Originally posted by attar:

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If you have multiple processors it can help - if the codecs can utilize them.

I don't use ConVertX but I can list some of the settings I can change when using FAVC for conversion.
For the encoder (QuEnc) options, set the number of cores.
Set the number of passes (1 or 2) that are to be made during the video conversion.
You can opt to make Full D1 or Half D1 (half d1 is smaller resolution and lower quality and you don't gain a lot of time)
Under audio, use existing AC3 audio if present (if the source audio is mp3 it must be converted to ac3 which takes time.)

Note that only the video conversion from avi to mpeg (in the case of FAVC) use the multiple cores.
The other steps are still using a single cpu - I don't know if commercial programs get around this, because I don't use any.

For a single cpu, the best bet to avoid the aggravation is to set the conversion to start overnight.

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