Video Encoding: i7-740QM vs i5-2500k

Hey guys, I'm looking towards buying Adobe Premiere Elements (w/e latest version) and I'm wondering which would be better for video encoding, my laptop's i7 740qm 1.73ghz 4 physical cores (+ 4 logical processors) or my desktop's i5 2500k 3.3ghz 4 physical cores (no hyperthreading). I've heard more cores means faster video encoding. My i7 has more cores, but my i5 is faster.

Which would be a good computer to install it in?

 

They have the same number of cores.

Virtual cores are just virtual, it helps marginally in some tasks but a 100% load on all 4 cores is a 100% load on all 4 cores be it 4 threads or 8.

Even if they gave some boost they would need to give almost a full 100% boost since the desktop cpu has almost 2x the clock speed.

Without a doubt the desktop wins and its unlocked so you can overclock it. My 2600K is overclocked to 4.5ghz.

Encoding is one area the 2600K is worth the few extra $$$ over the 2500K

 

So clock speed matters, mostly. Alright. Thanks, I guess it'll be for my desktop instead. When someone made the comparison between the 2500k and the i7 2600k, majority of people agreed that the i7 would be better in video encoding because of its hyperthreading.

 

Yep the i7 is better due to hyper threading, and cache.

If you had a 2600K and 2500K at the same clock speed the i7 2600K would win out easily but your laptops i7 is way slower the hyperthreading is only a minor boost in some types of encoding.

 

My 2500k @ 4.2 ghz gets ~140-150 fps in Handbrake. My 740qm gets ~30-40, which is about on par with the 3.4ghz Core 2 Duo I used to use. It's not even a contest.

Between a 2600k and a 2500k, the hyperthreading is never going to be enough to justify the ~$100 price increase.

 

Well, it is up to each individual to decide whether $100 is worth it for HT, most of the time the answer will be no.

As it's been said, the 2500K will win hands down and that's not even considering overclocking. On top of having higher clock speed, do not forget that the 2500K is one generation younger than the 740qm and that means that for the same clock speeds, you'd still see an increase in performance all else being equal. Just did a recent check for someone on another forum and the i5-2500K gives better performance than an i7-950 in most usage scenarios according to anandtech.

 

And the 2500K has Intel 3000 HD graphics which allows Quick Synch: Adobe* Premiere* Pro/Premiere* Elements Encoder plug-in using Intel® Media SDK and Intel® Quick Sync Video Technology - Intel® Software Network