[mythtv-users] Power to the Masses (CPU Power that is) - LONG!!

[Ron Johnson]

On Thu, 2005-03-24 at 16:11 -0800, Brad Templeton wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 24, 2005 at 04:57:49PM -0500, Donavan Stanley wrote:
> > On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 16:38:45 -0500, PAUL WILLIAMSON
> > <pwilliamson at mandtbank.com> wrote:
> > > 2.8 has been suggested as the lowest processor
> > > you'd want to go with for HD.  I'm not sure
> > > if the Pundit would do that...
> > 
> > 
> > My Celeron 2.5ghz sits at 80% when watching 1080i...   
> > 
> > The CPU quotes floating around the net are either out of date, for
> > Windows, or just flat out wrong.
> 
> There was an improvement between .16 and .17 that allowed slower
> processors to play HDTV.    Many things can play a role, including
> if you do deinterlacing, and how much spare capacity you want to have.
> 
> My experience is I wouldn't want to run at 80% saturated because other
> things can pop up on the system and cause stutters.   Live TV seems
> more succeptible too.   For example, even though commercial scans are
> run niced, they make the system more prone to stutters if you have a
> slim margin.   I find that even my P4-3ghz-hyperthreading system can
> still stutter on occasion when additional load pops up, though generally
> it has more than enough.
> 
> xvmc support has been constantly improving.  Some have had it working
> for a while, others have had problems but the problems are being slowly
> ground out.  This changes the CPU equation as well.
> 
> There is some debate over how much better Pentiums are than Athlons
> at mpeg decode, and why they are better, but they are a bit better.
> 
> Reasons include:
>     a) mpeg decode takes more advantage of intel pipelining
>     b) hyperthreading does its job well here (not on celerons of course)
>     c) Intel CPUs run at ~ a 35% faster clock speed than AMD of the same
>        number.  Sometimes the size of your clock does matter.
> 
> Idle times report major benefits for intel but are misleading.  However,
> an improvement of the range of 15% is almost certainly real, and possibly
> much more.
> 
> Intel CPUs run a bit hotter due to their faster clock.  AMD CPUs are faster
> than Intel on other tasks even if slower on the particular task of mpeg
> decode.   Of course mpeg decode is what you care about here!

Chips hate Heat.
Heat must be Moved Away.
Moving lots of Heat makes Noise, or costs a Lot, or is Esoteric.
Noise is Incompatible with watching TV (unless you're watching MTV).
P4 chips make Lots of Heat.
AMD chips make less Heat (nowadays).

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson, LA USA
PGP Key ID 8834C06B I prefer encrypted mail.

"He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he
knows or all he sees."
Benjamin Franklin

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