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.


The single card performance is a second faster over the test than the P5K3 Deluxe and both are again faster than the P5K3 Premium. The CrossFire performance is just over 10 seconds slower, but it's certainly noticably slow.

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 pretty good, even if it's a fraction slower than the Asus boards, but decoding is a couple of seconds faster, even over such a short test.