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View Full Version : Mezzmo - 100% CPU transcoding even on Quad Core CPU



li21
07-29-2012, 05:04 PM
Hi all

Today I went and got a Athlon X4 640 3.0ghz CPU just for the purpose of Mezzmo transcoding..

I've had nothing but issues with stopping and stuttering and 100% CPU maxxed out on my Dual Core Athlon.
So I thought this replacement would fix it..

But still I'm maxing out 100% and the transcoding status says "too slow @ xxFPS"

transcoding settings: WD TV Live Profile, Normal CPU Priority, Quality on my device is 4 notches from the left (lower quality)

Anyone know why this is ?
Seems to happen with ALL videos that are HD / Bluray rips.
They will play fine for a while but sooner or later the video will catch up with the transcoding progress.

I also just reformatted and Freshly installed WIndows to make sure it wasn't windows screwing with it.. but its not.

I would have though a Quad core CPU would have been more than adequate?

Anyone else having these issues?

Paul
07-30-2012, 10:25 AM
Some Blu-ray rips can have very high bitrates and if Mezzmo (using ffmpeg.exe) needs to do a full transcode, then it will require a lot of CPU and RAM.

Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we may have a patch that can help reduce the requirement for a full transcode (and do a quicker remux instead). In your email to us, please include a set of logs when you try to stream your Blu-ray rip. This will help us pinpoint any bottlenecks in your setup. Turn transcoding on (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/419-FAQ-How-to-turn-on-diagnostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Connect to Mezzmo server using your WD TV Live and play the Blu-ray rip. After it starts to stutter, stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all the logs & send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

smitbret
08-02-2012, 02:42 AM
Hi all

Today I went and got a Athlon X4 640 3.0ghz CPU just for the purpose of Mezzmo transcoding..

I've had nothing but issues with stopping and stuttering and 100% CPU maxxed out on my Dual Core Athlon.
So I thought this replacement would fix it..

But still I'm maxing out 100% and the transcoding status says "too slow @ xxFPS"

transcoding settings: WD TV Live Profile, Normal CPU Priority, Quality on my device is 4 notches from the left (lower quality)

Anyone know why this is ?
Seems to happen with ALL videos that are HD / Bluray rips.
They will play fine for a while but sooner or later the video will catch up with the transcoding progress.

I also just reformatted and Freshly installed WIndows to make sure it wasn't windows screwing with it.. but its not.

I would have though a Quad core CPU would have been more than adequate?

Anyone else having these issues?

I don't think what you are experiencing is abnormal. I have an AMD Phenom IIx4 955 that is overclocked to 3.8Ghz and transcoding a raw BR rip to 1080p still challenges that. Most of my streaming is to a WD Live so I'm able to disable transcoding competely, but I do have a couple of other devices that need OTF Transcoding.

I just played with my system after reading your post and I would think your results are consistent. I have a couple of DirecTV HDDVRs that require me to transcode everything to MPEG-2 so I ran a quick test with my BR rip of Aliens. I was unable to transcode with my CPU when it was set to 1080p, regardless of quality. I did notice in the task manager that FFMpeg's CPU usage never got above 70% even with priority set to "very high". The fps ran between 13fps and 28fps which is not going to be adequate.

I switched to 1080i mode (which, incidentally, should probably be named 720p since the resolution is 1280x720) and I was able to run it at the highest quality setting between 36-52fps. Plenty of headroom for OTF transcoding.

If I were a betting man, I would guess that the only CPUs you're going to get to run 1080p at a decent quality setting for BR rips will be an overclocked i5 or i7. I have my doubts that a 6-core would even be consistently up to the task for anything more than the absolute lowest 1080p settings.

Paul
08-02-2012, 08:57 AM
Excellent information, smitbret. Thanks for testing this & posting the results.

paulyz
08-07-2012, 04:41 AM
I want to renew old my PC system to transcod 1080p files on-fly. My tv panasonic tx-p46g20e. Is cpu Intel Core i5-3450, 3.10GHz, 6MB, LGA1155, 22nm, 77W, enough for transcoding?

Paul
08-07-2012, 10:08 AM
I want to renew old my PC system to transcod 1080p files on-fly. My tv panasonic tx-p46g20e. Is cpu Intel Core i5-3450, 3.10GHz, 6MB, LGA1155, 22nm, 77W, enough for transcoding?

It appears that the i5-3450 CPU is quad core - which is our minimum recommended for transcoding HD 1080p video. I would probably recommend more cores (e.g. i7) if you can afford it.

paulyz
08-07-2012, 12:31 PM
It appears that the i5-3450 CPU is quad core - which is our minimum recommended for transcoding HD 1080p video. I would probably recommend more cores (e.g. i7) if you can afford it.

I did test with q6600 (quad core 2,4 Gghz), for 1080i looks ok (cpu always 90-100% usage) but for 1080p this cpu is to weak

I7 - whats mean + 120-150 eur or + 400 eur for hexa core cpu :(

Yes, I can think about AMD FX-8150 8 cores cpu ( it's cost like I5), but I don't know, amd at this time looks unreliable for me

Paul
08-07-2012, 01:00 PM
I'm certainly no expert in the performance & reliability of Intel vs. AMD processors, so sorry I can't help much in this regard. Hopefully others will post their computer setup & how it performs with Mezzmo - especially with regards to transcoding HD 1080 video.

JohnM
08-07-2012, 01:54 PM
By the way the I7 is not the high end of Intel CPUs, just the ones they sell to consumers. You can get something like a Intel Xeon E5-2687W 3.10GHz (20MB Cache) (Eight-Core CPU) $1924 per chip. That is a medium range Xeon. It is designed for servers and workstations.

paulyz
08-07-2012, 03:23 PM
By the way the I7 is not the high end of Intel CPUs, just the ones they sell to consumers. You can get something like a Intel Xeon E5-2687W 3.10GHz (20MB Cache) (Eight-Core CPU) $1924 per chip. That is a medium range Xeon. It is designed for servers and workstations.

Xeon ir server cpu. Yes, if you millionaire, you can use it in workstation.

I did test with mezzmo and serviio (how I understand bought programs use FFmeg.exe), but servioo use about 40% less cpu for transcoding (some movies I can watch with serviio without problem with dual core 2.0 ghz cpu), but serviio use more hdd space (~4-9 gb). And yes, main problem for serviio is correct aspect ratio, only mkv' s with 1280x720 or 1920x1080 serviio show correct. Due this trouble I decide to use mezzmo.

smitbret
08-09-2012, 03:26 AM
I did test with q6600 (quad core 2,4 Gghz), for 1080i looks ok (cpu always 90-100% usage) but for 1080p this cpu is to weak

I7 - whats mean + 120-150 eur or + 400 eur for hexa core cpu :(

Yes, I can think about AMD FX-8150 8 cores cpu ( it's cost like I5), but I don't know, amd at this time looks unreliable for me

Like I mentioned, I have been running an overclocked AMD Phenom II x4 955 and can real time any BR rip for any of the 1080i quality settings, but cannot do any of the 1080p settings. With that in mind, I've been recommending nothing short of an i5-2500k for anyone that wants to do on the fly 1080p. But curiosity got the best of me so I looked up some PassMark benchmarks. Knowing that there is nothing more important to video encoding than raw CPU speed here's how everything stacked up:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4Ghz = 4201
Intel i5-2500k 3.3Ghz = 6582
AMD FX-8150 8-core 3.6Ghz = 8236

Checking prices at NewEgg, the FX-8150 is $30 less than the i5-2500k. Motherboards for AM3+ are also traditionally less expensive than an LGA 1155. I know where I'd spend my money. Stability of AMD as a company really is a non issue because by the time you'd need an upgrade for either CPU, you'd be looking at a next gen motherboard anyway.

paulyz
08-09-2012, 10:09 PM
I did new test with i5-2500@3.3ghz (4 cores), 4gb ram and windows 7 64bit. With 1080i everything looks fine, from beginning I got ~30pfs. 1080p - from beginning ~14pfs and after ~10min already 23fps. I don't know how it works, but how I understand, for computer need more time to cache movie and later everything looks fine.

smitbret
08-10-2012, 01:29 PM
I did new test with i5-2500@3.3ghz (4 cores), 4gb ram and windows 7 64bit. With 1080i everything looks fine, from beginning I got ~30pfs. 1080p - from beginning ~14pfs and after ~10min already 23fps. I don't know how it works, but how I understand, for computer need more time to cache movie and later everything looks fine.

A lot of the speed is gonna be due to what's on screen. A lot of fast action with a lot of detail is going to be much slower to transcode than white credits on a black background. I'm mildly surprised that your 2500k couildn't pull it off. Note that neither 14fps or 23fps are going to be adequate for on the fly transcoding. If your CPU can't consistently put up 30fps, then there will be buffering issues. Might be worth your time to overclock that 2500k to 4Ghz. Should be able to get close to that with little or no effort.

paulyz
08-10-2012, 02:21 PM
A lot of the speed is gonna be due to what's on screen. A lot of fast action with a lot of detail is going to be much slower to transcode than white credits on a black background. I'm mildly surprised that your 2500k couildn't pull it off. Note that neither 14fps or 23fps are going to be adequate for on the fly transcoding. If your CPU can't consistently put up 30fps, then there will be buffering issues. Might be worth your time to overclock that 2500k to 4Ghz. Should be able to get close to that with little or no effort.

mine was 2500, not K. Computer was clean, no additional programs running.

smitbret
08-11-2012, 06:32 AM
mine was 2500, not K. Computer was clean, no additional programs running.

My mistake.

That being said, for our purposes, these chips are virtually identical except the 2500K has an unlocked multiplier. Depending on your MB, you should still be able to get the 2500 up to 3.8-4Ghz.

Irregardless, it wouldn't surprise me if a stock i5-2500 would not be able to real-time transcode a BR rip to 1080p. From what I have seen and experienced, I would consider the i5-2500 or Phenom IIx6 to be the minimum CPUs to consider real-time 1080p transcoding of BR rips. With my Phenom II 955, if I start it and then pause the movie for 10 minutes or so (popcorn prep, bathroom, whatever...) I feel pretty good about my chances at smooth playback, especially if I have to pause it again halfway through for a potty break

Wonder if there'd be much interest in a sticky with a CPU/Mezzmo transcoding results. Depending on the community, it may be useful to get more in depth than just using the Conceiva guidelines and getting surprised to find out my Athlon x4 won't do what I need it ti do.

Paul
08-11-2012, 11:00 AM
Wonder if there'd be much interest in a sticky with a CPU/Mezzmo transcoding results.

You're welcome to start a new thread on real-world CPU & transcoding performance, and if it gets some interest, then I'm happy to sticky it on the forum.

jbinkley60
08-11-2012, 11:11 PM
Another option here might be to convert/rerip the file to a format which doesn't require transcoding. This is why I use the m2ts container for all of my files. I avoid transcoding. It's a one time effort to do the ripping and converting but it has been well worth it. Another option is pre-transcoding but that will take additional disk space, which may or may not be problem.

My Mezzmo server is an AMD FX-8150 w/8 cores, 16GB of memory and 72GB of RAID 5 storage.

Front View (http://www.thebinks.com/jeff/computer/images/DSC_0588.jpg)

Inside view (http://www.thebinks.com/jeff/computer/images/DSC_0582.jpg)

paulyz
08-12-2012, 03:59 AM
I did one more test, system I5-3450 MB H77 ram 4gb 1600, hdd WD black, clean win 7 x64

This system is best of the best of all systems which I tested, I think it's has minimum requirements for real time 1080p transcoding.

My trial license is go down so I can't do more test. It was very interesting if somebody could make test with Hexa core cpu.

Paul
08-12-2012, 09:15 AM
...My trial license is go down so I can't do more test. It was very interesting if somebody could make test with Hexa core cpu.

paulyz: Contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we'll extend your trial so you can complete your CPU system tests.

paulyz
08-26-2012, 10:04 PM
I did new test, system old i-3450 quad, movie The Avengers.

x.264 / 1920 x 1080 / 16:9 / ~12223 kbps / 23,976 fps - i got ~13-15 fps. Yes I waited ~10 minutes I i watched without problems, but "on fly" this CPU to slow

same movie but H.264, 1920x1072, 4991 kbps , 23,976 - I got ~21 fps, so 1 minut pause and you can watch.

Very strange, but firs rip was ~15GB size, but after transcoding I found in folder only 5gb file!
I didn't saw quality difference's on both files.

very strange, but after Avengers I start watch Contraband with 1920x816, 5254 kbps, 23,976 and did have any problem,from begging I got ~40 fps

P.S. of course, all movies 1080p

P.S.S who first will try intel 8 cores cpu? :)

Paul
08-27-2012, 10:26 AM
Thanks for the test results, paulyz.

We have fixed an issue that can affect transcoding speed, so please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and you can try a patch. It may speed up your transcoding in certain situations (depends on original file's formats & transcoded file's formats).

paulyz
08-28-2012, 01:14 AM
Thanks for the test results, paulyz.

We have fixed an issue that can affect transcoding speed, so please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and you can try a patch. It may speed up your transcoding in certain situations (depends on original file's formats & transcoded file's formats).

I installed patch and did new test. First 15gb Avangers version works perfect, fro beginning I got ~500fps, yes five hundreds!!!! CPU usage ~20%, yes only 20%!!!!

Second I tried Avangers 5Gb version, I got same like yesterday, big cpu usage and ~20fps. Contraband showed yesterdays results too.

So you need somthing to do for all files what you did for first, of-course, if it possible.

And one more thing, I checked transcoding folder of Avagers 15gb version, today transcoded file size ~14gb (yesterday ~5gb)

Peter
08-28-2012, 09:08 AM
Hi,
The 15gb Avagers transcode is fast because the video has been remuxed instead of a full transcode, this is why the transcoded file size is so large. The other files are being fully transcoded instead of being remuxed because either their bitrate or level is higher than the setting in the device profile, if you can send us the ffmpeg information of the Avangers 5Gb version and the Contraband file by right-clicking on each file in Mezzmo and select 'Get FFmpeg Information' and then click 'Copy to Clipboard' and paste the contents into an email to support [at] conceiva [dot] com we can send you a modified device profile to try. Please tell us in the email the device profile that you are currently using so that we can compare the information from the files and make the modifications.

paulyz
08-29-2012, 02:42 AM
Hi,
The 15gb Avagers transcode is fast because the video has been remuxed instead of a full transcode, this is why the transcoded file size is so large. The other files are being fully transcoded instead of being remuxed because either their bitrate or level is higher than the setting in the device profile, if you can send us the ffmpeg information of the Avangers 5Gb version and the Contraband file by right-clicking on each file in Mezzmo and select 'Get FFmpeg Information' and then click 'Copy to Clipboard' and paste the contents into an email to support [at] conceiva [dot] com we can send you a modified device profile to try. Please tell us in the email the device profile that you are currently using so that we can compare the information from the files and make the modifications.

15gb isn't remuxed, AVAGERS.2012.TRIPLE.BDRip.1080p.h264.AC3.-HQ-ViDEO is HQ video with huge bitrate.

Paul
08-29-2012, 01:14 PM
15gb isn't remuxed, AVAGERS.2012.TRIPLE.BDRip.1080p.h264.AC3.-HQ-ViDEO is HQ video with huge bitrate.

I think what Peter is saying is that Mezzmo server is remuxing your 15gb Avengers file to make it compatible for your playing on your DLNA device so that's why the fps is so fast. Remuxing will copy any video or audio channels from the original file and place them in a compatible file container. Only the non-compatible channels are fully transcoded.

stewart
02-14-2016, 10:43 AM
Some Blu-ray rips can have very high bitrates and if Mezzmo (using ffmpeg.exe) needs to do a full transcode, then it will require a lot of CPU and RAM.

Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we may have a patch that can help reduce the requirement for a full transcode (and do a quicker remux instead). In your email to us, please include a set of logs when you try to stream your Blu-ray rip. This will help us pinpoint any bottlenecks in your setup. Turn transcoding on (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/419-FAQ-How-to-turn-on-diagnostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Connect to Mezzmo server using your WD TV Live and play the Blu-ray rip. After it starts to stutter, stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all the logs & send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.


im thinking of updating my server to 2x cpu's as below would 2x of these be good for transcodeing 1080 on the fly ?

Description
Intel Xeon processors represent a broad product line to meet a range of demanding performance and energy efficiency requirements for compute-intensive embedded, storage, and communications applications.

Product Identifiers
Brand Intel
Processor Model Xeon X5482
MPN EU80574KL088N
UPC 0735858201568

Key Features
Clock Speed 3.2 GHz
CPU Socket Type Socket 771
Multi-Core Technology Quad-Core
TDP 150 W
Processor Quantity 1
Product Type Processor

Cache Memory
Installed Size 12 MB

Expansion / Connectivity
Compatible Slots 1 x processor - LGA771 Socket

Other Features
Bus Speed FSB Speed - 600 MHz
Manufacturing Process 45 nm
64-bit Computing Yes
Architecture Features Enhanced SpeedStep technology, Demand Based Switching, Execute Disable Bit capability, Intel Virtualization Technology, Intel 64 Technology, Intel I/O Acceleration Technology, Enhanced Halt State (C1E), Intel Thermal Monitor 2
Platform Compatibility PC

Paul
02-14-2016, 11:18 AM
I'm no CPU expert, but it looks fine to me. I'll let others chip in with more knowledge of CPU models. As mentioned many times on this forum, the general rule is that the more CPU performance & RAM, then the better transcoding performance you will get.

One thing to consider is getting an Intel CPU with Intel Quick Sync support. The upcoming Mezzmo v5.0 supports Intel Quick Sync hardware encoding & this can give you faster transcoding times when transcoding video. We're just testing this now in our Mezzmo v5.0 Beta testing.