[x264-devel] core i5 2x00

[Måns Rullgård]

Jason Garrett-Glaser <darkshikari at gmail.com> writes:

> On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 1:39 AM, Jure Pecar <pegasus at nerv.eu.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Intel is promising some very interesting enhancements both for
>> decoding and *encoding* (of h264?) in their future "sandy bridge"
>> based CPUs. See:
>> http://www.anandtech.com/show/3922/intels-sandy-bridge-architecture-exposed/6
>>
>> I postponed a decision to get a new video editing machine after I
>> saw this :)
>>
>> My question: would x264 code need to be adapted to use this piece
>> of hardware? How complex would the change be?
>
> x264 is a software encoder.  Having it "use" a hardware encoder would
> be like having a Toyota Prius "use" a Honda Civic to go faster.
> They're two different, separate things.
>
> The only numbers I've seen for their hardware encoder put it at
> roughly 5 times slower than x264, making it useless.  

As long as it is fast enough it can still be useful by freeing up the
CPU.  What fast enough means obviously depends on what you are trying
to do.

-- 
Måns Rullgård
mans at mansr.com