NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Preview


LAME MT and Sony Vegas

In our custom LAME MT MP3 encoding test, we convert a large WAV file to the MP3 format, which is a very popular scenario that many end users work with on a day-to-day basis to provide portability and storage of their digital audio content. 

LAME MT MP3 Encoding Test
Converting a Large WAV To MP3

In this test, we created our own 223MB WAV file (a never-ending Grateful Dead jam) and converted it to the MP3 format using the multi-thread capable LAME MT application in single and multi-thread modes. Processing times are recorded below. Once again, shorter times equate to better performance.

Things couldn't have been closer in our custom LAME MT audio encoding benchmark.  In this test, all three of the Intel powered systems finished with the exact same score, which was significantly faster than the AMD-powered system.

Sony Vegas Digital Video Rendering Test
Video Rendering Performance

Sony's Vegas DV editing software is heavily multithreaded as it processes and mixes both audio and video streams.  This is a new breed of digital video editing software that takes full advantage of current dual and multi-core processor architectures.

The graph above makes it look like there is a relatively large delta separating the 975X Express, 680i SLI, and 590 SLI Intel Edition motherboards, but things are not always exactly as they appear. Performance with the same platform can vary by about 5-10 seconds in the Sony Vegas benchmark from run to run. Our results put the 975X Express on top, followed by the 680i SLI, but we consider the 12 second delta separating the two platforms small when we take into account the slight variability in this test.


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