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05-04-2005, 11:52 AM
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#1 of 14 
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Join Date: Mar 1999
Local Time: 06:35 AM
Local Date: 08-29-2008
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Hyper-threading and video production
I am looking to purchase a new 3ghz+ that will be used mainly for audio/video production and dvd authoring, along with my regular net surfing, word processing and such (NOT A GAMER!) I keep seeing the hyper-threading stuff and wonder if it's something I need to keep in mind.
Bestbuy has a Gateway computer right now that seems to be close to fitting the bill for me. I can up the RAM to 4GB, plus will be adding a few of my own upgrades like a Haugepage video card for some HT applications.
Would I benefit from hyperthreading? or can I look for something without it? Also, if I hyperthread, will it help keep me future proof for a while?
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05-04-2005, 12:15 PM
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#2 of 14
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Member
Location: Northern VA
Join Date: Mar 2000
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I made a thread in avs testing between hyper-threading on vs off. I shaved 7-8min off a WM9 video encode with hyper-threading on. Most of the benefit though is multi-tasking. It's nice to do something really strenuous but be able to browse the web with no problems at the same time.
And consider building your own! 
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05-04-2005, 01:30 PM
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#3 of 14
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Join Date: Feb 2000
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Local Date: 08-29-2008
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Since you're looking to buy now and are already pondering the benefits of parallellism, why not look at the dual core setups?
A dual core P4 is even hyperthreaded, which will further assist in video production and any other multithreaded applications.
There is an article at PCWorld with a test of a dual core rig.
Not sure what your budget is, but thought I'd point out you can do better than hyperthreading if you really want maximum performance now.
"If we do happen to step on a mine, Sir, what do we do?"
"Normal procedure, Lieutenant, is to jump 200 feet in the air and scatter oneself over a wide area." -- "BlackAdder 4"
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05-04-2005, 04:07 PM
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#4 of 14
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Member
Join Date: Mar 1999
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Well..thanks so far for the responses. My budget is about $1,000, with the one system that I'm looking at running $800, plus I'm bumping the RAM up to 1GB right off the bat. I can't do a build-your-own unless I can get 18 months same as cash, which is what I'm waiting on right now. This is sort of a 24th anniversary present from my wife to me. Yesterday, she bought me the Samsung 19-inch 930B flat panel monitor that BB had on sale with rebate (teacher's day present). Sure beats the 17-inch MAG CRT I've had forever.
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05-04-2005, 06:13 PM
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#5 of 14
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Member
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Definitely get something with hyperthreading because you can always turn it off if you think it hurts performance. It's a setting in the BIOS that can easily be turned on and off.
You mention 4GB of RAM. I wouldn't bother with that. Honestly, you will see very little benefit past 2GB and may or may not notice a difference going from 1GB to 2GB.
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05-05-2005, 08:59 AM
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#6 of 14
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Location: Northern VA
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If you're dealing with big uncompressed/losslessly compressed video you'll see a difference with 2gb, but Seth is on the mark about 4gb. Don't think you'll be needing that much.
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05-05-2005, 03:59 PM
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#7 of 14
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Location: Beautiful Fort Worth
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People who do benchmarking often turn hyperthreading off; it actually interferes with some kinds of appliactions. Really, an AMD processor will have better performance with less power use and a longer life. The new dual-core Opteron is getting extremely good reviews, and it's basically a drop-in replacement for the single unit.
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05-05-2005, 05:20 PM
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#8 of 14
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Location: Northern VA
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You'll have a hard time convincing people AMD beats Intel for video encoding. That is unless you have over $500 just to spend on the CPU alone.
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05-05-2005, 08:01 PM
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#9 of 14
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Member
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Most benchmarks do list Intel as the champ in video encoding. However, if you get one of the newer chips from either company it should go pretty quickly. Most benchmarks give encoding to Intel and gaming to AMD, but I'm sure you'd be fine with either.
You also mentioned "future-proofing." To really future-proof as much as possible right now, you'd want something dual-core that can do 64-bit. Unfortunately, this will probably be well out of the price range you're looking at.
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05-06-2005, 10:04 AM
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#10 of 14
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
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To shop for future proof, you may want to build your own too, you can easily upgrade it back to state of the art for a fraction of the cost. For $1000 you can easily come close to mirror one of gateways or dells top machines. Seriously think about it - it is not as hard as it looks.
www.zipzoomfly.com - free 2nd day shipping and great staff.
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