Xvid Encoding:

We tested video encoding performance using VirtualDub-MPEG version 1.6.15 and a multi-threaded version of the Xvid codec, along with the LAME MT MP3 encoder for encoding audio. We did a two-pass encode of a 15-minute 276MB digital TV recording with a target file size of 100MB.


Video encoding, while not slow, hasn't faired too wonderfully as the EVGA board drops nearly 20 seconds when compared to the other boards when both an X6800 or E6300 are installed. This is despite running fast 3-3-3-9-15-2T memory timings.

MP3 Encoding:

We used LAME MT for our audio encoding test - it's the multi-threaded version of the popular LAME MP3 encoder. We ran tests with both Intel's and Microsoft's compilers - naturally, the Intel compiler resulted in some performance increases on Intel's processors. We converted all 18 tracks from Moby's popular Play album to a 192kbps variable bit-rate MP3.

MP3 Decoding

Mp3 encoding performance is as fast as the fastest boards tested, although decoding is a touch slower but still performs very well.