For 7 cameras it won't make much difference, especially if you do the optimizations.
Most of us have found real world conditions that H265 doesn't result in the major storage savings. Personally I saw within minutes of savings between H265 and H264, and I think H264 looks better.
Plus you can run the 4th generation with H265 - you just cannot use Hardware Acceleration, but with substreams, Hardware Acceleration isn't as much of a benefit as it was prior to substreams.
Do
EVERY optimization in the
wiki and you will see a major drop in the CPU. Substreams are a must, especially once you get over 4MP cameras.
A member here runs 50 cameras on a 4th generation CPU at 30%, so you will be fine with 7 cameras.
And by EVERY, I mean
EVERY. Too many people come here complaining of high CPU usage and claim they have done every optimization in the
wiki and once they post screenshots, we see they are not using the substreams and that is probably one of the biggest CPU savers. Do not skip one because you think it isn't important or won't make that big of a deal. Even dropping frame rate a few FPS can make a big difference. No reason to run more than 15FPS, and many us have cams running at 10 to 12 FPS.
If you do not understand what something does in BI, then ask. Too many people also change a setting not realizing what it does and actually makes their performance worse.
Please post a screenshot of your BI camera status page that shows FPS, MP/s, etc.
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