BI CPU Recommendations

[CaliGirl]

Hi guys. What used Ebay computer do you recommend to run BI with 9 of the 2mp 5231R-ZE Dahua Starlight cameras at 15fps direct to disk?

Energy efficiency is important. 25cents a Kw where this will be installed.

What do you think about this one, strong enough for now and a little expansion later?? HERE

New camera project thread HERE

 

[bp2008]

The PC you found should be fine. I am not excited about its price but I don't see a better one on ebay right now. An older i7-4790 would work just as well for about $100 less but it would be less energy-efficient due to its 22nm lithography (versus 14nm on the i7-6700).

 

[SouthernYankee]

look at the cpus other members are using. It is not the number of cameras but the total MP/sec.
Blue Iris Update Helper

 

[TL1096r]

MP/sec... Do you have more info on that? Seems to really determine CPU usage. Sorry to be more clear: how do you set it and look up what MP/s are?

 

[bp2008]

If you have Blue Iris already you can look up your current MP/s in the status window, cameras tab.

To calculate MP/s you need to take the total megapixels, multiplied by the number of frames per second. So for example if you have 9 cameras, all 2 megapixels, all running at 15 FPS then your MP/s would be (9 * 2 * 15) = 270. 270 MP/s is a really easy load to run. Most core i3 CPUs would handle that. Using an i7-6700, there will be lots of breathing room so some cams could be upgraded to 4MP or 8MP or be run at higher frame rates.

One should always be careful using data from Blue Iris Update Helper. First of all, you can click any row there to see more details of the system. A lot of them are using Limit decoding, which does not affect the MP/s count, but does drastically reduce CPU usage. Some systems are bound to be configured in other misleading ways. One might say it is using Intel hardware acceleration, but all the cameras might be streaming H.265 video which doesn't work with Intel hardware acceleration. Or some of the cameras could be duplicates of the others. Duplicate cameras in BI don't consume as much resources as real different cameras, but they do contribute to a higher MP/s number and higher camera count.

 

[SouthernYankee]

megapixel per second.
A simple example 1090x1920 display is a 2 Megapixel display so a 15 fps it would be 30 MP/SEC for one camera.

if you are already run BI then look at the porton of the status (3 vertical bar button) cameras tab display.

some time BI helper does not report the correct number of REAL cameras. It counts clone cameras, but clone cameras may not have any MP/SEC. Helper reports 23 cameras on my system, i have 13 real cameras and 10 clone cameras at 435 MP/SEC total.

 

[TL1096r]

great info:
# 3.7MP x 29.75 FPS
x2
is 220 MP/s

I am unsure if I am running H.265 though so the (#) intel quick sync might mean nothing then if I am? How do you find that out?

Thanks!

 

[bp2008]

Look in the camera's web interface. Its video encoding options will say if it is H.264 or H.265.

 

[TL1096r]

Seems to be H.264 - is it right H.265 takes less bandwidth and why some cameras are using it now? What would be main difference to why one camera uses it and other does not.

 

[CaliGirl]

Thanks guys. I have determined that the initial system will be 215 MP/s and down the road they plan to add a few more cameras to be 300 MP/s. I love the math. Much more logical then guessing on this choice.

 

[CaliGirl]

There are so many choices and I am not understanding what the difference of i7 machines there are when they say 3770 or 4770 on ebay. I do understand the HD size and RAM obviously. I do care that it is energy efficient and not a power hog. I have been using this post: Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk

Would this work: Dell Optiplex 9020 SFF i7-4770 3.4GHz 8GB RAM 500 GB HDD Windows 10 Home | eBay

Or this: Dell Optiplex 7010 Desktop 3.4Ghz i7-3770 8GB 240GB SSD HD DVD Windows 10 Pro | eBay

Or this: Dell Optiplex 7010 SFF Desktop Computer i7-3770 16GB 240gb SSD Win 10 Pro DVD RW | eBay

 

[Walrus]

The thousands number 3xxx 4xxx 6xxx is the generation. Intel is currently on the 9th. Each generation is faster and generally more efficient.

 

[CaliGirl]

OK thanks Walrus. I think I am going to have him get this newer generation then. Better power savings for the next few years. Anyone see any issues with this one for 200-300 MP/s? DELL OPTIPLEX 5040 | 8GB/500GB | i7-6700 3.4GHz | WINDOWS 10 | MINT | eBay


Drop in a left over 128GB SSD for the OS and a Purple HDD for recording.


.

 

[SouthernYankee]

I go for a 5th or 6th generation CPU at least.
Of the system mention above take the first one. Upgrade it with a small ssd (128 - 240 GB) and add a 4 TB WD purple drive.

just saw your post the optiplex 5040 looks good

 

[TL1096r]

I am still too scared to pull the trigger on the used computer on ebay. Do they come with their own OS key so you can use windows media usb to load a new one with a SSD? I have a small SSD for os/load BI on and then 8gb Purple to store. I am just waiting on what computer I should purchase.

Anyone can link good ebay ones going on?

 

[CaliGirl]

I know what you mean TL1096. My brother just bought the one above. We don’t know a lot about what desktop makes BI run well even after lots of research. It I highly value the opinions from the other members. I bought a similar Dell off eBay 2 years ago and it has been running 24/7 with tons of power outages and no issues. I also swapped out the HD for an SSD. Not sure how I got the OS back onto it. Too long ago to remember. Does anyone know how to do this? Can we just clone it over?

Ebay will perfect you quite well as the buyer if there is anything wrong with it. They don’t back the sellers well at all.

Like they said above. Calculate your MPs and leave room for the future and then compare that to the BI utility to see how hard other people’s machines are running. I was shooting for 20% CPU load for direct to disk recording.

 

[mech]

I am still too scared to pull the trigger on the used computer on ebay. Do they come with their own OS key so you can use windows media usb to load a new one with a SSD? I have a small SSD for os/load BI on and then 8gb Purple to store. I am just waiting on what computer I should purchase.

Anyone can link good ebay ones going on?

Be aware that you can download the Dell OS Recovery Tool from Dell, then run it and plug in the Dell Service Tag from a Dell you are considering buying off Ebay. Example, I found a 7th-gen i5 system with a service tag of B7Q99N2 and here is what the Dell tool has for it (picture attached).

If you are installing Win10 fresh then you can enhance your system security with some specific settings in the firmware. Win10 will make use of hardware virtualization capabilities to isolate high-security system processes. In short:

1. start system, hit F12, update firmware from a flash drive with the latest one from Support.dell.com to fix low-level vulnerabilities.

2. Make sure the system is booting in UEFI mode with Secure Boot enabled (this can be toggled from the F12 startup option list)

3. Go into the firmware settings and ensure that the TPM is both "On" and "Enabled" in the Security Section

4. Enable the SMM Security Mitigations option in the Security section if your model has it, as well as UEFI Capsule Updates

5. Set Intel SGX to Enabled if your model has it

6. Enable all the features in the Virtualization menu, the key being Intel TXT Trusted Execution.

7. Once Win10 is installed, go into Settings > Security > Device Security and make sure Core Isolation and its sub-setting Memory Integrity are enabled.

This is a punchlist thing for us at work. It results in the chain of trust for the Win10 boot process starting from the TPM itself, making a compromise of the boot process quite a challenge.


I looked at the BI Helper stats before purchasing, and I thought I would have about 50% headroom with the CPU I chose. If I'm just viewing while BI records, that is the case. But if a situation arises where I need to play back all my cameras to determine what just happened (glass breaking, etc), the system has to play back while continuing to record, and the headroom is gone. If you can opt for "too much" CPU for a moderate upcharge, it may be worthwhile when it's showtime.

 

[fenderman]

Be aware that you can download the Dell OS Recovery Tool from Dell, then run it and plug in the Dell Service Tag from a Dell you are considering buying off Ebay. Example, I found a 7th-gen i5 system with a service tag of B7Q99N2 and here is what the Dell tool has for it (picture attached).

If the pc had w10 installed by dell or at any point in its life there is no need for the dell recovery with the dell crap on it. W10 will install just fine and clean using the MS media creation tool

 

[TL1096r]

If the pc had w10 installed by dell or at any point in its life there is no need for the dell recovery with the dell crap on it. W10 will install just fine and clean using the MS media creation tool

Yes I use Windows Media tool and I was able to use my windows 7 keys to install W10 fresh with the Media Creation Tool loaded on the USB.

So if it comes with Windows10 how do you find the key to reinstall it on a new SSD card?

I know what you mean TL1096. My brother just bought the one above. We don’t know a lot about what desktop makes BI run well even after lots of research. It I highly value the opinions from the other members. I bought a similar Dell off eBay 2 years ago and it has been running 24/7 with tons of power outages and no issues. I also swapped out the HD for an SSD. Not sure how I got the OS back onto it. Too long ago to remember. Does anyone know how to do this? Can we just clone it over?

Ebay will perfect you quite well as the buyer if there is anything wrong with it. They don’t back the sellers well at all.

Like they said above. Calculate your MPs and leave room for the future and then compare that to the BI utility to see how hard other people’s machines are running. I was shooting for 20% CPU load for direct to disk recording.

Yes I want to buy something now that will last when I expand to 6 8mp cams too. I rather just buy now expensive and have it without worrying about buying another. I am looking for 8th gen or above for the i7. I am running 2 cams on i7-6700 but want to upgrade to a lot more.

Does anyone suggest just buying new if you are going i7 8th or 9th gen vs buying used?

 

[CaliGirl]

What is your future MP/s TL1096r?