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.


Xvid encoding is merely a second or two faster than the other boards. Due to the pressure the test puts onto the CPU, cache and memory bandwidth, the E6300 with half the cache that runs at only 60 percent of the X6800's clock speed takes over six and a half minutes extra to complete the eleven minute test. Moral of the story for video encoding on a budget? Overclocking is your friend.

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 encoding on the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R was the fastest in the comparison here and was a full five seconds faster than the best of the other P35 boards.

MP3 Decoding

Decoding the Gigabyte seems to pull out all the stops and gains by a couple of seconds over the competition. We tested it again and again, and again, and continually got the same score. This is despite the fact the SATA hard drive bandwidth is no different from the other drives.