Should I upgrade my CPU

[sgibbers]

I currently have a Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor. Would I see a significant decrease in encoding time if I went to a Core 2 Quad at 2.5GHz or would I have to get a faster Core 2 Quad? The 2.5GHz is about $150 and the 3.0GHz Quad is $340.

[TedJ]

Doubling the cores will more than compensate for the decrease in clock speed.

[sgibbers]

Doubling the cores will more than compensate for the decrease in clock speed.

What kind of increase of encoding speed will I see, 20-30%?

[Deleted User 11865]

Dual 3.0 GHz vs. Quad 2.5 Ghz, same processor family and generation?
At least 40%, probably 50% (i.e. encodes will be 1.5x shorter; e.g. 24 minutes -> 16 minutes).

BTW the prices you mentioned seem to match Newegg; there's a 2.66 GHz C2Q for $170 (should provide an additional 5% boost).

[sgibbers]

Dual 3.0 GHz vs. Quad 2.5 Ghz, same processor family and generation?
At least 40%, probably 50% (i.e. encodes will be 1.5x shorter; e.g. 24 minutes -> 16 minutes).

BTW the prices you mentioned seem to match Newegg; there's a 2.66 GHz C2Q for $170 (should provide an additional 5% boost).

That would be a great improvement over my current FPS, which are at an average of 8.9FPS on the Apple TV2 preset encoding a blu-ray.

[Deleted User 11865]

Note that decoding is currently not threaded, so the improvements may not be as noticeable for high bitrate 1080p sources (still, if I am not mistaken you should be able to get a 20-30% improvement or better).

[sgibbers]

I Overclock my 3.0GHz core 2 duo to 3.75GHz and saw a >20% increase in FPS. Stable on the stock heat sink but I am going to get a better one and see if I can take it further. I have read that this CPU can go to 4GHz without adjusting voltage or water cooling.