CPU running at 100% almost constantly

[New Daddy]

I bought a cheap off-lease PC with a third-generation i-3 processor.
It's not the most powerful, but Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris page described it as "cheap but still good".
But after adding a dozen cameras, the CPU is almost constantly running at 100%.
I've read other threads, and this doesn't seem normal.
Needless to say, no other app is running besides Blue Iris, as it's a newly installed OS.

Where do I start to troubleshoot?

 

[wittaj]

Start with this wiki and do everything it says. Especially the substreams... Too many people say they have done every optimization and as they start sharing screenshots we see that they have not...

Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

Blue Iris uses a lot of CPU time. In most Blue Iris installations, your CPU is the limiting factor which determines how many cameras you can have. As such, it is extremely important to optimize your configuration to ensure you can get the most out of your system while consuming the least...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[fenderman]

I3 processor is a meaningless term. What processor? What load?

 

[New Daddy]

I3 processor is a meaningless term. What processor? What load?

Sorry, it's i5, not i3
i5-3470.

I don't know what load means.

 

[New Daddy]

Start with this wiki and do everything it says. Especially the substreams... Too many people say they have done every optimization and as they start sharing screenshots we see that they have not...

Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

Blue Iris uses a lot of CPU time. In most Blue Iris installations, your CPU is the limiting factor which determines how many cameras you can have. As such, it is extremely important to optimize your configuration to ensure you can get the most out of your system while consuming the least...

ipcamtalk.com

Ok, I started with replacing the video driver with an older one that's linked in Memory Leak: Quick Sync (Hardware Acceleration).

Now, Blue Iris has lost the left-side panel that shows all the recordings, as well as the menu bar.
What gives? Is there any way to get the side panel and the menu bar back?

 

[wittaj]

Post a screen shot from the Blue Iris status that looks like this, but show the whole screen that shows Totals at the bottom:

 

[wittaj]

Ok, I started with replacing the video driver with an older one that's linked in Memory Leak: Quick Sync (Hardware Acceleration).

Now, Blue Iris has lost the left-side panel that shows all the recordings, as well as the menu bar.
What gives? Is there any way to get the side panel and the menu bar back?

That shouldn't be a driver issue, you probably accidentally turned them off - try a left click and look for the menu bar. It may also be up in the settings.

 

[New Daddy]

That shouldn't be a driver issue, you probably accidentally turned them off - try a left click and look for the menu bar. It may also be up in the settings.

I don't see it.

 

[New Daddy]

Post a screen shot from the Blue Iris status that looks like this, but show the whole screen that shows Totals at the bottom:

Where do I retrieve this information?

 

[wittaj]

The graph with the arrow up on top left for the camera status page

 

[wittaj]

Did you get to full screen by mistake? Hit the ESC button a few times

 

[New Daddy]

Did you get to full screen by mistake? Hit the ESC button a few times

No, and I already did hit the ESC multiple times.

 

[New Daddy]

The graph with the arrow up on top left for the camera status page

Right, except that those icons are gone too.

 

[New Daddy]

That shouldn't be a driver issue, you probably accidentally turned them off - try a left click and look for the menu bar. It may also be up in the settings.

How important is using the old driver in reducing the CPU usage?
I'm going to update the video driver, because it's causing all sorts troubles, and do all the other suggested measures.

 

[wittaj]

If the previous driver isn't causing an issue, then go ahead and stay with it. Some people have no problem with more recent drivers, and others do. It will impact your RAM more than CPU if there is an issue. The RAM shoots up until it is gone and then BI and/or computer restarts.

 

[New Daddy]

Did you get to full screen by mistake? Hit the ESC button a few times

Mea culpa. I hit the ESC button 4-5 times in a row in desperation, and it worked.

The old driver is still wreaking havoc in other ways, I think.
The remote desktop client that I use to log on to the BI-PC, shuts down once in a while.

 

[fenderman]

Mea culpa. I hit the ESC button 4-5 times in a row in desperation, and it worked.

The old driver is still wreaking havoc in other ways, I think.
The remote desktop client that I use to log on to the BI-PC, shuts down once in a while.

You dont need an old driver. The latest drivers do not have the leak. You need the latest MS driver not the one provided by dell.

 

[looney2ns]

Mea culpa. I hit the ESC button 4-5 times in a row in desperation, and it worked.

The old driver is still wreaking havoc in other ways, I think.
The remote desktop client that I use to log on to the BI-PC, shuts down once in a while.

Stop, take a deep breath, and Study the BI help file. This is all user error. Unless you understand what a setting does, don't click things willy nilly on it. The remote desktop can add significantly more load to the CPU. Stop using it, and use a monitor connected to the BI pc until you get things ironed out.

 

[New Daddy]

I'd like to report that using the substreams and writing directly to the disk has made a huge difference!
Those two measures alone brought down the cpu usage to less than 20%.

Thank you all.

 

[wittaj]

Yep, those two features are major CPU savers, but too many people do as @looney2ns said and start changing settings not knowing what they are doing and end up messing up BI and in their efforts to decrease CPU usage, they actually increase it.

I cannot tell you how many people come here reporting that they have high CPU and have done everything in the Optimization wiki and then when we ask for screenshots to help troubleshoot, we see that they have not followed every optimization!