System Builder Marathon: TH's $2000 Hand-Picked Build

Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding

Apple iTunes is poorly threaded, so we can expect good results from the Core i5-powered $1000 PC.

Don Woligroski’s surprisingly bad luck-O/C allows the new $2000 PC to take a lead, while the former system is slightly handicapped by its lower IPC throughput.

HandBrake is well-threaded and optimized for both AMD and Intel processors, standing as a true credit to the open source community. The difference between our two $2000 builds can almost certainly be attributed to Intel's general dominance in media-oriented titles on a clock-for-clock basis.

As Xvid development lags, DivX appears better-optimized for the six-core processors of both $2000 builds.

MainConcept loves Intel. MainConcept loves added cores. It’s no surprise then that MainConcept loves the new build.