I have a sizable backlog of gaming footage dating back to 2023 and want to encode it to AV1, ideally once and then keep the encoded files permanently while discarding most originals. My priorities are encoding speed, compression efficiency, and maintaining quality with little or no noticeable loss. Real-time or faster-than-real-time encoding would be useful, while power consumption is only a secondary concern.
My current systems include an i7-4770 with 8GB of RAM, which would need a low-profile graphics card, and an AMD FX-6300 system with several hard drives. The FX system has a 6-pin PCIe power connector and is currently being tested with an RX 570 8GB using a 6-pin-to-8-pin adapter, though I am willing to replace that card.
I am considering a new AMD-based system mainly because I want room for my existing and future hard drives. Another possibility is adding an Intel Arc card to my main PC, which has a Ryzen 7 5700X3D, RX 7900 XT, and 32GB of RAM, although the case has no more room for additional drives. I currently have two 10TB hard drives, so storage capacity should be adequate for a few years.
Would an Intel Arc GPU such as an A310 or A380 be the better choice for AV1 encoding, or would a high-end AMD CPU provide better quality and compression efficiency? I am especially interested in practical hardware recommendations and any compatibility considerations for older systems.
4 Answers
For this workload, an Intel Arc card is probably the most practical option. The A310 is particularly appealing for a server because low-profile models are available, they generally do not require an external PCIe power cable, and they provide hardware AV1 encoding at a relatively low cost. An A380 is also a reasonable choice if you want more flexibility or find one at a good price.
The older i7-4770 system can work with an Arc card, but check motherboard support for Resizable BAR and make sure the system firmware and drivers are current. Arc generally performs best when Resizable BAR is enabled. An AM4 or newer platform should usually be a simpler match.
Intel integrated graphics have already been useful for splitting recording and encoding workloads, and Arc extends that advantage with AV1 support. It should be much more convenient than replacing the entire CPU and motherboard solely for encoding performance.
One warning: do not treat a streaming service's re-encoded copy as an archival reference. It may look surprisingly good, but it is another lossy encode with unknown settings and can introduce artifacts or remove detail. Keep at least a few original samples until you have verified your own AV1 workflow.
A dedicated Arc A310 seems like a good fit here. It can handle AV1 encoding without requiring a very recent CPU, and the low-profile, bus-powered versions are convenient for an older office-style system. It also avoids relying on the questionable 6-pin-to-8-pin adapter arrangement in the FX-6300 machine.
If you are building a new storage server anyway, choose the platform based on drive capacity, PCIe lanes, and expandability, then add the Arc card for encoding. You do not necessarily need an expensive high-end CPU just to get good AV1 throughput.
CPU encoding can offer more control and sometimes better compression efficiency at a given quality target, but it is dramatically slower. For a large backlog, a modern software encoder may take many times longer than a hardware encoder, especially with demanding settings.
Arc's AV1 encoder is a strong balance of speed and quality for archival-style personal media. Test a representative sample with your intended encoder and settings before deleting the originals, since the best quality and size tradeoff depends heavily on the footage, bitrate, resolution, and whether you are using constant-quality or bitrate-based encoding.
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