AMD Athlon II VS. Phenom II processors

s k r o o t a y p wrote on 5/23/2010, 9:08 PM
hearing people talking about intel i7 processors as a basis for editing AVCHD but even the i3 seems just above my price range.

so, to notch it down a bit, how does the (more affordable) AMD Athlon II stack up to the (loftier) AMD Phenom II (both in the quad core variety). would i see a significant difference? i think i can snag an Athlon II Quad for $500.

thanks!
david

Comments

david_f_knight wrote on 5/24/2010, 12:28 PM
You might want to hold off on buying that new PC for a bit... Vegas Movie Studio HD-Platinum 10 and Vegas Movie Studio HD-Platinum 10 Suite are scheduled to be released for sale in the US on June 8, 2010. According to one review, it handles AVCHD much better than version 9 of the software, including previewing AVCHD with transitions and effects smoothly (the review didn't provide their PC's specs). Anyway, no details have been released yet, but it seems likely that if AVCHD with transitions and effects previews smoothly, that the graphics accelerator may be used. If so, if you don't already have a suitable graphics accelerator, just upgrading that one component in your computer might be all you need to do. Or, if your PC already has one, you may be set to go just as you are. Here's the thread with the discussion (start reading from 5/21/2010).
s k r o o t a y p wrote on 5/24/2010, 6:28 PM
thanks david!
just one question after reading your article on proxies & intermediates. can you describe exactly what Cineform is as a format. when you change your HD files to Cineform, what do they become? is it still HD or a cross between HD and AVI? to what degree is it modified or scaled back?

thanks,
david
david_f_knight wrote on 5/25/2010, 8:20 AM
You're welcome.

I haven't written an article on proxies and intermediates. I believe Eugenia has. Cineform NeoScene is not a format but a program. I've never used it, but you can use it to convert HD in one format to HD in another format without any reduction in resolution. I think you probably have control over the conversion parameters, so that if you desire you can have a lossless conversion (i.e., no image or audio degradation). AVI is a "container" format and doesn't imply HD or SD. In other words, AVI can hold either SD video or HD video or probably any other resolution you can think of.