i5-2500k Vs Xeon E3-1245 for Video Encoding

[Z15CAM]

Ist of all I do not encode movies to support iPod or any other Hardware Device. I mostly do 2 Pass Hi-Bitrate None Constraint H264-AVC/AAC-HE using MeGUI front end for the x264 encoder in MKV, MP4 or FLV wrappers or Encode the occasional mPeg2/Ac3 DVD. My Source Files are usually big volume mJpeg/pcm.avi captures. In this matter I do not believe mpeg4 encoding using IGP Quick Sync is of any benefit for my needs.

No matter how much I would like to have a DeskTop i7, I simply can not afford it.

I'm looking at either a SB or IB Xeon E3-12XX with HT which can be had for the same price as the i5-2500k or i5-3770k. The SB/IB E3-1230/(v2) with no IGP and SB E3-1245 with IGP delivers almost identical performance as the i7-2600 or i7-3770. No OC'ing off course. The SB E3-1245 looks the most appealing to me and at 2nd hand are repetitively cheaper then there IB counter part now because of IB power conserving properties in server use.

Xeon E3's support both ECC and None Buffered Ram. I have an ASUS P8Z68-V Pro GEN3 that supports SB, IB, ECC and None Buffered Ram but most of all it's a great OC'ing MB. I've no intentions of using the Platform as a Server. I've an old EVGA GTX 280 Video Card with Cuda for assisted washed mPeg4 encoding when ever I want, if opt for the an E3-1230 with out IGP.

Considering my Budget and Encoding requirements, what in your opinion would be my better choice in the $150 to $175 price range for a used CPU: The Xeon HT SB Xeon E3-1230 or E3-1245 with IGP (no OC'ing) or say a i5-2500k with IGP (No HT) and OC her.

Any comments would greatly be appreciated - Thank you.

 

[Durvelle27]

i think you should consider an AMD FX-8320 also. Does amazing at video encoding around the performance of i7-3770K

 

[Z15CAM]

Fx 4100 ?

i have an asus p8z68-v pro gen3

I guess I should have been clearer and compared something like the Video Encoding ability of an i7-2600 or E3-1245 (Other then the E3's ECC support they are basically the same CPU) Vs an i5-2500k over clocked not using the IGP as an encoding accelerator - That is 8 threads Vs 4 threads OC'd - Which would be faster for Encoding?

A used E3-1245 and i5-2500k are about the same price - say $165 but a used i7K is $245+ which I can't afford. If I could afford $245+, I would buy either a New i7-2600k or i7-3770k for $320 - LOL

No doubt I could OC that i5-2500k to 4.8G's with that Asus MB.

I'm not much into Gaming but doesn't mean I don't play occasionally ;o)

Here's a quote from a thread in techpowerup forums that I find interesting:

4 cores vs. 8 virtual... and from what I recall seeing in past performance tests, it does improve things if their being utilized, but each one is slight slower than a single core that is not broken into two.

I suspect that the 8MB vs 6MB cache is probably the biggest bottleneck.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The Intel® Core™ i5-2500K, Intel Core i5-3570K, Intel Xeon® E3-1245, and the Intel Xeon E3-1245v2 all have Intel Quick Sync which when teamed up with the Lucid Virtu or MVP on the board can work to give you improved performance for digital encoding. The only issue is that when I look on Asus' site for this board I can't find any listed support for any of the Intel Xeon E3 processors.

If I knew that the board would support the Intel Xeon E3 then I would most likely go with the Intel Xeon E3-1245. It would give me the Intel Quick Sync, hyper-threading, and ECC memory support (if the board supports it).

 

[blckgrffn]

Hmmm, I would go wide, as in get the HT if you are doing full on CPU encodes. You could probably get enough OC on the 2500k to overcome the difference, but then you may need to worry about stability, etc.

I don't know how long you think your encoding runs are going to be, but finding out that the machine crapped out when you come back to check on it likely won't be pleasant.

Remember, you can get a bit of OC on the Xeons. My E3-1240 V2 is happily running @ 3.6 Ghz on all cores vs the 3.4 speed that it would be running stock.

It's not much, but when you are considering the pricing difference between the Xeons and how much clock speed you get - it's valuable

 

[Z15CAM]

The Asus site does not list the Xeon E3-12XX Series as a supported CPU for the Z68 ChipSet but I know of a few that do run the E3 on the same board as mine without issues with Unbuffered Ram. Here's a quote from a Webhostingtalk.com forum:

Zhang
02-27-2012, 04:05 PM

I'm running an ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 - It does support ECC but does not need it for E3, it works fine with my E3 (although Asus does not explicitely state compatibility).
Make sure you get an Extra GPU - Onboard GPU will NOT work on any board with an E3.
Sells for around 150EUR.

Not cheap, but worth it.

I imagine he is referring to an E3-1230 or 1240 - That does not have IGP. As far as I understand, the Xeon E3-12XX Series CPU is compatible with all 67/68 and 77 chip-sets.

Humm - Don't see where the P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 supports ECC but that's irrelevant with the E3.

If you look at the ASRock Z68 Pro3-M CPU support it will list Xeon E3-12XX compatibility yet the board does not support ECC as the E3 can use either ECC or Non-ECC Ram.

Although it kinda defeats the over clocking ability on the P8Z68V Pro Gen3, I'm leaning toward a used SB E3-1245 over either a i5-2500k or i5-3570k. Guess I could get 3.5GHz out of the stock 3.3GHz speed - That's faster then a stock i7-2600.

If I had the money either an i7-2600k or i7-3770k would do me just fine ;o)

Thank you very much for your inputs.

 

[blckgrffn]

The Asus site does not list the Xeon E3-12XX Series as a supported CPU for the Z68 ChipSet but I know of a few that do run the E3 on the same board as mine without issues with Unbuffered Ram.

As far as I understan, the Xeon E3-12XX Series CPU is compatible with all 67/68 and 77 chipsets.

Although it kinda defeats the over clocking ability on the P8Z68V Pro Gen3, I'm leaning toward a used SB E3-1245 over either a i5-2500k or i5-3570k.

A nice, stable board is a nice, stable board whether you OC or not. I wouldn't feel bad about it. I've also had really good luck with Xeons in motherboards - Good luck

 

[Z15CAM]

I done my home work about running the Xeon E3 in a DeskTop PC and from what I gather the E3 Xeon is flexible, it supports ecc, non ecc, buffered, unbuffered memory, can be installed in servers, workstations or desktops.

I think it's purposely omitted in MFgr Mainboard CPU compatibility lists to have you buy their EXPENSIVE WS products.

If you note Intel ARK signifies that the E3 "SUPPORTS" ECC Memory but does not state that it does not support Unbuffered Ram.

They' re misleading the consumer in order to gouge your every last cent.