The Intel Core i9-9990XE Review: All 14 Cores at 5.0 GHz
by Dr. Ian Cutress on October 28, 2019 10:00 AM ESTCPU Performance: Encoding Tests
With the rise of streaming, vlogs, and video content as a whole, encoding and transcoding tests are becoming ever more important. Not only are more home users and gamers needing to convert video files into something more manageable, for streaming or archival purposes, but the servers that manage the output also manage around data and log files with compression and decompression. Our encoding tasks are focused around these important scenarios, with input from the community for the best implementation of real-world testing.
All of our benchmark results can also be found in our benchmark engine, Bench.
Handbrake 1.1.0: Streaming and Archival Video Transcoding
A popular open source tool, Handbrake is the anything-to-anything video conversion software that a number of people use as a reference point. The danger is always on version numbers and optimization, for example the latest versions of the software can take advantage of AVX-512 and OpenCL to accelerate certain types of transcoding and algorithms. The version we use here is a pure CPU play, with common transcoding variations.
We have split Handbrake up into several tests, using a Logitech C920 1080p60 native webcam recording (essentially a streamer recording), and convert them into two types of streaming formats and one for archival. The output settings used are:
- 720p60 at 6000 kbps constant bit rate, fast setting, high profile
- 1080p60 at 3500 kbps constant bit rate, faster setting, main profile
- 1080p60 HEVC at 3500 kbps variable bit rate, fast setting, main profile
Our encoding tests require a good balance of cores and frequency, and the 5.0 GHz 14-core hardware easily pulls ahead of the 7940X, and shows that having 28 cores isn't always a good thing.
7-zip v1805: Popular Open-Source Encoding Engine
Out of our compression/decompression tool tests, 7-zip is the most requested and comes with a built-in benchmark. For our test suite, we’ve pulled the latest version of the software and we run the benchmark from the command line, reporting the compression, decompression, and a combined score.
It is noted in this benchmark that the latest multi-die processors have very bi-modal performance between compression and decompression, performing well in one and badly in the other. There are also discussions around how the Windows Scheduler is implementing every thread. As we get more results, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Please note, if you plan to share out the Compression graph, please include the Decompression one. Otherwise you’re only presenting half a picture.
This is where having 28-cores helps, as the extra frequency can't beat some extra cores.
WinRAR 5.60b3: Archiving Tool
My compression tool of choice is often WinRAR, having been one of the first tools a number of my generation used over two decades ago. The interface has not changed much, although the integration with Windows right click commands is always a plus. It has no in-built test, so we run a compression over a set directory containing over thirty 60-second video files and 2000 small web-based files at a normal compression rate.
WinRAR is variable threaded but also susceptible to caching, so in our test we run it 10 times and take the average of the last five, leaving the test purely for raw CPU compute performance.
WinRAR is one of our variable threaded tests, so here a mix of cores and frequency helps. Interestingly enough, the 9990XE despite with the higher frequency is slightly slower than the 7940X - this might be a function of the test getting too fast, or the fact that the extra power needed to drive up the cores to peak frequency might be causing additional delays with all the small files.
AES Encryption: File Security
A number of platforms, particularly mobile devices, are now offering encryption by default with file systems in order to protect the contents. Windows based devices have these options as well, often applied by BitLocker or third-party software. In our AES encryption test, we used the discontinued TrueCrypt for its built-in benchmark, which tests several encryption algorithms directly in memory.
The data we take for this test is the combined AES encrypt/decrypt performance, measured in gigabytes per second. The software does use AES commands for processors that offer hardware selection, however not AVX-512.
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yannigr2 - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
An over 300W chip that loses in so many cases from chips that cost under $500, with less than half power consumption. And Intel is $auctioning$ it. That isn't even funny. It's tragic.AshlayW - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
600W for performance that's not even going to be that much over a 3950X (if at all?) Intel is a laughing stock at this point. Can't wait to see the 9900KS, and have a good laugh at the last desperate, dying twitches of the Skylake architecture.29a - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
HFT should be illegal!MrSpadge - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Why? And on which basis would you forbid it? I think the better way to deal with this is to attach a tiny tax to each transaction. So if it's really worth it, they may do it. But the government gets its share and can redistribute to something more useful.RBFL - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
It has no useful purpose for society, the fact it is difficult to identify the people being harmed does not mean that harm is not taking place.I think making people have a 1 second relationship with a share is not unreasonable. Just because someone can do something doesn't mean we have to allow it. We have speed limits, laws against dishonesty and murder and we could just as easily have one against HFT.
The fact that exchanges sell expensive server space to these companies for lower pings, while purportedly being the arbiters of fair play and price transparency is, of course, another big issue.
rahvin - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
So anything you in your all knowing capacity deem as not useful for society at large it should be illegal? Doesn't that mean gaming should be illegal?I've yet to meet a single one of these people that complain about HFT that actually understand how the market works, how stock trading function and what HFT even is. Most of them simply heard some talking point they regurgitate without any understanding of how the stock market even works let alone how a stock transaction works or what HFT involves.
shadowx360 - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
It's a mix of ignorance and jealousy, that they can't be the successful ones rolling in dough, and all investing is somehow evil and taking advantage of the common worker. There are some downsides to HFT, namely increased market volatility and cascading problems where a fall in prices can trigger millions of stop losses that compound the issue, but like you said, most have zero clue.RBFL - Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - link
And that statement is based on?I am not jealous of an industry that has basically bought its way to success through lobbying and every time it explodes it expects the rest of us to reboot it, while mysteriously keeping the proceeds prior to the crash. An industry that gives away billions of our dollars of our money to avoid their own prosecution. Where almost no-one goes to jail after egregious lies, fraud, money laundering,....
All investing is not evil, however many of the practices of the industry are. Lobbying against fiduciary duty for the small investor, for example. If you actually look at the share classes available you will undoubtedly see some that no-one who understood what they were being sold would ever buy. Telling people 'they are responsible for their future' while not cleaning up the industry is like throwing sheep to wolves. And no, it is not everyone's responsibility to know every evil practice in every area of life in which they are forced to deal. It is unrealistic for the well educated, let alone the average citizen. It is why we have laws, which are generally reactive rather than proactive and thus mainly address known abuses rather prospective ones.
Alistair - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Nice article, except the final page. Why mention "highest ST for HEDT" and "carves through AMD like butter" etc., then you don't even make mention of any MT performance in summary. You could have said, in MT scenarios, it performs about the same as any Intel 18 or AMD 24 core server CPU or some such.Alistair - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
my meaning is the summary shouldn't just be for what is awesome, but should also summarize all the results... no mention of multi threading performance on the final page at all, because it isn't special?