Media Content Encoding

New iTunes version remained optimized only for processors with two cores. However, during video encoding quad-core processors show their true potential. Their performance corresponds to their price except the results from x264 codec when Phenom X4 9950 performs very well.

Note that low clock frequency of the Core 2 Quad Q8200 doesn’t prevent this CPU from outperforming Core 2 Quad Q6600. Due to newer dies with microarchitectural improvements and SSE4.1 support, Yorkfield processors are in most cases faster than their predecessors from the Kentsfield generation.