[FFmpeg-user] Best CPU for ffmpeg

[Tim Nicholson]

On 27/01/14 23:45, Josh Hardman wrote:
> I'm just getting familiar with ffmpeg and I am looking for CPU
> recommendations.  I'm looking at building a machine with Fedora that will
> primarily be used for HD video encodings.
> 
> Does ffmpeg automatically use multiple cores?  Is that a compile config
> option?  How do I see if my RPM was compiled with that option?
> 

See the description of the -threads option in the docs.


> Similarly, what about a machine with multiple physical CPU's?  Same
> questions as the core questions.
> 
> Finally, does anyone have experience with XEON vs i7 for ffmpeg?
> 

I regularly run ffmpeg on dual 6 core hyperthreaded Xeon's and keep all
cores/v cores running nearly flat out. However it does depend upon what
you are doing including filtering and codec. Some operations do not
support threading as they are difficult to parallelise, and can be a
bottle neck. However if I'm doing those sorts of things* I just run a
few instances of ffmpeg to keep all cores busy.


> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 

* Some filters for example.

-- 
Tim