BI running on a new i9-7980XE (18 Cores, 36 Threads) = NICE!!!

Tuckerdude

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Hey Folks...Happy New Year to all!

Got myself a new rig for Xmas and I wanted to see how BI would perform on this new monster CPU. The Intel Core i9-7980XE is by all accounts severe overkill for most applications. But during my last upgrade cycle (about 2 years ago), I went through the same process with a 10 core i7, and noticed that increasing the number of cores dramatically increased the number of cameras I could efficiently run on my system. At the time, I was running about 18 cameras and the i7 could run just fine at about 60%. So I started adding more and more cameras until I reached my current number of 33. But by then, I was forced to use the "limit decoding" feature on about 15 of them, to keep the CPU load to a reasonable percentage (it was consistently running at 95% before utilizing the limit feature).

So....fast forward to today. I just got the new system up and running...and to my pleasant surprise, I am able to run at full frame rate, all 33 cameras, and with a fairly consistent CPU percentage of around 75%. Some times it will spike into the mid 80's but it settles back down again after a short time.

A couple of other data points:

Of the 33 cameras currently running, 11 of them are 4K and to my thinking are responsible for quite a bit of the CPU load. I noticed measurable spikes in CPU load each time I added a new 4K camera.

One more thing worth noting....these i9 processors run HOT! And I mean...Mucho Caliente! :) I had purchased a pretty beefy water cooler setup to go along with the new processor, but it was just not up to the task, so I had to buy a monster 6-Pipe Dual Tower Heatsink from Noctua to keep the temps at acceptable ranges.

To be honest, I was hoping for more headroom than this...but if I really want to, I guess I could go back to utilizing the limit feature if I want to add a few more cameras. But this is not ideal as the limit feature does not work when using the Web Interface to view the cameras. I guess time will tell whether or not I've reached the practical limit in the number of cameras I can use. 33 is a lot, but I'd love to be able to add more!

Anyway...I don't claim to have any "scientific" statistics or extensive tests to offer up, but thought that some folks might find this at least interesting to read.

Cheers everyone!
 

fenderman

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Would have been cheaper to spend your money on a lighter vms. ..
 

Philip Gonzales

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Wow, 33 cameras. Do you live in a mansion? lol May be a good idea to go outside once in a while and see what's going on out there in the real world. A little sunshine is good for you!! (mostly teasing lol)
 

Tuckerdude

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Hey Phillip...the house is pretty good size, but in all fairness to me, more than 75% of those cameras ARE outside... and installed by yours truly! :lol: So yes I DO get outside! In fact for all the far perimeter cameras, I had to trench, lay conduit, and wire for power and Ethernet to allow me to get views of the property quite far from the house! Was a hell of a lot of labor! But still fun and quite satisfying now that it’s all done!

Cheers!!
 

Migel

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I can't seem to find the thread now but there is a tool documented on this forum somewhere that surveys many installations and shows the number of cameras, CPU and other stats. While 33 is a lot, I don't think it is unheard of. Anyone have the link to that statistics page?
 

Tuckerdude

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Hey Migel..

Never heard of this tool! If you find it, let me know as I’d be curious to see stats from other setups.
 

Tuckerdude

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Thanks Philip, I knew about Update Helper but didn't know it had features like this...will give it a look.
 

Migel

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Thanks Philip.

So
Here is one:

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz
MHz: 4200
CPU Usage: 45% 44%
MP/s: 1402
Cameras: 34
Memory: 11693 MiB
17644 MiB / 32687 MiB
 

Philip Gonzales

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Thanks Philip.

So
Here is one:

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz
MHz: 4200
CPU Usage: 45% 44%
MP/s: 1402
Cameras: 34
Memory: 11693 MiB
17644 MiB / 32687 MiB
Yeah, I saw that one. I want to get that CPU now lol.
 

Tuckerdude

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Yo guys...super interesting stuff to look at (the stats page from BI Helper).

So I installed and uploaded from my old config just now to compare and it seems as though the one stand-out number being different from mine and the 34 camera setup is the MP/s. The 34 Camera i7 is pushing 1402 MP/s and my i9 is pushing 3169 MP/s. Probably due to the number of 4K cameras I have running now.

Now, to be fair the CPU usage number being shown is reflecting the fact that I'm using "Limit Decoding" on a bunch of my cameras on this machine. That's why it's showing 50%. If I uncheck that option on the i7 setup, it spikes up into the 90s which is why I was looking to upgrade my machine.

At any rate, this has been illuminating and I'm glad to see that BI Helper has this feature...I will use it for sure going forward. I've been meaning to try it anyway
 

Tuckerdude

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Uploaded the i9 stats for anyone who's interested. Although it shows CPU at 63%, it's usually in the mid to high 70's. Not too bad!
 

Migel

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Are you using unnecessarily high FPS like 30 FPS rather than something like 15FPS which is almost imperceptibly different?
 

Tuckerdude

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On the i7 (my old config), I have it set to 20, but on the new i9 I've not done that yet.

To be clear, at this stage I'm just trying to see how it fares without the usual tweaks and optimizations. I'm sure I can get it working even better, but thought it was an interesting test to see how it worked with default settings and no optimizations.
 

Jinx

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and to my pleasant surprise, I am able to run at full frame rate
Are you using unnecessarily high FPS like 30 FPS rather than something like 15FPS which is almost imperceptibly different?
I suspected he might by that sentence, seems odd.

People always focus on high frame rates and resolution :facepalm: I’ve learnt from the guys here that in most cases it’s pointless.
 

Tuckerdude

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Not sure if it's pointless, but I do understand the difference. Framerate is one thing and specifically during previews I completely get it. But in terms of resolution (when viewed full screen), the differences are night and day. I mean...I have multiple cameras running at 4MP and used to think they looked great. That was until I installed the latest round of 8MP (4K) cameras and it was as if someone took the "Doris Day Filter" off the camera and I could finally see clearly. Anyway, if you are intending something else then please clarify...but I can say from personal experience that the 4K cameras are a huge improvement in clarity. Cheers!

P.S. For those of you who are too young to know, here's a link to my "Doris Day" comment which might explain! :lmao:

"Very Fuzzy" Doris Day
 

Jinx

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No I realise that in some cases they are an improvement, ie where there is ample light and pixel density is important.

High frame rates are nice to have but that’s a balance, I’m not sure how it works. If all other variables were equal would 1x30fps feed equal 2x15fps feeds in bandwidth and BI cpu useage?
For me personally I think more angles would be more useful that higher frame rates but I get you may have valid reason to use higher rates.

My experience was typical newb, I bought Hikvision 4K as my first cams, I still use but my 2MP starlights are better for my uses.
 

Tuckerdude

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Yeah...fair enough. Again, what I was initially going after with this test was to see just how much headroom I might get from this new setup. I don't intend to run it 24/7 without doing the normal optimizations, but it's good to know I have some extra cycles hanging out there to play with in the future.
 
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