BI PC Upgrade Time!

J

jnuw

n3wb
Mar 29, 2025
3
0
US
Hello All.

I know there's a ton of "what PC should I use to host Blue Iris?", but 1) many are old, and I want to ensure I'm spending money on what makes sense in 2025, 2) I'm interested in investing some money into a solution that works right out of the box, with little to no trouble shooting, and 3) I have some space limitations.

With that out of the way, I'd like to buy/build/salvage a powerful machine to host the latest version of Blue Iris, and run 10-12 cameras without a sweat. I'd also like to put this in my media cabinet, so something with a smaller form factor is a must (think Xbox size-ish). So maybe Micro-ATX or Mini_ITX? I don't want to put a giant Dell Optiplex in there. Right now I've been using a 10+ year old Mac Mini running Windows, but it's struggle to keep up now. Suggestions?

Thanks all!
Jnuw
 
Dell Optiplex Small Form Factor. Used on Ebay.
I would look for one with at least an I5-10500 cpu.
www.ebay.com

Optiplex Sff I5-10500 for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Optiplex Sff I5-10500 at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!
www.ebay.com
 
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I picked up a few of these on ebay for about $70 each. Then added some memory and nvme, and then laser cut some acrylic for a case. These are 11th gen i5, super efficient on power. Uses a standard Dell laptop power brick. Cost less than a Raspberry Pi 5 and very reasonable performance. This was from a Dell Optiplex 7090 UFF. These were designed to go into a Dell monitor stand, and does not require one to work.

fef5f4a7-9d78-4920-be0c-70324b48f406.jpeg
 
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PeteJ said:
I picked up a few of these on ebay for about $70 each. Then added some memory and nvme, and then laser cut some acrylic for a case. These are 11th gen i5, super efficient on power. Uses a standard Dell laptop power brick. Cost less than a Raspberry Pi 5 and very reasonable performance. This was from a Dell Optiplex 7090 UFF. These were designed to go into a Dell monitor stand, and does not require one to work.
Click to expand...

That is super cool, I may steal your idea
 
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IReallyLikePizza2 said:
That is super cool, I may steal your idea
Click to expand...
www.ebay.com

Genuine Dell Optiplex 7070 Ultra Motherboard 16GB i5-1145G7 5G6P6 | eBay

DP/N: 5G6P6. Dell Optiplex 7070 Ultra Motherboard 16GB i5-1145G7.
www.ebay.com

There is one minor thing you need to do, the system will complain that the power button is broken. To fix this, you need to short pins 2 and 3 on the power switch connector with a tiny piece of wire and hot glue it in place. I'm too cheap to pay $40 for a switch, and I have plenty of hot glue.
 
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Awesome, thanks for the link. This is awesome
 
IReallyLikePizza2 said:
Awesome, thanks for the link. This is awesome
Click to expand...
No problem, you'll need to also buy the fan and heatsink, it's about $10 each, that's why it ends up costing about $70. These are the right parts, but might not be the cheapest (links below). For the fan, make sure it says FCN and not Foxconn. The Foxconn one runs at higher speed and is noisy. FCN runs at .5amp and it's super quiet.

www.ebay.com

Dell OEM Optiplex 7070 Ultra Desktop Heatsink Assembly PTWGF | eBay

• Dell Part Number/SKU:PTWGF. DPart Number: PTWGF. Genuine Dell OEM Heatsink assembly for the Dell Optiplex 7070 Ultra desktop system. OptiPlex 7070 Ultra. • Genuine OEM Parts Only. W A R R A N T Y - I N F O R M A T I O N.
www.ebay.com

www.ebay.com

New CPU Cooling Fan For DELL Ultra 7090 OptiPlex 7070 All In One AIO 065VXF | eBay

New For DELL Ultra 7090 OptiPlex 7070 All In One AIO CPU Cooling Fan. For Ultra 7090 OptiPlex 7070 All In One AIO Series. Product Type: All-In-One CPU Cooling Fan. NEW US Keyboard For IBM ThinkPad E520 E520S E525 Series Laptop Black.
www.ebay.com
 
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IAmATeaf said:
@PeteJ what do you do for storage?
Click to expand...

Since I am not using BI as my main NVR, I only have a 1 TB SSD on the system, which is sufficient for my needs, but if you are using it as your NVR, you might need some sort of external storage and just configure your BI to use the local SSD for new videos, and move the stored videos to external storage.

Also, the MB takes 2230 nvme, but you can install a 2280 and just hold it down with some tape. I didn't need to do that because the acrylic cover keeps it in place.
 
looney2ns said:
Dell Optiplex Small Form Factor. Used on Ebay.
I would look for one with at least an I5-10500 cpu.
www.ebay.com

Optiplex Sff I5-10500 for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Optiplex Sff I5-10500 at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
@looney2ns, (and all) thank you! This is super helpful! Sounds like the Optiplex SFF would be the easiest/fastest, and I just measured, and it will fit perfectly in my cabinet. What would be the specs for the machine that you all would say, "Jnuw, that's a bit overkill, but fine if you want to spend the money."? i.e., I'd like something fast and not to have to worry about it for 3-5 years. I'd be happy to add a primary SSD and/or giant second/external slow HD for storage. Thoughts? Thanks again!

Addition --> Would this be too much? I've been out of the game for so long that I have no idea what good hardware is these days. Thanks again!
 
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power switch ebay $7 bucks
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Can you just enable Wake On LAN and then never turn it off?
 
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jnuw said:
@looney2ns, (and all) thank you! This is super helpful! Sounds like the Optiplex SFF would be the easiest/fastest, and I just measured, and it will fit perfectly in my cabinet. What would be the specs for the machine that you all would say, "Jnuw, that's a bit overkill, but fine if you want to spend the money."? i.e., I'd like something fast and not to have to worry about it for 3-5 years. I'd be happy to add a primary SSD and/or giant second/external slow HD for storage. Thoughts? Thanks again!

Addition --> Would this be too much? I've been out of the game for so long that I have no idea what good hardware is these days. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
yeah if you want to go cheaper you'd have to go back 1 or 2 generations. 8th gen and newer will run W 11.
 
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As an eBay Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
As an eBay Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
IReallyLikePizza2 said:
Can you just enable Wake On LAN and then never turn it off?
Click to expand...

You'd get an error on each boot, which requires you to click ok to continue the boot. Shorting pins 2-3 essentially simulates the button being connected. You can then enable wake on USB, so you turn it on by hitting any key on the keyboard.
 
PeteJ said:
You'd get an error on each boot, which requires you to click ok to continue the boot. Shorting pins 2-3 essentially simulates the button being connected. You can then enable wake on USB, so you turn it on by hitting any key on the keyboard.
Click to expand...
is this motherboard from an ALL-IN_one or an Ultra small FF?
if you know, you can find the power switch for it on ebay possibly
 
if you have extra pc's laying around you could probably remove a power switch and take the pins out of the connector and do some kind of DIY.
 
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