x264 encoding SD content at 1.88 Frames per second ?! [Archive]

View Full Version : x264 encoding SD content at 1.88 Frames per second ?!

Pages : [1] 2

TheImperial2004

22nd July 2009, 16:27

Hi , I am sorry that my first post is a question :)

I am using AviDemux with the latest libx264 (1184) and I am having a real nightmare encoding anime at 480p without any filters !

To clarify things , the encoding process starts with around 48 frames per second , then it keep dropping until it reaches 1.80 - 2 frames per second !

Am using Intel Dual core 2.55GHz machine with 4GB ram .

My settings are not overkill either :

3 B-frames

Use as refrences : Yes

Weighted B-frames prediction : Yes ( I tried to turn it off ,but it doesn't help that much )

3 Ref-frames

Using Hex with subme of 7

CRF of 20

Only 8x8DCT is checked , all other partitions are unchecked ...

Threads are set to Auto , but whatever I set it manually it doesn't help ...

Only AviDemux is running , no other tasks , using Windows Vista SP1

If you need more info about my settings tell me .

Any help would be appreciated and Sorry for the long post !

Cyber-Mav

22nd July 2009, 17:00

Dark Shikari

22nd July 2009, 19:00

I get about 24fps with those settings on a Core 2 duo, so I suspect something must be quite wrong ;)

LoRd_MuldeR

22nd July 2009, 21:44

What version of Avidemux are you using? What is the type of your source file? What is the CPU usage of Avidemux in Taskman/Procexp while encoding?

I get 40+ fps with your settings on my Core2 Quad Q6600 for 480p content. That is with Avidemux 2.5 r5104 and x264 r1184, running on Windows XP x64-Edition ;)

TheImperial2004

22nd July 2009, 22:30

sounds right to me, i use SD insane profile with 9 ref frames, 3 b-frames and level 3.2, rdo 9 and all other cpu sucking options enabled. and i get around 7fps with a 3.4ghz core2quad q9550 with 8gig ddr3 ram

I also tried to use a very low settings with no much of a difference !

I get about 24fps with those settings on a Core 2 duo, so I suspect something must be quite wrong ;)

Well , this is what I am getting .. It starts with around 48 - 50 fps but keeps dropping until it reaches 2 fps !

What version of Avidemux are you using? What is the type of your source file? What is the CPU usage of Avidemux in Taskman/Procexp while encoding?

I get 40+ fps with your settings on my Core2 Quad Q6600 for 480p content. That is with Avidemux 2.5 r5104 and x264 r1184, running on Windows XP x64-Edition ;)

I always update AviDemux + libx264 whenever I find new SVN builds , Now I am using AviDemux Revsin 5104 + Libx264 1184 just like you except I am using x86 vista :)

But I suspect that could be the case , cuz I believe both the libx264 and AviDemux are 32bit ... My sources are Anime episodes that are not too complex (Not CG or Real Life material) ... Also , what I can see that both cores are used uptil 40% - 50% only ! Meaning , it doesn't utilize the whole CPU power ....

Dark Shikari

22nd July 2009, 22:41

But I suspect that could be the case , cuz I believe both the libx264 and AviDemux are 32bit ... My sources are Anime episodes that are not too complex (Not CG or Real Life material) ... Also , what I can see that both cores are used uptil 40% - 50% only ! Meaning , it doesn't utilize the whole CPU power ....Meaning you're bottlenecked, somewhere, by an extraordinarily slow input. x264 is not the problem.

TheImperial2004

22nd July 2009, 22:46

Meaning you're bottlenecked, somewhere, by an extraordinarily slow input. x264 is not the problem.

Aha ! Can you explain that ? Is it an AviDemux issue ? I don't think that my hardware is the problem , isn't it ? Can the CLI x264 be any better ?

Thank you in advance !

LoRd_MuldeR

22nd July 2009, 23:42

But I suspect that could be the case , cuz I believe both the libx264 and AviDemux are 32bit ...

Yes, Avidemux is 32-Bit and consequently it uses 32-Bit x264. But that's not a problem! 32-Bit applications work on 64-Bit Windows just fine!

I use 64-Bit Windows myself. And there is no problem here...

Aha ! Can you explain that ?

If a slow (single-threaded) decoder cannot deliver the data fast enough, x264 simply becomes idle and has to wait for input.

Consequently you will see the CPU usage drop below 100%.

Is it an AviDemux issue ?

Not in general. But it uses the decoders from ffmpeg/libavcodec (as many applications do).

For certain formats, such as H.264, the libavcodec decoders are slower than certain proprietary ones (e.g. CoreAVC or DivX H.264 Decoder).

However I doubt that this is the problem here, because it wouldn't cause such a drastic speed drop...

I don't think that my hardware is the problem , isn't it ?

Unlikely.

Can the CLI x264 be any better ?

In general Avidemux is neither better nor worse than any other front-end to the x264 library (including the CLI front-end).

Anyway, bugs can always happen. So we can't completely exclude that there may be some problems on the Avidemux side.

So could you please post your Avidemux log ???

TheImperial2004

22nd July 2009, 23:55

LoRd_MuldeR

23rd July 2009, 00:09

Thanks Mulder for your clarification , So , I use expermintal ffmpeg-mt AVC decoder that comes with K-Lite Mega Codecs ... Honestly , it can't decode a 1080p CG movie probably . But , my material are MPEG2 DVD files , so that won't be the case cuz I can play it fine with a CPU usage of 30% ...

What "Codec Packs" you installed to mess up your system doesn't matter for Avidemux ;)

That's because Avidemux doesn't use DirectShow to decode the input. It uses it's own "built-in" decoders (taken from ffmpeg/libavcodec).

Anyway, if you'd ever need to use DirectShow decoders/splitters, there's always the AVS Proxy (GUI) (http://avidemux.org/admForum/viewtopic.php?pid=25486#p25486) for Avidemux.

BTW , do you think that I'll gain any performance increases if I ran AviDemux on 64bit machine ? (I doubt that because it wasn't coded to take advantage of 64bit features) ...

The Avidemux core application probably wouldn't gain too much from 64-Bit, but x264 is known to run ~10% faster on 64-Bit (compared to 32-Bit).

Anyway, currently there is no 64-Bit build of Avidemux available. So even under a 64-Bit OS you can only run Avidemux as a 32-Bit application.

Still that is not a problem and doesn't explain your situation. I run 32-Bit Avidemux under 64-Bit Windows XP and I get 40+ fps with your settings.

So can you please post your Avidemux log? (I'd need to see the log copied while your were encoding)

TheImperial2004

23rd July 2009, 00:14

Sorry for being a clueless noob , but can you tell where to find that log ? :)

LoRd_MuldeR

23rd July 2009, 00:17

It's located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Name>\avidemux\admlog.txt

TheImperial2004

23rd July 2009, 00:31

Here it is :)

Look at my final encoding of a 480p (6000+ frames) clip :

It started with a blazing 50 fps and started dropping until it reaches 7 - 8 fps , with no apps running except AviDemux and its window has the focus during all the process time ...

LoRd_MuldeR

23rd July 2009, 00:43

I still can't see your log (Attachments Pending Approval), but 7-8 fps sounds more realistic than the 1.88 fps you mentioned in your first post.

Anyway, it still seems a bit too slow for the settings you mention...

TheImperial2004

23rd July 2009, 00:55

Yeah , Because it started with 50+ fps it reaches 7 fps :)

Sometimes (with CG sources) it starts with 20+ fps and drops to 2 fps ...

By the way , those encodes were tested on windows 7 RTM , but the same results as Vista :(

23rd July 2009, 00:58

I still can't see your log (Attachments Pending Approval), but 7-8 fps sounds more realistic than the 1.88 fps you mentioned in your first post.
This time he was encoding a short clip, so it could be that the fps counter just didn't reach the bottom before the encoding finished.

LoRd_MuldeR

23rd July 2009, 01:05

This time he was encoding a short clip, so it could be that the fps counter just didn't reach the bottom before the encoding finished.

Well, it's normal that the fps counter takes a moment to "stabilize".

But I did encode a whole lot of videos with Avidemux, including full length movies, and I certainly didn't see the fps counter dropping contentiously.

I'd still like to see his x264 settings in detail (which could be seen from the log) ...

[EDIT]

The settings look okay. Nothing unusual, as far as I can see.

x264 [info]: options: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0 me=hex subme=7 psy_rd=1.00:0.15 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 chroma_qp_offset=-3 threads=3 nr=0 decimate=1 mbaff=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=0 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 wpredb=1 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 rc=crf crf=20.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=10 qpmax=51 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.40 pb_ratio=1.30 aq=1:1.00

Also the source seems to be MPEG-2 at 640x416. Decoding this shouldn't take a considerable amount of CPU time...

TheImperial2004

23rd July 2009, 01:06

I noticed that from 70% and up of the encoding process it stays between 7 - 8 fps ...

Edit : You can download the log now !

TheImperial2004

23rd July 2009, 01:14

The settings look okay. Nothing unusual, as far as I can see.

So , it wasn't settings-related issue ... hmmm

LoRd_MuldeR

23rd July 2009, 01:20

So , it wasn't settings-related issue ... hmmm

This is the point where you should try the x264 CLI encoder and see what speed you get from that one. Then we'll see...

TheImperial2004

23rd July 2009, 01:29

This is the point where you should try the x264 CLI encoder and see what speed you get from that one. Then we'll see...
Alright then , off to the CLI !

THanks Mulder , I'll update this thread with CLI benchmarks when I done it :)

DeeGee

23rd July 2009, 15:02

DarkZell666

23rd July 2009, 17:06

TheImperial2004

24th July 2009, 01:30

You wouldn't happen to be running anything else that eats all the cpu power? For example I Have 2xFolding@Home clients running on my computer and even though they are running at idle priority, for some reason windows doesn't give x264 more than 50% (one of two cores). I always need to stop the folding clients to get 100%.

Nothing at all , but Eset smart security tray icon and the sound controller ..

Either that, or one of those typical svchost 100% cpu bugs (that's one I haven't encountered for a while though ...). Or a spyware ...

@TheImperial2004 : What happens if you set the priority to "normal" or "higher than normal" ? Do the fps go back up ?

If I do that the system sometimes got chocked and hangs for a while , even the pointer moving becomes impossible , with no visible gains .

Edit : Could using Linux with AviDemux be the magic solution ? Especially with a lightweight flavor like Xubuntu ? I am afraid that either vista or Seven is sucking the CPU power ... :)

Thanks ...

LoRd_MuldeR

24th July 2009, 01:38

Edit : Could using Linux with AviDemux be the magic solution ? Especially with a lightweight flavor like Xubuntu ? I am afraid that either vista or Seven is sucking the CPU power ... :)

Nope, the OS itself shouldn't consume a considerable amount of CPU time. Even Windows Vista or 7 ;)

And since video encoding is highly CPU limited, your encoding speed is limited by the power of your CPU, not by the type of OS your are using.

Anyway, check the CPU load in Taskmanager while the system is idle. Is it at ~0%? If so, everything is okay. If not, something is wrong...

video_magic

24th July 2009, 01:45

It sounds like a CPU overheating issue, possibly?

It starts off okay, but then CPU throttling kicks in......

p.s. CPU throttling kicks in, and effectively slows your CPU down to perhaps 25percent of it's speed to allow it to run cooler, when a CPU has reached a threshold temperatur (from running at full capacity); this can be set in your BIOS/CMOS settings.

LoRd_MuldeR

24th July 2009, 01:47

Get HW Monitor and keep an eye on the CPU temperature:
http://cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Blue_MiSfit

24th July 2009, 02:11

It does kinda sound like a CPU overheating issue.

Let's see benchmarks and temps for both the AviDemux and CLI workflows.

Additionally, you can use CPU-Z to watch your clock frequencies. If you are overheating and throttling back, it will be easily visible in here.

~MiSfit

TheImperial2004

24th July 2009, 03:18

LoRd_MuldeR

24th July 2009, 03:27

Is this an overheating issue ?

Sounds like that, indeed. But what is the CPU temperature? Use HW Monitor (http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php) or CoreTemp (http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/) and check the CPU temperature while encoding or running Prime95.

If overheating turns out to be the problem, then the obvious solution is:

Clean the heat sink! If that doesn't help, remove and re-install the heat sink (with fresh thermal paste!). If that still doesn't help, get a better cooler!

BTW: The Intel "boxed" cooler isn't great (not "silent"), but it should keep your CPU at an acceptable temperature at least. I'm using the "boxed" cooler for my Q6600 as well ;)

(Unless something is totally screwed with your BIOS settings, overheating can't be fixed with adjusting BIOS settings)

Edit 2 : CPU usage is at 0% - 1% when the system is idle ..

Okay. So no "hidden" process or system service is stealing your CPU time, at least ;)

DeeGee

24th July 2009, 07:44

If the multiplier drops to 6 when the cpu is idle, that is just Intel's power saving feature. It should automatically rise back to 12.5 when cpu power is needed.

Blue_MiSfit

24th July 2009, 08:01

Did your CPU drop the multiplier when you ran x264?

If it dropped the multiplier when idle, that's normal (but your drop seems very large, mine isn't nearly as much).

~Misfit

Fr4nz

24th July 2009, 09:27

I'll try right away !

I am using Intel's stock cooler ...

Edit : Yup ! It seems something is wrong there , cause the CPU runs at a multiplier of 12.5x then decreased to a multiplier of 6.0x and that decreases the core speed from 2.55 to 1.2 GHz ...

Is this an overheating issue ?

What is the perfect solution ? Something in BIOS ?

Edit 2 : CPU usage is at 0% - 1% when the system is idle ..

If the multiplier goes down when x264 is working then it sounds as an overheating issue.

Anyway, the simplest thing to do is to blow away the dust inside your PC with an air compressor...you should see the quantity of dust that resides in your PC after a long time :D
I do it every 2-3 months and it helps to keep temps down!

If that doesn't work then there's something wrong with your CPU cooler...

DarkZell666

24th July 2009, 09:31

A temperature/cpu ratio problem is a possibility... except TheImperial2004 hasn't posted his results with x264 cli yet. If x264 cli works for him, the problem is elsewhere :)

m3mbran3

24th July 2009, 13:30

Intel's speedstep will drop the multiplier when the system is not heavily used. Perhaps try and manually set x264.exe to normal / high priority to avoid this happening. If that doesn't work then it is due to an overheating CPU.

LoRd_MuldeR

24th July 2009, 15:00

Intel's speedstep will drop the multiplier when the system is not heavily used.

When x264 is running, the system definitely is under "heavy" load, so speedstep won't lower multiplier in that case.

Process priories don't matter in this case at all! If I create ten processes with "high" priority, but all these processes are idle (more or less), then speedstep will lower the CPU clock anyway.

At the same time one single process running at "idle" priority (or any higher priority) and consuming a noteworthy amount of CPU time would prevent speedstep from lowering the CPU clock.

(Process priorities only matter when there are several processes, all requesting a lot of CPU time at the same moment. Then the scheduler needs to decide which process to serve first)

If you ever see the CPU clock drop while the system is under load (e.g. x264 running), this indicates an overheating problem !!!

It's not 100% clear from his description whether he saw the CPU clock drop while the system was idle -or- while he was encoding. We need clarification...

TheImperial2004

24th July 2009, 18:13

Sounds like that, indeed. But what is the CPU temperature? Use HW Monitor (http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php) or CoreTemp (http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/) and check the CPU temperature while encoding or running Prime95.

If overheating turns out to be the problem, then the obvious solution is:

Clean the heat sink! If that doesn't help, remove and re-install the heat sink (with fresh thermal paste!). If that still doesn't help, get a better cooler!

BTW: The Intel "boxed" cooler isn't great (not "silent"), but it should keep your CPU at an acceptable temperature at least. I'm using the "boxed" cooler for my Q6600 as well ;)

(Unless something is totally screwed with your BIOS settings, overheating can't be fixed with adjusting BIOS settings)

Okay. So no "hidden" process or system service is stealing your CPU time, at least ;)

My Processor temp was 103 as soon as I boot Windows . Is that normal ?

If the multiplier drops to 6 when the cpu is idle, that is just Intel's power saving feature. It should automatically rise back to 12.5 when cpu power is needed.

Yes , I can confirm it drops to 6.0x while encoding with AviDemux and returns to 12.5x for seconds and then drops back to 6.0x ...

Did your CPU drop the multiplier when you ran x264?

If it dropped the multiplier when idle, that's normal (but your drop seems very large, mine isn't nearly as much).

~Misfit

Yes , it does drop while encoding , with no other values except 6.0x

If the multiplier goes down when x264 is working then it sounds as an overheating issue.

Anyway, the simplest thing to do is to blow away the dust inside your PC with an air compressor...you should see the quantity of dust that resides in your PC after a long time :D
I do it every 2-3 months and it helps to keep temps down!

If that doesn't work then there's something wrong with your CPU cooler...

I cleaned the case , replaced the thermo paste , but it still runs at 6.0x :mad:

A temperature/cpu ratio problem is a possibility... except TheImperial2004 hasn't posted his results with x264 cli yet. If x264 cli works for him, the problem is elsewhere :)

Nope , the CLI version benchmarks are exactly the same as AviDemux's ... drops till 7 - 8 frames ( 2 - 3 frames if the source is a CG clip )

Intel's speedstep will drop the multiplier when the system is not heavily used. Perhaps try and manually set x264.exe to normal / high priority to avoid this happening. If that doesn't work then it is due to an overheating CPU.

It is no good as it renders the system unusable .. :)

When x264 is running, the system definitely is under "heavy" load, so speedstep won't lower multiplier in that case.

Process priories don't matter in this case at all! If I create ten processes with "high" priority, but all these processes are idle (more or less), then speedstep will lower the CPU clock anyway.

At the same time one single process running at "idle" priority (or any higher priority) and consuming a noteworthy amount of CPU time would prevent speedstep from lowering the CPU clock.

(Process priorities only matter when there are several processes, all requesting a lot of CPU time at the same moment. Then the scheduler needs to decide which process to serve first)

If you ever see the CPU clock drop while the system is under load (e.g. x264 running), this indicates an overheating problem !!!

It's not 100% clear from his description whether he saw the CPU clock drop while the system was idle -or- while he was encoding. We need clarification...

Yes Mulder , it drops to 6.0x while encoding ... I played with my BIOS settings to turn that feature off . But my CPU reaches around 160C and the motherboard cut the power off to protect the CPU from damage :rolleyes:

Edit : I have a PS3 .. I am thinking of installing linux on it and use AviDemux there , so I can take advantage of 7 Core Cell processor :) what do you think ?

LoRd_MuldeR

24th July 2009, 19:04

My Processor temp was 103 as soon as I boot Windows . Is that normal ?

No, that's certainly not normal! My Q6600, which isn't known to run very cool, runs at ~55°C under Windows without significant load.

That is with the crappy Intel "boxed" cooler, by the way ;)

Yes Mulder , it drops to 6.0x while encoding ... I played with my BIOS settings to turn that feature off . But my CPU reaches around 160C and the motherboard cut the power off to protect the CPU from damage :rolleyes

Holy sh*t! You are going to destroy your CPU, if you keep on using it like that. Emergency power off this close to CPU death :eek:

The CPU temperature should never exceed ~70°C. I highly recommend to clean (or re-install) your heat sink before it's too late !!!

Maybe the heat sink is just clogged. Or it wasn't installed properly. Or the thermal paste wasn't applied correctly. Be careful, don't use too much of it!

And if you can't fix the overheating problems with the "boxed" cooler, you really should replace it with a better one...

I cleaned the case , replaced the thermo paste , but it still runs at 6.0x

Heat accumulation could be the problem.

Do you have case fans? You should have at least two: One on the front to absorb fresh air, one on the back to blow out hot air.

Maybe try this: Keep the case open and put a ventilator next to the case...

DeeGee

24th July 2009, 19:16

Daym, have you checked if the fan rotates at all? Or if the cooler is properly placed? temperatures over 80C are never normal (even on overclocked machines), so 100 and 160 are way over.

TheImperial2004

24th July 2009, 21:13

No, that's certainly not normal! My Q6600, which isn't known to run very cool, runs at ~55°C under Windows without significant load.

That is with the crappy Intel "boxed" cooler, by the way ;)

Holy sh*t! You are going to destroy your CPU, if you keep on using it like that. Emergency power off this close to CPU death :eek:

The CPU temperature should never exceed ~70°C. I highly recommend to clean (or re-install) your heat sink before it's too late !!!

Maybe the heat sink is just clogged. Or it wasn't installed properly. Or the thermal paste wasn't applied correctly. Be careful, don't use too much of it!

And if you can't fix the overheating problems with the "boxed" cooler, you really should replace it with a better one...

Heat accumulation could be the problem.

Do you have case fans? You should have at least two: One on the front to absorb fresh air, one on the back to blow out hot air.

Maybe try this: Keep the case open and put a ventilator next to the case...

LOL :) It was the heatsink wasn't installed properly ! I replaced it aaaaand ! see for yourself !

http://theimperial2004.googlepages.com/Capture.gif

CPU heat never exceed 72C !

CPU usage is fully utilized by AviDemux !

CPU multiplier never drops ! Stays at 12.5x all the time !

AviDemux is encoding at : 24 - 28 FPS !

:)

Daym, have you checked if the fan rotates at all? Or if the cooler is properly placed? temperatures over 80C are never normal (even on overclocked machines), so 100 and 160 are way over.

Yes , I have 2 fans , One for the CPU and the other is for the case ... It was just that those fans were not enough without a heatsink :rolleyes:

:thanks:

Edit : Do you think that 72C is still too much ?

LoRd_MuldeR

24th July 2009, 21:34

Edit : Do you think that 72C is still too much ?

Could be a bit lower yes. It seems the maximum temperature for this kind of CPU is 74.1°C ;)

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAPC

TheImperial2004

24th July 2009, 21:46

Could be a bit lower yes. It seems the maximum temperature for this kind of CPU is 74.1°C ;)

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAPC
I must replace this stock cooler with a new one , although I am really impressed of what I got now !

P.S. : I tried to encode a complex CG clip , and I got around 23 - 25 FPS ...

Thank You So Much For Enlighten Me , I've never thought that high temp could be this problematic !

Atak_Snajpera

24th July 2009, 21:51

Could be a bit lower yes. It seems the maximum temperature for this kind of CPU is 74.1°C
I think it's 100C. Just few hours ago I had similiar problem. Very hot cpu in idle. My Q6600@3ghz was around 50C! During Linpack test i had even 98C! And guess what. My cpu was still stable. CPU did not reduce speed at all! However I knew that this not normal so I decided to check fan. Problem was solved when I removed old paste and applied new. Now I have 35C in idle and no more than 75C during linpack test.

TheImperial2004

24th July 2009, 21:58

I think it's 100C. Just few hours ago I had similiar problem. Very hot cpu in idle. My Q6600@3ghz was around 50C! During Linpack test i had even 98C! And guess what. My cpu was still stable. CPU did not reduce speed at all! However I knew that this not normal so I decided to check fan. Problem was solved when I removed old paste and applied new. Now I have 35C in idle and no more than 75C during linpack test.
I guess so , thats because my mobo powered off when my CPU temp reached 160+ C

Now , it never exceed 72C while encoding at a high quality AVC ...

m3mbran3

25th July 2009, 14:45

72 degrees Celsius should be fine, although you could always gets an aftermarket cooler and reduce your temps to around 50-60 which can't hurt the longevity of your CPU.

Fr4nz

25th July 2009, 14:52

I must replace this stock cooler with a new one , although I am really impressed of what I got now !

P.S. : I tried to encode a complex CG clip , and I got around 23 - 25 FPS ...

Thank You So Much For Enlighten Me , I've never thought that high temp could be this problematic !

Keep in mind also that for a proper CPU cooling you should use a good thermal compound instead of those thermal pads given with the original coolers...

Blue_MiSfit

25th July 2009, 23:06

72c is perfectly fine... I've used a bunch of Dell workstations with B3 stepping Q6600s (the really hot, first revision), and they frequently went into the low 80s during encoding. All Dell approved :)

No point in upgrading your cooler if you're not going to overclock IMO.

My 3GHz Q6600 usually goes into the low to mid 70s when encoding (With a Scythe Ninja cooler and a quiet, all 120mm cooled P180 case). I don't worry at all.

~MiSfit

LoRd_MuldeR

25th July 2009, 23:22

According to CoreTemp my Q6600 (it's the "hot" B3 stepping) runs at ~58°C under full load (x264 encoding of 1080p content). And according to HW Monitor it runs at ~70°C.

Obviously one of them is wrong! But I'm not sure which one is the correct one. The latter sounds more realistic to me. Still that's okay, given that I'm using the crappy "boxed" heat sink and fan.

(Not that my Q6600 is running at stock clock speed of 2400 MHz, an overclocked could run significant hotter)

ghostonline

25th July 2009, 23:45

coretemp/realtemp are more accurate than pretty much anything else in term of software measure.
they all use dts sensors on the cpu die. unless those sensors on your cpu are all broken, then they give you most accurate reading.

thermal numbers on intel website are not measured on die. those # can't be used to compare with readings from those software.

for example, realtemp, as long as the distance to TjMax does not reach to 0 for each core, you are fine. cooler is indeed better, but only useful if you want to keep that cpu for long long long period....

anyway, people, just go and read http://intel.wingateweb.com/taiwan08/published/sessions/TPWS002/FA08%20IDF-Taipei_TPWS002_Nov_1006.pdf

Atak_Snajpera

26th July 2009, 21:27

According to CoreTemp my Q6600 (it's the "hot" B3 stepping) runs at ~58°C under full load (x264 encoding of 1080p content). And according to HW Monitor it runs at ~70°C.
I only use program provided by mainboard manufacture (Gigabyte) because it can read temp directly from BIOS.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3100/new1avk.png