Media Encoding Tests
LAME 3.97a MT MP3 EncoderThis version of the LAME MP3 encoder is multi-threaded and takes advantage of two threads.
Our LAME 3.97a MP3 maxes out with two threads of processing and as such the speed up from the single-core CPU to the dual-core Atom is pretty modest: 13% or so. However, the VIA Nano is STILL faster than both of the Atom offerings by 16-17% or so.
Windows Media Encoder x64
WME is a great video encoding application that supports WMV9 HD codecs and more.
The Atom 330 is able to reclaim a performance lead over the VIA Nano by a healthy 40% with its four threads being utilized by the Windows Media Encoder application. When looking at the Atom-to-Atom performance differences we see a very noticeable 65% performance increase for the 330.
Handbrake
Known mainly for its DVD re-encoding prowess, our test uses the Handbrake command line interface.
Our DVD compression application shows a more than 2x improvement in speed with the move to a dual-core Atom processor.
WinRAR 3.80
Though a stretch to be called a ‘media encoding’ test, the WinRAR benchmark is responsible for testing compression speed.
Our WinRAR results are less impressive and actually show the dual-core CPU to be slower than the single core version. Obviously the CPU is not a bottleneck on this system – likely the storage system or even the memory system is to blame here.
