New system hardware specs

[tloomos]

I ran across Blue Iris while looking at dedicated NVRs to replace a very expensive ($60/camera license) NAS-integrated surveillance system. I love it so far and have decided to take the plunge and get some proper hardware in place to support it. I run a Home Server (WHS2011) and have decided I'm going to beef up that system in order to support Blue Iris. I use this machine as the host for a variety of apps that I want always-on, but BI will by far be the most resource intensive app, so I'm going to tailor the system to it and leave a little headroom for the other apps.

I'm going to be putting the server in a rack, so I'm doing a custom build. Here's the setup I'm leaning toward right now:

• ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2 Motherboard
• AMD FX-8350 8-core 4GHz CPU
• 16GB DDR3 2400 RAM
• 250GB Samsung EVO SSD (for OS and apps only - not video storage)

Storage for BI recordings will be on WD Purple drives on my NAS. I have 2 HD (720p) cameras and 6 standard def in my setup right now.

I saw that an Intel i7 is recommended, but for raw compute power I think the AMD is just as good if not a bit better. The recommended hardware I saw also included an nvidia video adapter. Since this is a headless home server that sits in a rack, I wasn't originally going to add a dedicated video card. However, it sounds like BI will perform better if it can offload some processing to it? Should I add one? And if so, what's a good option considering that I won't have an output device connected to it at all.

Thanks for any suggestions or guidance anyone can provide!

 

[fenderman]

@tloomosDont use AMD. Intel is more efficient and has integrated video which is more than enough for blue iris. It will cost you much more to run this amd system over an intel system. Amd should never be used in a 24/7 NVR.
Blue iris doesnt use much ram. 4gb is sufficient. I would run a security vms on a dedicated machine.
If you can live with the unit not being in a rack, I would recommend a dell optiplex 7020/9020 i7-4790 that can be had at the outlet for 500 or less.
How many cameras and what resolution do you intend to run them?

 

[lgRich]

@tloomos,

Until 2 years now, I run without any problem a similar PC (see detail into my signature) dedicated for BI, Milestone and backup during the night for all my other PC.

This PC is very stable and can easily handle your 2 x 720P and 6 x standard cameras.

If I well understand your post… you already have this hardware?... so if this exact, don’t spend $500.00 for a new one.

• AMD M5A99FX = 8,975 Benchmark and PDT 125W
• INTEL i7-4790 = 11,238 Benchmark and PDT 84W

This will take you many many years to recover the 41W difference in your bill for electricity.

 

[fenderman]

@tloomos,

Until 2 years now, I run without any problem a similar PC (see detail into my signature) dedicated for BI, Milestone and backup during the night for all my other PC.

This PC is very stable and can easily handle your 2 x 720P and 6 x standard cameras.

If I well understand your post… you already have this hardware?... so if this exact, don’t spend $500.00 for a new one.

• AMD M5A99FX = 8,975 Benchmark and PDT 125W
• INTEL i7-4790 = 11,238 Benchmark and PDT 84W

This will take you many many years to recover the 41W difference in your bill for electricity.

The post indicates that he does not have the gear yet. The tdp is not the actual power consumption difference. The intel's run well below the TDP..the AMD will require an graphics card that will suck even more power. Even at 41w for folks on the east and west coast that pay at least 20c a kwh, that translates into 80 dollars per year. AMD has no place in an NVR. They are way too far behind.
Here is a great example on how efficient an intel based system can be. Its an i5-4590...
https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/5696-PC-NVR-Power-Consumption-Sample

 

[tloomos]

Thanks for the suggestions! So here are some revised specs based on the feedback I received as well as some research I did on the differences between the AMD and Intel chip sets.

• AsRock Z97 Extreme 6 Motherboard
• Intel Core i7 -4790 CPU
• 16GB DDR3 2400 RAM

Will BI benefit in any way from a video card being added to the system? I'm not planning to have a monitor connected to the computer so I'm hoping that whatever video capabilities are provided by the mobo/CPU will be sufficient.

 

[fenderman]

Thanks for the suggestions! So here are some revised specs based on the feedback I received as well as some research I did on the differences between the AMD and Intel chip sets.

• AsRock Z97 Extreme 6 Motherboard
• Intel Core i7 -4790 CPU
• 16GB DDR3 2400 RAM

Will BI benefit in any way from a video card being added to the system? I'm not planning to have a monitor connected to the computer so I'm hoping that whatever video capabilities are provided by the mobo/CPU will be sufficient.

A discrete card wont help...
Since you are building you might consider an i7-6700k. though for your current load an i3 is sufficient...

 

[johngalt]

I just upgraded my home system from an FX-4300 processor to a Xeon E3-1231v3, and it is a world of improvement during playback with the HikVision client software. It went from constant 100% CPU usage to 10-17% with 4 cameras running live.


FYI, the Xeon is $209 at MicroCenter and is the same as a I7 without the integrated GPU. So if you are going to remote into it or have dedicated graphics anyways, you'll save some money.

 

[tloomos]

A discrete card wont help...
Since you are building you might consider an i7-6700k. though for your current load an i3 is sufficient...

I was looking very close at the 6700K and was about to go that route. In the end the main thing that steered me toward the 4790 was the overall price tag. This little project started when I wanted to add a few cams and the NAS I was running them on became cost prohibitive ($180 to add 3 additional camera licenses). I started thinking that my $180 might be better spent going toward a dedicated NVR. As I did more research, I came across BI and love the feature set and not being tightly bound to any specific camera brand. I then decided to spend a bit on beefing up my home server since I hadn't done anything there for awhile and now I'm looking at a price tag over $500 - so much for "saving" money. Granted I am getting benefits that go beyond the surveillance system, but it's still a lot more than I had planned to be spending.

The i7 4790 seems like a significant step up for this environment and will probably even be overkill. I've been running a Core i5 2500 with 8GB RAM on the home server for a while now and based on what I've seen over the past few days with BI running, I could probably get by just fine with that setup.

 

[fenderman]

I was looking very close at the 6700K and was about to go that route. In the end the main thing that steered me toward the 4790 was the overall price tag. This little project started when I wanted to add a few cams and the NAS I was running them on became cost prohibitive ($180 to add 3 additional camera licenses). I started thinking that my $180 might be better spent going toward a dedicated NVR. As I did more research, I came across BI and love the feature set and not being tightly bound to any specific camera brand. I then decided to spend a bit on beefing up my home server since I hadn't done anything there for awhile and now I'm looking at a price tag over $500 - so much for "saving" money. Granted I am getting benefits that go beyond the surveillance system, but it's still a lot more than I had planned to be spending.

The i7 4790 seems like a significant step up for this environment and will probably even be overkill. I've been running a Core i5 2500 with 8GB RAM on the home server for a while now and based on what I've seen over the past few days with BI running, I could probably get by just fine with that setup.

I would stick with what you have...also note that the latest update released today includes this info
:

• We are exploring hardware video acceleration particularly in conjunction with nVIDIA graphics adaptors and this will require the use of DirectX9 and perhaps other newer technologies. Please insure that DirectX9 or newer is installed on your system prior to the 4.2 release by the end of the month."​

 

[Del Boy]

I would stick with what you have...also note that the latest update released today includes this info
:

• We are exploring hardware video acceleration particularly in conjunction with nVIDIA graphics adaptors and this will require the use of DirectX9 and perhaps other newer technologies. Please insure that DirectX9 or newer is installed on your system prior to the 4.2 release by the end of the month."​

I thought CUDA had died, maybe not. It'll still use more power than the Intel CPU I guess though? But will be a cheaper way of handling a large system.

 

[fenderman]

I thought CUDA had died, maybe not. It'll still use more power than the Intel CPU I guess though? But will be a cheaper way of handling a large system.

I dont know how this will be implemented. I think there will be a benefit for all users not just nvidia...Not sure why he chose that route...I prefer the integraded hd graphics for the low power as you point out. They are still better than most of the cheap cards out there. The new intel 530 in the skylake processors adds even more power..