Acceptable CPU Usage?

kbonnel

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Hi All,

I wanted to get some comments on if I can do any additional tweaking to get the best out of my setup.

I just setup a new BI server using one of the Dell T30 Xeon 1225v5 servers I got during the $299 deal.

I am using Windows 10 Pro 64bit, 8GB of memory, recording to a 7200 HD, and using an SSD as the boot drive. I have 1 NIC for my main network, and 1 for the camera VLAN.

I currently have 9 cameras:

4 Hikvision 4MP running at 15fps, h.264, 12k bitrate, using the cameras PIR/Motion detection (I played around with 8k bitrate and 12k bitrate, and didn't see a big cpu impact)
4 Dahua 2MP running at 15fps h.264h, 4k bitrate, using BI's motion detection
1 Dahua 3MP running at 15fps h.264h, 6k bitrate, using BI's motion detection

I have hardware acceleration turned on (no vpp), and am doing direct to disk recording in BI. BI is running as a service. I also have stunnel installed to get https working for my remote viewing. For all of the cameras, I am using a 3 second pre-trigger recording buffer.

With everything running, my CPU usage seems to be all over the place. When I initially had things up and running, the CPU usage was in the low 40% range, throughout the evening it started to climb up to the low 60% range. When I checked first thing in the morning, it was in the low 50% range. (I am viewing the CPU usage directly from the computer via attached monitor. If I use UI3, it takes another 5-7% CPU usage.)

Is this about what I would expect too see with this configuration?

For giggles, I installed BI and imported my configuration on my i7 6700k system, and I was in the 20% range.

The 6700k and the 1225v5 CPUs are both skylake processors, but the Xeon is 4 core no HT, and a slower clock at 3.3 vs the 4.4 I have the 6700k at. When I look at the GPU process usage, both were around 20-35% utilization.

Thanks

UPDATE: Tried to shorten things and provided some updates on what I am seeing from CPU usage.
 
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kbonnel

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What did you shorten?
I had just added additional details that didn't provide any useful data :)

My T30 right now is hovering around 85 - 90% CPU. And I didn't do anything from this morning, just let it run. Maybe the system just doesn't do well, or maybe I have a dud. It was in the 50 - 60% range this morning.

In your thread, you indicate something about disabling BI from watching a folder, what option was that?
 

kbonnel

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Strangely, without me doing anything other than just watching the Task Manager, the CPU usage dropped all the way down to approx mid 30%s to 40%. This is so weird.
 

kbonnel

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Strangely, without me doing anything other than just watching the Task Manager, the CPU usage dropped all the way down to approx mid 30%s to 40%. This is so weird.
After checking on it throughout the day, the system was at some point in the upper 90%s, then sometimes it would be in the 50%s, and then sometimes in the 60%s, and then the 80%s, etc. Either my BI configuration is all messed up or there is some issue with the system.
 

kbonnel

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No mines the same. We have the same system. Mine was at 43% then 55% then 68% then back to 50%. It’s all over depending on what’s going on.
That is what is strange, there could be high CPU usage when nothing is going on, no movement, nothing. And other times my dogs could be setting off half of the cameras running around the house, outside, etc., and the CPU doesn't budge past 50%. Just so strange.
 

Camit

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You need to open up Task Manager and see individual CPU processes. See what BI is actually using for CPU, you also will have tons of background processes. This is why it’s best to have a dedicated blue Iris machine for security cameras only. So you can disable a bunch of crap in the background you’ll never need.
 
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A few recommendations:
- Make sure you have already followed the guide here for optimization of BI (frame rate reduction on the cameras, turning off overlays, etc)
- Check the apps that start up with your system and turn as many off as you reasonably can
- Add an exclusion for BI in your antivirus app
- Configure BI to write to the SSD (will wear out your SSD faster) as a buffer of maybe 50-100GB and then moved the files to the 7200 when it needs to. If you are IO constrained (might not be with 9 cameras) then that can help optimize direct to disk recording.
 
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kbonnel

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Yes, the Dell T30 I have is doing the same thing. Starts at around 30 - 40% with my 9 cameras, stays that way for a few hours, and then climbs and stays in the 80-90% range, sometimes hitting 99-100%. If I restart the BI service, it is back to the 30-40% cpu utilization. Very odd. This is from a brand new win 10 pro install as well.

I did find this while searching for something completely unrelated, and thought it would be good to add our info in here for others.

https: // docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tZoLLzfxLpuH-EennYVLadagaUDxiwaAX2wiGGzXi20/edit?usp=sharing
 

kbonnel

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To you. You said unsupported video? Then posted a link that’s bad.
Hmm, I don't see where i posted anything about video. I was just concurring with what you said, if I restart the BI service, the CPU usage is back to the 30 - 40%. I put in the link again, but you will have to copy and paste, it, as the forum keeps changing it to be a media type.
 

kbonnel

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I can also say that I am seeing something similar, but not too such a crazy extent, with an i7-6700k system I have the exact same BI config running on. When I start it, it runs at approx 20-25%, and over time it will get up too 60-70%. If I restart it, it is back down to the 20-25%.
 

kbonnel

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Check this discussion. I am starting to read it, might be useful as it talks about cpu usage increasing over time : Click Me

I am going to try the older version of the intel video driver and see if that fixes the issue.
 
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kbonnel

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I don't think you have to disable HA, just install the older driver. I installed it on my 2 BI systems, and will report back tomorrow.
 

kbonnel

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Well fenderman said disable HA. Did you install 15.45 from the link on that thread. Since you and I have the same system can you send me the link to the intel driver you used.
He states that in the post right above the post Fvhemert started. The download link is in the post, and you will have to follow the step by step to install the specific driver that is also in that same post. (i.e. download the zip file) It takes about 2 minutes to do.
 

kbonnel

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I just checked my two systems and so far everything looks good. My T30 is still in the mid 30%, and my i7 6700k is still in the mid 20's. Will let it run throughout the day and report back this evening.

I suspect it was a change in the Intel driver like indicated int he previous thread.
 

kbonnel

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Figured I would give one last update. I am 100% sure the problem was due to the intel HD driver. With the older driver installed, the system has not budged past the 35 - 45%, even with cameras being triggered, etc.

I wonder if we will ever be able to find out what changed in the driver and why BI has issues with it.
 

Mike K

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I'm Using the Spiceworks Network Monitor on my I7 processor. The CPU usage is reported to be between 20% to 40% That includes BI, Spicsworks, and Team Viewer. all running or on the ready.
 

kbonnel

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I'm Using the Spiceworks Network Monitor on my I7 processor. The CPU usage is reported to be between 20% to 40% That includes BI, Spicsworks, and Team Viewer. all running or on the ready.
Hi Mike,

Thanks for the info. This thread morphed a little bit from what it started. Basically IDLE and I were noticing (on the same Dell t30 server) crazy high CPU usage. We figured it all out that the intel HD driver we were using was causing some issue with BI and increasing CPU usage. We downgraded to an older Intel HD driver ,and everything is working as expected. (i.e. in the 20 - 40% cpu range for our number of cameras)
 
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