Need help, looking for computer to run blue iris

[wetto]

So my plan is to eventually run up to 8 cameras or possibly even 12 if i get wild. 12 is a long ways away though, as the cameras are pricey. I definetley want to start off by purchasing atleast two Dahua starlight 2mp(IPC-HDW2231R-ZS) cams. Its been a while since i was in this forum but now i definetley want to get the ball rolling. Ive looked the wiki about how the dell optiplex/hp elitedesk seems to be the gold standard as far as selecting a computer goes. I would like to select a dell optiplex as im more receptive to that brand rather than hp. What else am i supposed to be looking for when trying to select a computer? Is there particular model i should be looking for with a goal of 8 cameras? I found this listing on https://www.amazon.com/Dell-980-Performance-Professional-Refurbished/dp/B06X3RTYV1/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QM780AAAJG2ZHAX4KHT4 for a dell optiplex with 8gigs of ram, windows 10 included. The processor says however that it is an i5-650 not a i5-6500 like the wiki says, is it just an abbreviation? Another thing that is throwing me off is the price, when i search on ebay i see listing for closer to $500 on i5 models while the wiki says they should be around $3-350.

Also i understand bandwidth is a part of choosing an NVR. The cameras i selected should require about 10mbps @1080p/25fps. But on the wiki i dont see a section talking about bandwidth for a PC. Why is that?

 

[fenderman]

So my plan is to eventually run up to 8 cameras or possibly even 12 if i get wild. 12 is a long ways away though, as the cameras are pricey. I definetley want to start off by purchasing atleast two Dahua starlight 2mp(IPC-HDW2231R-ZS) cams. Its been a while since i was in this forum but now i definetley want to get the ball rolling. Ive looked the wiki about how the dell optiplex/hp elitedesk seems to be the gold standard as far as selecting a computer goes. I would like to select a dell optiplex as im more receptive to that brand rather than hp. What else am i supposed to be looking for when trying to select a computer? Is there particular model i should be looking for with a goal of 8 cameras? I found this listing on https://www.amazon.com/Dell-980-Performance-Professional-Refurbished/dp/B06X3RTYV1/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QM780AAAJG2ZHAX4KHT4 for a dell optiplex with 8gigs of ram, windows 10 included. The processor says however that it is an i5-650 not a i5-6500 like the wiki says, is it just an abbreviation? Another thing that is throwing me off is the price, when i search on ebay i see listing for closer to $500 on i5 models while the wiki says they should be around $3-350.

Also i understand bandwidth is a part of choosing an NVR. The cameras i selected should require about 10mbps @1080p/25fps. But on the wiki i dont see a section talking about bandwidth for a PC. Why is that?

That amazon listing is an embarrasment. It is a first gen i5 about that is a powerhog and does not suppport quicksync. That pc is almost 9 years old. The seller is a scammer.
See the wiki that explains all of this at the top of page.
The bandwidth is irrelevant to a blue iris pc.

 

[wetto]

Well thats good to know. Looking at the comparable prices explained on the wiki they do not match up with what im searching. The only thing the wiki lists are the cpu's. I dont know which cpus come in what model towers. Im having a hard time looking for that even on the dell website. I see plenty of listing with 6500 cpus but theyre inspirons the ones that are optiplex are running close to $500 and theyre not even new.

Wiki says : Complete systems based on a modern Intel i5 desktop CPU can be found for $300-$350

 

[Cameraguy]

Well thats good to know. Looking at the comparable prices explained on the wiki they do not match up with what im searching. The only thing the wiki lists are the cpu's. I dont know which cpus come in what model towers. Im having a hard time looking for that even on the dell website. I see plenty of listing with 6500 cpus but theyre inspirons the ones that are optiplex are running close to $500 and theyre not even new.

Wiki says : Complete systems based on a modern Intel i5 desktop CPU can be found for $300-$350

Check Ebay refurbished@fenderman found me an awesome i5 6th gen for like $180

 

[fenderman]

Well thats good to know. Looking at the comparable prices explained on the wiki they do not match up with what im searching. The only thing the wiki lists are the cpu's. I dont know which cpus come in what model towers. Im having a hard time looking for that even on the dell website. I see plenty of listing with 6500 cpus but theyre inspirons the ones that are optiplex are running close to $500 and theyre not even new.

Wiki says : Complete systems based on a modern Intel i5 desktop CPU can be found for $300-$350

you are not searching correctly
actually i5-6500 elitedesks can be found for 200 or less. Read again search again. also remember that ebay fluctuates a lot from day to day. But even a 100 dollar i5-3570 hp 8300 is several orders of magnitude better than the amazon listing which i would not take for free - will end up costing more to run.

 

[wetto]

Check Ebay refurbished@fenderman found me an awesome i5 6th gen for like $180

Im looking at them now, i think i was looking at sponsored listings or not refurbished.

you are not searching correctly
actually i5-6500 elitedesks can be found for 200 or less. Read again search again. also remember that ebay fluctuates a lot from day to day. But even a 100 dollar i5-3570 hp 8300 is several orders of magnitude better than the amazon listing which i would not take for free - will end up costing more to run.

Ok now im finding the optiplexes for around $300 bin with some filtering. Theres an open bid at $100 or so for i5-6500 but it also does not come with an OS ill keep that on my watchlist. Im assuming these third party sellers on ebay dont have a warranty of any sort. Like even if it had no warranty from the seller could i check if the listing still has remaining coverage from Dell?

Do the SFF opti/elites have expansion for 3.5 inch drives?

Im partial to the Dells but i will take a look at the elitedesks now.

 

[Q™]

I’m patial to Dell’s too @wetto and many of those Dell’s will activate a Win10 Pro OS because of built in “System Locked Pre-installation.”

System Locked Pre-installation - Wikipedia

System Locked Pre-installation, often abbreviated as SLP, is a procedure used by major OEM computer-manufacturers in order to pre-activate Microsoft Windows before mass distribution.

 

[wetto]

Check Ebay refurbished@fenderman found me an awesome i5 6th gen for like $180

So i found some on ebay im looking at but ive additionally found several locally for even cheaper. What do i need to do as far as making sure the PC runs ok and im getting what im paying for? Im assuming these used pcs are no different than the "seller refurbished" ones on ebay.

 

[Q™]

What do i need to do as far as making sure the PC runs ok and im getting what im paying for?

You need to read this...

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk

 

[wetto]

You need to read this...

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk

Ive visited the page several times. It just explains the hardware portion. I know it needs something above windows 7(preferably 8+).I haven't owned a desktop since 2009 and I'm not fond of buying used electronics. I've found several models that include the CPUs mentioned in that sticky.

My question is that since I am buying essentially a used computer. Is there anything tips I should be aware of as far as checking it out goes? Some sort of stress test?

I know I can check to see if it's under warranty with the service tag. I know most of these PC's are 3+years old. I know I can run the system settings to see what hardware is installed as far ram, hdd and CPU is concerned. My only othet concern is about windows and their licensing keys. How do I make sure that's authentic. I know you stated that these PC's may come with a built in OS similar to recovery but I'd rather not go that route if I don't have to.

 

[Tyyees]

Wetto

Ebay has a new Acer i3-8100 for 334.99 with free shipping. Has 8 DD4 ram and 1TB drive, windows 10 home.

Acer Desktop Aspire T Core i3 8100 3.6GHz 8GB RAM 1TB HDD UHD Graphics 630 WIN10

When checking for a pc use the chart that Q suggested you can plug in the cup and see how it performs with BI and many other things.

 

[SouthernYankee]

wetto
most of us add a 120 GB SSD for the OS and BI. Then Add a 4 TB Western Digital purple to save recorded video.

 

[Tyyees]

SouthernYankee

It’s nice to have an SSD but by no means necessary depending on your application. As far as drive space goes that’s subjective on how long and how much you want to store. My system runs great with no SSD and 2TB. Suits my needs.

 

[fenderman]

SouthernYankee

It’s nice to have an SSD but by no means necessary depending on your application. As far as drive space goes that’s subjective on how long and how much you want to store. My system runs great with no SSD and 2TB. Suits my needs.

its foolish not to have one. The good ones are 50bux. w10 pro allows more native control of updates. A sixth gen i5 hp elitedesk is just as powerful as the acer an about 180-200.

 

[wetto]

For my calculations I'm looking at needing about 6tb storage space in the end. I'm going to need to add a 3 5 inch drive no matter what I choose. The SFF towers however only seem to have 1 3.5" bay so it may be better if i go with an ssd since ill be needing that 3.5 slot.

Another thing I'll be looking at is full size towers today. Although they do make single 6tb+ drives to run on a SFF PC, i may or may not have a better value and redundancy running two smaller drives instead of 1. I'll check them out when I get home.

 

[fenderman]

For my calculations I'm looking at needing about 6tb storage space in the end. I'm going to need to add a 3 5 inch drive no matter what I choose. The SFF towers however only seem to have 1 3.5" bay so it may be better if i go with an ssd since ill be needing that 3.5 slot.

Another thing I'll be looking at is full size towers today. Although they do make single 6tb+ drives to run on a SFF PC, i may or may not have a better value and redundancy running two smaller drives instead of 1. I'll check them out when I get home.

There is a thread discussing how to install 2 3.5 drives in the hp elitedesk as well as an ssd. This is not possible in the optiplex.

 

[wetto]

Wetto
When checking for a pc use the chart that Q suggested you can plug in the cup and see how it performs with BI and many other things.

The chart can not be loaded, something about ip address could not be found

its foolish not to have one. The good ones are 50bux. w10 pro allows more native control of updates. A sixth gen i5 hp elitedesk is just as powerful as the acer an about 180-200.

Hate to ask but are these prices youre listing for "used" units or units marked "refurbished"? The outlets seem to be well above the wiki prices. but they are also certified refurbished from the manufacturer. Ebay seems like its the only place where im going to find something online. I didnt have much luck finding hp elitedesks locally but i did find a couple optiplex (i5-6500) under 250 which seems like an ok price. I replied to a couple ads but so far nobody has responded to my inquiries.

 

[Q™]

In the vast majority of cases I’ve found “refubished” to be a lie. We buy most of our equipment used on eBay and nearly everything we buy needs to be cleaned before it is deployed. Blowing out a “refurbished” Dell Optiplex with an air compressor generally creates a significant dust storm. “Refurbished.” Nope.

 

[fenderman]

The chart can not be loaded, something about ip address could not be found



Hate to ask but are these prices youre listing for "used" units or units marked "refurbished"? The outlets seem to be well above the wiki prices. but they are also certified refurbished from the manufacturer. Ebay seems like its the only place where im going to find something online. I didnt have much luck finding hp elitedesks locally but i did find a couple optiplex (i5-6500) under 250 which seems like an ok price. I replied to a couple ads but so far nobody has responded to my inquiries.

No one "refurbishes" pc. They are used. Most still have on site next business day warranties left as they are provided for 3 years. I have never seen one of these units fail. I have paid under 180 for the last few i5-6500 elitedesk systems - more room inside than optiplex. i5-7500 systems will have even more warranty.

 

[wetto]

In the vast majority of cases I’ve found “refubished” to be a lie. We buy most of our equipment used on eBay and nearly everything we buy needs to be cleaned before it is deployed. Blowing out a “refurbished” Dell Optiplex with an air compressor generally creates a significant dust storm. “Refurbished.” Nope.

No one "refurbishes" pc. They are used. Most still have on site next business day warranties left as they are provided for 3 years. I have never seen one of these units fail. I have paid under 180 for the last few i5-6500 elitedesk systems - more room inside than optiplex. i5-7500 systems will have even more warranty.

Thats what was on my mind, "refurbished" just being a sales pitch. Anyway, i have an update. Someone responded back locally. They have an optiplex for sale. It seems to be a "small business" pc store in my area.

Per their ad:
It is a core I-5 /6500 CPU/3.2 GHz /64 bit /8 GBs ram /128 SSD drive/Windows 10 pro/$210/Office 16/Key board and mouse included /Wireless /6 month warranty/Free delivery /No out of town sales

Seems like a good deal to me. He supplied the service tag, i wasnt able to find much other than the warranty expired about 4 months ago (as it should since the 5040 optiplex models are 3 years old). It comes with an SSD so thats a plus since ill have the 3.5 inch bay empty for a WD purple. It has 8gigs of ram instead of 4. Although it is out of manufacturers warranty, the seller is stating that he gives a 6 month warranty, so i guess thats some peace of mind if this PC store is honest. It is a 6500 series cpu so i guess theres still room for futureproofing with the h.265 codec.

The only issue is as you stated, these Optiplex PCs can only fit one 3.5 drive. According to the storage calculator, if i run all 8 dahuas@25fps@24hours a day for 7 days im looking at 7.5TB of storage space. That is only with a full camera setup though. I will still be a long ways away from having 8 cameras, since im starting with two. I also know i can tinker with the quality settings to save some storage space. Do things like shorten my recording days from 7 down to 4, or scale down framerate on all or less important views. The 8TB WD purples are running close to $250 so i can save a buck there if i scale down my settings.

What do you guys think?
EDIT: its not a store but i guess it is still a small business... They have an ad up on craigslist and a facebook page. A phone number and thats pretty much it. So much for the 6 month warranty??