What Handbrake encode performance do you get (mainly i5 2500K users but others welcome)

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 07:54

I'm looking at near future upgrade options and since my SSD and RAM are now in place I reckon it's going to be the CPU....maybe, although GFX is due an update.

Anyway, up until now I have been encoding BluRays to 720p for my LAN as I don't really require full 1080p just to watch a movie while sat way back (big room

) on the living room TV as I find 720p just as good but having received Frozen Planet BDs this week I started using 1080p as it deserves it!

I'm using the latest Handbrake and have opted for x264 encoding @ 12Mbps (fixed) and AC3 passthrough for so I imagine audio encoding won't have any hit, but so far during the encode I have been getting an encoding fps of 19.4 average and the actual rate varies anywhere from 15 to 24 so a 48 minute episode took just under an hour to encode.

I've only attempted 1080p encodes previously on my Q9550 and that would have taken 2~ hours for a similar output.

My 2500K is at 4.3GHz and the cores are 100% maxed during encoding so are being fully utilised. Temps are 60-61 max during this time and I can comfortably use my PC to browse the net and watch movies/iPlayer etc no problems, it actually doesn't feel like the CPUs are being maxed at all which I thought was surprising.

What are others on 2500K getting? I'd be interested in hearing what people with i7s and the new SB-e chips are getting as well

I'm happy with almost realtime encoding speeds but if a small bump in CPU upgrades can improve it 25% or more then I'd be up for a little upgrade I guess. I don't want to overclock the chip any more as I find 4.3GHz to be an ideal speed for stability, temps and performance combined.

Cheers!

Sin_Chase · 13 Dec 2011 at 09:30

Exact filters/settings?

I'll downsize a 720P video file to my tablet 1024 resolution at a minimum of 4x realtime on a 2600K with the normal presets selected everywhere else. Without a resize I would expect to crunch through it faster.

Hard to compare without specifics. I assume you are doing a straight no-resize x264 encode from BD?

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 09:34

Yeah 720p is no problem, I get at least double/triple realtime using the normal h264 profile. I'm looking for comparisons of 1080p encodes, not cropped either, just pure 1920x1080. I'm also using the normal profile for the 1080p h264 encode but the only custom bits being the 12Mbps video bitrate and the AC3 passthrough audio.

Sin_Chase · 13 Dec 2011 at 09:42

From BD or from image on disk?

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 09:46

Ripped to HDD then converted from the HDD location to h264 on another HDD.

titaniumx3 · 13 Dec 2011 at 14:03

I've found that encoding speed can vary wildly depending on the source material. It would be better if you could provide a 1080p sample for people to use, would be way more consistent.

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 14:06

Good idea that! I will extract a 10-30sec sample from one episode tonight and update tonight

sarge78 · 13 Dec 2011 at 14:27

What about Quicksync if your encoding 720/1080p@12Mbps/main profile?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/9

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 15:49

Hmm QuickSync looks good, I can grab a copy of MC but how do I enable my 2500K to utilise it?

I checked out samples of my encode and the BD original and I can't really tell any difference at all between the two so Handbrake is certainly doing an accurate job or the encode.

Davedree · 13 Dec 2011 at 18:50

yeah let us know when you have a sample for us to play around with.
I use handbrake and have a 2600k. but theres so many options and settings which could change the results.

I don't use quicksync doesnt look to good on my 42''

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 19:06

Ok cool, I've just tried MC 7.1 and it seems fast but there's no log or queue window to see exactly how fast...and also there's nowhere near the amount of customisation like title selection/naming etc that makes Handbrake so useful and excellent.

Sorting out a sample now

Greg0986 · 13 Dec 2011 at 19:37

What container are you using? MP4 or MKV?

mrk · 13 Dec 2011 at 20:45

Greg0986 said:
What container are you using? MP4 or MKV?

MKV.

Here's the sample btw, I cropped this section from the ripped m2ts stream using TSSplitter:
http://robbiekhan.co.uk/root/temp/00001.m2ts (32MB).

And here's the preset I am using, exported:
http://robbiekhan.co.uk/root/temp/test.plist
^Just to to Preset > Import to use it. This way our comparison will use the same parameters.

I converted it just now to start off:

Columbo · 14 Dec 2011 at 12:49

I'll give this a stab later on just so you SB users can gloat how much better your 2500K's are over my aged i5 750..

mrk · 14 Dec 2011 at 12:53

Haha thanks :-P

I tried out mc7 too last night and didn't like the choppy playback, it l
was like as if it encoded or all wrong.

Handbrake seems best so far! Might be slower but at least IQ is sublime.

Columbo · 14 Dec 2011 at 16:08

I think I've done this right..!

SB is faster...what a shock. :eek:

Davedree · 14 Dec 2011 at 16:52

heres mine with the 2600k.

ns400r · 14 Dec 2011 at 16:55

i7 2600K at stock, HT enabled.

mrk · 14 Dec 2011 at 16:57

2600k has 8 threads I think yep?

The fps difference isn't as large as I was thinking it would be going by those! Although that is stock^^

Columbo · 14 Dec 2011 at 17:07

mrk said:
2600k has 8 threads I think yep?

The fps difference isn't as large as I was thinking it would be going by those! Although that is stock^^

Yeah it has 8 threads if HT is on.

So your chip is at stock then?

If so the gap will only widen when you get upwards 4+ ghz. Davedree is showing a 33% performance increase at 4.5ghz compared to my 4ghz 750.

Thats quite a large gap to be honest and more than I would have guessed.