, i would think you'd get maybe a 30% faster encode from the dual Xeons...you decide if that's worth $250 to you. But for actual encoding times, i couldn't say, that depends on the size and quality of what you're encoding.