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P4 with 800 Mhz FSB is not my choice for NLE
I am preparing to build my new PC mainly used for NLE. I got quite interested when Intel announced their new 800 Mhz FSB platform for the P4. I thought that together with an HT enabled Pentium processor, this would be a major step forward in terms of performance for encoding and RT work.
As with any new PC, my search led me to review sites where I got a big surprise: the new platform based on the i875 chipset and 3.0 Ghz P4 (4x200 Mhz FSB) does not provide much higher performance than the "old" i845/i850 and 3.06 Ghz P4 (4x133 Mhz FSB), which is far less expensive. Here's the information I found so far:
1. Tom's Hardware Audio/Video Benchmarks:
DV to MPEG encoding using MainConcept 1.3.1
i875 + P4(3.0 Ghz) 800 FSB: 211 seconds
i850 + P4(3.06Ghz) 533 FSB: 214
i875 + P4(3.06Ghz) 533 FSB: 214
2. Anandtech Video Encoding benchmarks:
MPEG-2 to DiVX Conversion using XMpeg 4.5 & DiVX 5.0.2
i850E + P4(3.06 Ghz) 533 FSB: 97.9 Frames per second
i875P + P4(3.0 Ghz) 800 FSB: 97
i845PE+ P4(3.06 Ghz) 533 FSB: 91.5
In interactive applications benchmarks such as office use, tests show a maximum 7% advantage for the new 800 Mhz over the 533 Mhz FSB.
My conclusion is that NLE is probably not FSB bound, at least not over 533 Mhz with a 3 Ghz P4. The new platform and FSB might be interesting for heavy game players or other applications. But for NLE, I have not found proof that justifies the price difference:
i875
P4 @ 3 Ghz $550
Motherboard $200
1Gb Samsung RAM $190
Total $940
i845
P4 @ 3.06 Ghz $380
Motherboard $120
1Gb Samsung RAM $160
Total $660
At this point I would rather stick with the i845 platform and with the $280 I save get a pair of 120Gb SATA drives in a RAID 1 configuration.
Does this make sense? Has anyone else come to the same conclusion? I am sure some of you will disagree and would appreciate your comments.
Fred
As with any new PC, my search led me to review sites where I got a big surprise: the new platform based on the i875 chipset and 3.0 Ghz P4 (4x200 Mhz FSB) does not provide much higher performance than the "old" i845/i850 and 3.06 Ghz P4 (4x133 Mhz FSB), which is far less expensive. Here's the information I found so far:
1. Tom's Hardware Audio/Video Benchmarks:
DV to MPEG encoding using MainConcept 1.3.1
i875 + P4(3.0 Ghz) 800 FSB: 211 seconds
i850 + P4(3.06Ghz) 533 FSB: 214
i875 + P4(3.06Ghz) 533 FSB: 214
2. Anandtech Video Encoding benchmarks:
MPEG-2 to DiVX Conversion using XMpeg 4.5 & DiVX 5.0.2
i850E + P4(3.06 Ghz) 533 FSB: 97.9 Frames per second
i875P + P4(3.0 Ghz) 800 FSB: 97
i845PE+ P4(3.06 Ghz) 533 FSB: 91.5
In interactive applications benchmarks such as office use, tests show a maximum 7% advantage for the new 800 Mhz over the 533 Mhz FSB.
My conclusion is that NLE is probably not FSB bound, at least not over 533 Mhz with a 3 Ghz P4. The new platform and FSB might be interesting for heavy game players or other applications. But for NLE, I have not found proof that justifies the price difference:
i875
P4 @ 3 Ghz $550
Motherboard $200
1Gb Samsung RAM $190
Total $940
i845
P4 @ 3.06 Ghz $380
Motherboard $120
1Gb Samsung RAM $160
Total $660
At this point I would rather stick with the i845 platform and with the $280 I save get a pair of 120Gb SATA drives in a RAID 1 configuration.
Does this make sense? Has anyone else come to the same conclusion? I am sure some of you will disagree and would appreciate your comments.
Fred
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