Aggghh, help me please, graphics card for encoding

[Lakes_Puma]

I am looking to upgrade my ageing graphics card, I don't play games but use my machine for video conversion, e.g. ripping my Blu-Rays to MKV's to put on my NAS for playback through my Popcorn Hour.

I currently use Handbrake to encode to x.264 codec, and this can take several hours on my slightly ageing PC (Intel core 2 Q6600) I'm looking to upgrade at some point to a AMD hex core, but in the meantime want to boost performance so which is the best way to go with regards to graphics card.

I also do Photoshop editing and Premier editing so want a card that can improve these tasks also.

Would I be better off getting some form of internal GPU card instead?

Please help me!!!

[Pob255]

Full spec's please.

handbrake only uses cpu AFAIK so a graphics card will have no effect on it (why CAT used it for the HEXUS cpu performance chart.)

[Lakes_Puma]

Full specs;
Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
4GB DDR2 memory
ASUS P5Q Pro motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT
Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD
Samsung 750GB HDD
Seasonic 650W power supply

anything else?

[wasabi]

Go for nvidia CUDA based cards. The only program that supports AMD Radeons that I'm aware of is MediaExpresso. Which while handy for converting to portable devices is very limited in config options and high end features (e.g. can't cope with surround sound well at all)

[kalniel]

Go for nvidia CUDA based cards. The only program that supports AMD Radeons that I'm aware of is MediaExpresso. Which while handy for converting to portable devices is very limited in config options and high end features (e.g. can't cope with surround sound well at all)

Completely misleading advice there

Photoshop supports acceleration by all recent nVidia and AMD cards - even Intel graphics as long as they have openCL support and enough VRAM.

However as mentioned before, handbrake is entirely CPU based, no GPU acceleration at all, so the graphics card isn't important.

Both AMD and nVidia accelerate other encoding tools - AMD even provide transcoders for free with their cards, but the quality is not as good as for CPU encoding via handbrake.

So the advice should be to think about a CPU upgrade. Modern Intel chips also have the ability to use their inbuilt graphics for quick-sync encoding, which is both very fast and higher quality than nVidia and AMD based encoding. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...-2100-tested/8

But this isn't (yet) supported by Handbrake. I've got a feeling of all the GPU accelerated methods, quick-sync is the one most likely to be able to be used with Handbrake in the future.

[wasabi]

Completely misleading advice there

Photoshop supports acceleration by all recent nVidia and AMD cards - even Intel graphics as long as they have openCL support and enough VRAM.

However as mentioned before, handbrake is entirely CPU based, no GPU acceleration at all, so the graphics card isn't important.

Both AMD and nVidia accelerate other encoding tools - AMD even provide transcoders for free with their cards, but the quality is not as good as for CPU encoding via handbrake.

So the advice should be to think about a CPU upgrade. Modern Intel chips also have the ability to use their inbuilt graphics for quick-sync encoding, which is both very fast and higher quality than nVidia and AMD based encoding. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...-2100-tested/8

But this isn't (yet) supported by Handbrake. I've got a feeling of all the GPU accelerated methods, quick-sync is the one most likely to be able to be used with Handbrake in the future.

I didn't mention Photoshop so I don't know why you're bringing that up.

Avivo on Radeon is pretty much useless. Looks / acts like an abandonware pre-beta.

Agree with your overall conclusion though - handbrake and a fast CPU is probably still the best way to go for quality results -

I've tried several of the GPU tools at home and work (incl mediaexpresso on my home Radeon and badaboom on nvidia at work) . They're all OK for transcoding to iphones and the likes, rubbish for quality output. I'd still give the nod to badaboom / CUDA though

A good(ish) article on the subject is
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...sync,2839.html

mediaconvertor 7 'might' be good on ATI - not seen it in action

[kalniel]

I didn't mention Photoshop so I don't know why you're bringing that up.

Sorry, thought it was obvious from the OP:

I also do Photoshop editing and Premier editing so want a card that can improve these tasks also.

Avivo on Radeon is pretty much useless.

That's what I said. Same as Cuda accelerated efforts - poor quality.

mediaconvertor 7 'might' be good on ATI - not seen it in action

See the link I posted This page if you need it:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...-2100-tested/9
They find the ATI, QuickSync and x86 quality to be good, the nVidia to be poor, for the most part.

[Lakes_Puma]

So given my usage would I be best to get a Intel Core i7 2600K or an AMD Hex core 1090T and pretty much any half decent graphics card?

[kalniel]

So given my usage would I be best to get a Intel Core i7 2600K or an AMD Hex core 1090T and pretty much any half decent graphics card?

Yes, basically!

[Lakes_Puma]

OK, cheers, before going too far off topic which CPU would give me the best performance?

[EvanJackPenn]

At this current moment, the i7-2600k is Intel's flagship. That's where the best performance, in most areas, currently lays.

[shaithis]

Well, it depends on the budget....or whether you want the best bang-for-buck.

At the upper end.....

You have the AMD hex cores which give best bang-for-buck.

Then for ultimate speed, you have the intel hex cores and AMD 12 cores....but that's around £500 minimum for CPU, plus a pricey motherboard to go with it.

The 2500k and 2600k fit somewhere in-between.

If it were for business....I'd say the £500+ options were bargains.....but it's not.....and as you do not game I would say you might as well go with best bang-for-buck. The current hex core AMDs represent great value for you but still, Bulldozer is almost here.......try and eek the Q6600 out a bit more

[Pob255]

Also overclocking that q6600 if you're not already will give a decent bump in performance.