Question Only getting about 40% CPU utilization

[jamesdsimone]

Finally got the z420 E5-2695v2 up and running. Everything is configured except the USB 3.0 drivers. I cranked up Handbrake to see how it runs and I'm only getting about 40% utilization. All 12 core/24 threads were working but only at 40%. I have never worked with a Xeon so not sure if that is normal behavior.

 

[Zepp]

It generally comes down to your settings. I've read that It's hard to parallelize h.264/h.265 encoding well without impacting quality, resulting in a limit to the number of threads x265 can make decent use out of.

I was getting similar lower utilization in my encodes so I started running 2 jobs at once. Which for the first time in many years required me to upgrade the CPU cooling to compensate. was hitting near thermal throttle.

 

[Hitman928]

Also largely depends on the resolution you are encoding. The higher the resolution the more threads Handbrake will be able to use effectively. On my 5900x (12c/24t) I typically get around 50 -70% utilization with 1080p, x265 videos, but I just did a 4K HDR x265 encode last night and was seeing 80 - 95% utilization.

 

[Thunder 57]

Guys above got it right. Run a CPU becnhmark. I use the "CPU Burner" in Furmark. It lets you select how many threads to use. If I use them all, it instantly goes to 100%.

 

[jamesdsimone]

It generally comes down to your settings. I've read that It's hard to parallelize h.264/h.265 encoding well without impacting quality, resulting in a limit to the number of threads x265 can make decent use out of.

I was getting similar lower utilization in my encodes so I started running 2 jobs at once. Which for the first time in many years required me to upgrade the CPU cooling to compensate. was hitting near thermal throttle.

I get 100% utilization on all 8 cores with my FX8350. Also my i7-4790 and i7-6700 both use 100% cores and threads. With one encode my 5900X hits about 55% but with 2 encodes it hits 100%. I'll hook up a second DVD drive and see if utilization goes up.

 

[Thunder 57]

I get 100% utilization on all 8 cores with my FX8350. Also my i7-4790 and i7-6700 both use 100% cores and threads. With one encode my 5900X hits about 55% but with 2 encodes it hits 100%. I'll hook up a second DVD drive and see if utilization goes up.

Those are all considerably weaker CPU's. Interested in your findings though.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Those are all considerably weaker CPU's. Interested in your findings though

I know which is why I was asking. I am getting about 17fps at the settings I use with the i7-6700. The E5-2695v2 gave me about 22fps. That was transcoding 1 DVD. The i7-6700 is hovering at about average 95%. Lowest it gets is 92% and goes up to 100%.

 

[coercitiv]

Finally got the z420 E5-2695v2 up and running. Everything is configured except the USB 3.0 drivers. I cranked up Handbrake to see how it runs and I'm only getting about 40% utilization. All 12 core/24 threads were working but only at 40%. I have never worked with a Xeon so not sure if that is normal behavior.

You saw the same behavior on a 5900X and people already took the time to explain why Handbrake has problems scaling with more cores in this previous thread of yours.

It's the same scenario with the same workload, so the outcome stays the same.

 

[Thunder 57]

You saw the same behavior on a 5900X and people already took the time to explain why Handbrake has problems scaling with more cores in this previous thread of yours.

It's the same scenario with the same workload, so the outcome stays the same.

Good memory. I forgot about that thread. I think the biggest problem here is the low resolution transcode. Lower resolutions just don't get as much out of a CPU. You mention DVD's so we re talking 480p here.

I have never worked with a Xeon so not sure if that is normal behavior.

And it looks like you already had the answer from the last thread. Just run multiple instances at once. Not sure why you expected a Xeon to be different.

 

[Zepp]

I think the biggest problem here is the low resolution transcode. Lower resolutions just don't get as much out of a CPU.

yeah, that's the primary reason my jobs lately don't get high CPU load, I'm doing a lot of encoding to 720p.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Did some testing. With my 5900x and one DVD transcoding I get 55% CPU load and between 60-65fps. The E5-2695v2 only uses 40% and gets 22-23fps. With 2 DVD coding at the same time the 5900x goes to 95-100% load and 90-95fps. The E5-2695v2 goes to 80% CPU load and 40-45fps. Interesting that the Xeon leaves 20% of CPU resources unused.