How much cpu is too much for BI?

master_tinkerer

master_tinkerer

IPCT+ Member
Apr 7, 2016
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Michigan
I'm looking at the Intel i9 for a new system. I have two 4k ptz ,two 4 meg , two 3 meg ptz, and 12 2 meg cameras. 20 total. Frame rates are around 5 to 10. Like to go faster

With the i9, I can go from 10 core to 18 core and 36 threads. Would BI use 38 threads with 20 cameras? And would 32 g memory be used. I may be experiencing network speed issue and may be laying more wire. Currently use switches and interconnects versus one camera on one wire to the switch. All switches are gig,but not necessarily running there.

Thanks, rob
 
You and the guy who did this with a AMD Threadripper 1950X need to start a club together: buying the most expensive processor that is also among the least efficient ways to run Blue Iris, club!

Short answer is no, that processor lacks Intel QuickSync, which when it works correctly lets you offload a significant amount of the CPU overhead to the onboard graphics. This lowers CPU usage and saves you kilowatt hours!

The longer answer is, Intel is terrible at making good video drivers, so QuickSync working correctly is going to be a crapshoot. Some combination of bad driver, bad operating system (and Windows 10 IS a bad operating system), or bad Blue Iris update will probably one day cause Blue Iris to eat up 100% of your CPU, your memory, or otherwise randomly crash for some other reason, eventually.

To that end, I have been experimenting lately with running large camera installations without any QuickSync decoding whatsoever! I'll be making an effortpost on those experiments later this week.

In short, an i9 is overkill for Blue Iris, and will actually probably use more power to push the same number of megapixels as a 7700. I would say get a 7700 non-K with 16GB of RAM. That will be plenty for 20 cameras on Blue Iris, with or without QuickSync.
 
Thanks for feedback. I'm just thinking about upgrade, wondering if it would improve over what I have. I7 6700 3.4gHz. ASUS motherboard video (?), 16 gb. the single thread rating from cpubenchmark.net is
Single Thread Rating i7-6700-2159 i7-7700-2584 or about 20% higher. That's why I was wondering about BI using multi threads effectively.

I looked up QuickSync! WoW , it gets deep quick. I'll look for your upcoming post.
 
Definitely make sure direct to disc is enabled on all the cameras.

Based on your screenshots:

1) Two of your cams don't have hardware acceleration enabled (look for # in the Pixels column). Unless this is intentional, you might want to look into why it isn't on for those two.

2) You're running a 4K monitor, and Blue Iris uses a shitload of CPU to render its GUI at that size. You can reduce that by limiting the live preview rate in Blue Iris Options > Cameras tab. The lower you set it, the lower your CPU usage will be. This is the one situation where a discrete graphics card can help. If you plug that screen into a dedicated graphics card then it will offload a significant amount of the CPU cost of rendering the GUI, compared to having the monitor plugged directly into the motherboard. I've only confirmed it works this way for Nvidia graphics but I suspect AMD would work the same. Be careful, hardware acceleration requires the integrated graphics to be enabled, and that often requires a BIOS change to enable the iGPU if you install a discrete graphics card too.
 
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I'll also note that if buying new PC parts there is no reason to get anything less than an 8th-generation Intel CPU. The extra cores provided by 8th-gen outweigh any very small price difference you'll find between that and previous generations. It is a different story if buying used/refurbished, where older generations can be had much cheaper than newer generations.
 
BP, yes I was running with a 4k screen. Changed screen res to 2 meg and cpu dropped by about 40 %. THE # sign on pixel column must be a combination of things. I changed all camera to direct to disc and now I have 4 cameras that don't have #. .??

Additional I'm getting a lot of c drive disc activity when I have a D drive for BI storage. Machine memory is 32g not 16 and BI doesn't use much. I started chrome and disk were 100% for about 3 minutes. Nothing but BI running ( and Chrome)

I thought of added a ssd but the box is by Asus and I only have images on the original c. Thanks All
 
I am using a X7920 on a EVGA 299X with 32 gigs of ram and an EVGA 1080 KingPin GPU
 
I had a similar issue with my CPU ( Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz) topping out around 90% or more most of the time... Discovered that my CPU (and yours should too) has H.264 decoding in the HW.
When I turned this on in BI, my CPU usage dropped down to about 45% on average. Made a HUGE difference.
The settings is under the cameras tab on the main menu. It is listed as "Intel HD hardware acceleration", just set it to yes (H.264) and restart BI.
From what I read it does the decoding on H.264 cameras on the motherboard leaving the CPU more free.
 
master_tinkerer said:
I'm looking at the Intel i9 for a new system. I have two 4k ptz ,two 4 meg , two 3 meg ptz, and 12 2 meg cameras. 20 total. Frame rates are around 5 to 10. Like to go faster

With the i9, I can go from 10 core to 18 core and 36 threads. Would BI use 38 threads with 20 cameras? And would 32 g memory be used. I may be experiencing network speed issue and may be laying more wire. Currently use switches and interconnects versus one camera on one wire to the switch. All switches are gig,but not necessarily running there.

Thanks, rob
Click to expand...

Go big or go home.
I have a 6950x with a Titan xp 2017, seriously considering upgrading to a 7980xe (nose-thumb at AMD.. "threadripper," indeed) and a titan V. Just because.

(but you can make due on far far less if all you want to do is run BI. 7700 is fine)
 
I've got to admit, a 7980xe IS better than the ordinary consumer-level i7 CPUs when cost isn't a concern. But a titan card? That does nothing for Blue Iris that a cheap GT 710 or 1030 wouldn't do, and that is very little.
 
yeah, but it's cool :)
I actually had an extra one laying around, otherwise I would have thrown in a 1050 or 1030.
I do use the computer once in a great while to play games, and every so often to watch an old movie that isn't on google play. But yeah, I know, massive overkill.
 
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