Add to Reddit
x264 HD Benchmark
by graysky
Contents
- What Is x264 HD Benchmark?
- Download The Benchmark Here!
- Initial Setup
- Running The Benchmark
- Reporting Results
- Results to Date
- Benchmark & FAQs
What Is x264 HD Benchmark?
Simply put, it is a reproducible measure of fast your machine can encode a short, HD-quality video clip into a high quality x264 video file. It's nice because everyone running it will use the same video clip and software. The video encoder (x264.exe) reports a fairly accurate internal benchmark (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encode and it also uses multi-core processors very efficiently. All these factors make this an ideal benchmark to compare different processors and systems to each other.
What's x264? It's more or less the next generation Xvid/DivX codec.
You'll notice that the whole thing is pretty simplistic since I have no programming skills to speak of. The test simply consists of the needed executables and the video file all driven by a batch file that'll kick off the x264 encode and write a "results.txt" that you can upload along with your machine specs for comparison purposes (see reporting results below).
Download The Benchmark Here!
Want to see how your machine scores and/or contribute data? Download a copy here - 
The md5sum for this RAR file is f9bbc9c4bb36c0955db78c05ad258c65.
Initial Setup
Download and install AviSynth 2.5.7 (needed to run the benchmark). You can get it from this link or by simply double-clicking on the link provided in the benchmark package.
Then extract the files in the RAR package to a folder of your choice. If you do not already have WinRAR, you can download a copy here.
That's it!
Running The Benchmark
Simply double-click on the x264_benchmark-720p.vbs file. It will launch a window that appears like this :
Before the benchmark begins, you will be asked to enter a file name for the results. It really doesn't matter what you use; but be descriptive - it helps you remember which set of results corresponds to which overclock or computer.
In my example, I just used the multiplier and FSB as the file name (9x333 for example), but again, you can use any file name you want. After you hit <ENTER>, the benchmark will start.
It will run through a 2-pass encode of a short 1280x720 video clip a total of four times and then write a file containing the results along with relevant system specs.
Please do not use your machine while the test runs to allow for an accurate result.
You can test your machine at different overclocked levels, but it is a good idea to also test it @ its stock level as a baseline so you can compare the overclocked results to it.
Here is an example of the data output when the benchmark finishes:
| Example 720p_results-8.5x400.rtf |
x264 HD BENCHMARK RESULTS |
Reporting Results
Results will be published here at Tech ARP (the x264 Benchmark's official host) for all to view. If you would like to contribute your results, simply post the contents of your results.rtf (or whatever you ended-up renaming it) to this forum thread or any of the many other threads I created around the 'web.
Since the output is merely a text file, you can recognize the potential for people to cheat by simply making-up their own results, or skewing the real data.
I don't know of a way to eliminate this (as I said, I really have no programming experience). All I can say about this is please don't. No one will think you're cool because you have faster numbers and I am not publicizing results with your name by it (data is anonymous) so there are no bragging rights, etc.
Enjoy and thanks for participating!
-gs
Benchmark Results to Date
All the results come from people like you who download the benchmark, then post their results. Here is a histogram snapshot of all the data collected to date broken down by processor types (manufacture's codenames). This graphic will update as more data comes in (usually every few days or so). Thanks to all who have contributed!
Click the above to view all the data in html format sorted in ascending order by total encoding time (fastest on top).
Click the above to view all the data in html format sorted in alphabetically by processor name.
Based on the data submitted by you guys, I threw together a simple linear estimator: you can enter the desired core speed, and the spreadsheet will estimate the machine's likely score in this benchmark. Please note that extrapolating the data beyond what was used to generate the model will likely not give accurate results. For example, 0.1 GHz or 5.0 GHz, etc. Also know that some processors cannot physically reach the level you specify, for example, AMD quads (Agena) are hard pressed to exceed 3.0 GHz. Intel quads (Yorkfield/Kentsfield) are hard pressed to exceed about 4.2 GHz, etc.
The n=x above refers to the number of data points (computers) used to generate the prediction formula. R2 (R-squared) is the correlation coefficient of linear regression fit method. The closer the R-squared value is to 1.0, the more perfect the model fits the actual data. If you would like to see the actual data curves (lines since I used a simple linear fit) used to generate the model, click here. Again, they do a pretty good job!
Click here to download the data in MS Excel format so you can view/manipulate
it on your own! The file contains the full dataset you can sort and study. Use
it to help decide which processor you might want to purchase, compare your results
to other machines, play with the calculator, make graphs, etc.
Benchmark FAQs
If you're curious about the video file, x264 encoding and other details about this benchmark, go on to the next page for the benchmark FAQs.
Questions & Comments
Please feel free to post your questions or comments here!
| Date | Revision | Revision History |
15-03-2008 |
1.0 |
Initial Release |
17-04-2008 |
1.2 |
This release automatically inserts the relevant hardware details into the results.rtf file as well as gives users the option to run version 0.59.819 of x264.exe which is 10-15 % faster than the original! |
29-04-2008 |
2.0 |
This major revision adds script detection for Windows Vista with UAC enabled. |
