In our custom LAME MT MP3 encoding test, we convert a large WAV file to the MP3 format, which is a popular scenario that many end users work with on a day-to-day basis to provide portability and storage of their digital audio content. LAME is an open-source mid to high bit-rate and VBR (variable bit rate) MP3 audio encoder that is used widely around the world in a multitude of third party applications.
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LAME MT MP3 Encoding Test |
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Converting a Large WAV To MP3 | |
In this test, we created our own 223MB WAV file (a hallucinogenically-induced Grateful Dead jam) and converted it to the MP3 format using the multi-thread capable LAME MT application in single and multi-thread modes. Processing times are recorded below, listed in seconds. Once again, shorter times equate to better performance.
Our custom LAME MT benchmark shows some very interesting things. First off, in the single-threaded test, the Phenom's IPC enhancements are abundantly clear as the 2.4GHz 9700 smokes the 2.4GHz Athlon 64 X2. Intel's Core 2 processors, however, still show a significant clock-for-clock performance advantage over anything from AMD.
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Sony Vegas Digital Video Rendering Test |
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Video Rendering Performance | |
Sony's Vegas DV editing software is heavily multi-threaded as it processes and mixes both audio and video streams. This is a new breed of digital video editing software that takes full advantage of current dual and multi-core processor architectures.
The new Phenom 9700 and 9600 performed very well in our Sony Vegas video rendering benchmark, besting even the 3.0GHz QuadFX FX-74 powered rig by a sizable margin. The Phenom's relatively strong performance here isn't enough to catch even the slowest of Intel quad-core processors in this test.
