Blue Iris power consumption experiments

bp2008

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I have my Blue Iris server connected to an Ubiquiti mFi mPower Pro now, which measures power consumption, so I ran some tests.

System #1

i7-3770K (stock speed)
16 GB RAM
1x SSD
4x HDD
Nvidia GTX 950 GPU (only to facilitate 4K@60hz output)
Blue Iris load of 635 MP/s, motion detecting

It is a bit of a power hog since it is years old, has so many HDDs, and a discrete GPU

Baseline Reading

82 watts @ 1% CPU usage (task manager) with Blue Iris not running at all.

Hardware Acceleration Enabled

132 watts @ 33% total CPU usage with Blue Iris GUI closed.
155 watts @ 55% total CPU usage with Blue Iris GUI open, maximized at 4K resolution, 6 FPS live view limit.

Hardware Acceleration Disabled

158 watts @ 77% total CPU usage with Blue Iris GUI closed.
167 watts @ 100% total CPU usage with Blue Iris GUI open, maximized at 4K resolution, 6 FPS preview limit. The system froze up and I had to unplug the network cord before even the mouse pointer would respond again.

System #2

i7-3770K (stock speed)
16 GB RAM
2x SSD
3x HDD
Onboard graphics only
Blue Iris load of 350 MP/s, continuous recording without motion detection

I will not be measuring with the GUI open because this system never gets monitored live, and I have the live view frame rate limit set to 1 FPS. This is a small, nearly inconsequential additional load of about 2% CPU / 2 watts.


Baseline Reading

60 watts @ 1% CPU usage (task manager) with Blue Iris not running at all.

Hardware Acceleration Enabled

83 watts @ 15% total CPU usage with Blue Iris GUI closed.

Hardware Acceleration Disabled

97 watts @ 35% total CPU usage with Blue Iris GUI closed.
 

tsutton

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So basically, enabling Hardware Acceleration is helping to reduce the power consumption. That's good.
 

greg_mitch

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So basically, enabling Hardware Acceleration is helping to reduce the power consumption. That's good.
System #1
Saving about $12/year
((26*24*365)/1000)*0.05=$11.38

System #2
Saving about $6/year.
((14*24*365)/1000)*0.05=$6.13

Use your own electrical rate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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fenderman

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System #1
Saving about $12/year
((26*24*365)/1000)*0.05=$11.38

System #2
Saving about $6/year.
((14*24*365)/1000)*0.05=$6.13

Use your own electrical rate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No one pays 5 cents a kwh... more like 11-25...
 

greg_mitch

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No one pays 5 cents a kwh... more like 11-25...
You are right for residential, although many rural power cooperatives in my area offer an "all electrical heat" subsidized rate that gets down there. I had my employers raw industrial rate without demand charges in my head (4.7 cents/kwh). It looks like the residential rates are anywhere from $0.07 to $0.27 / kwh.

If you live in Hawaii we are talking about:
System 1 - $61
System 2 - $33

Looks like about a few date nights worth of savings. Bonus!
 

ndstate

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It would be interesting to see numbers with a newer processor. Maybe I will go borrow one of those power meters...
 

fenderman

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One thing you can say about Oklahoma, it is a cheap place to live..... $0.04 per kwh
its cant be .04....you need to consider the price of electric, delivery and tax...a quick google search indicates 8-9c...
 
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