PC NVR Power Consumption Sample

[fenderman]

I picked up an HP Elitesdesk i5-4590 small form factor machine for the office and ran some power consumption tests on it. This machine has an optional 80+ platinum certified power supply (there is a standard, gold, and platinum power supply option from HP). It rated 90/92/89% efficient at20/50/100% load (115V). I installed a Crucial mx200 ssd and windows 10. I disconnected the 3.5 drive for these tests. It would add an additional 5w or so.
Using a killawatt meter these are the rough numbers.
0-4% = 10-15w
30% = 25w
50% = 36w
100% = 75w

 

[frankred]

Very good info Fenderman! What is the comparable wattage of an NVR at those loads? Would 30% on that system be 4x3mp cameras?



I just bought a second Elitedesk and I am planning on giving the first one to my sister to replace her aging desktop. I just noticed that hers has the 80+Platinum 240W PSU you mentioned above.
80+Platinum 240W, i5 4670, 4gb, onboard graphics
240W, i7 4770, 16gb, HD8490 1gb (my new BI server)
Now I am wondering what the difference is between a PSU that is rated and another that is not... Should I swap and keep the 80+Platinum for my 24/7 BI server?
https://www.google.com/search?q=702307-002&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 -this is the non-rated psu in my i7. I can't find any specs on it.

 

[fenderman]

@frankred, on that system 12mp total would run about 30 percent...direct to disk...its just a guesstimate...
You many not be able to use the power supply on your system since the card draws too much power...I would remove the video card....not sure what the standard power supply efficiency ratings are. Probably somewhere in the low 80's...

 

[frankred]

@frankred, on that system 12mp total would run about 30 percent...direct to disk...its just a guesstimate...

In comparison (and along the lines of why you posted this information, unlike my semi-threadjack question), what kind of wattage would an NVR with 12mp worth of cameras draw?

You many not be able to use the power supply on your system since the card draws too much power...I would remove the video card....not sure what the standard power supply efficiency ratings are. Probably somewhere in the low 80's...

I agree that they probably spec their machines just right with little overhead power, and I would also guess low 80%'s.

I like the idea of the gpu in case I want to play some games. However, it is not much of a gpu anyway. I think I will check both systems on my killawatt and see if I should swap PSUs.

 

[fenderman]

In comparison (and along the lines of why you posted this information, unlike my semi-threadjack question), what kind of wattage would an NVR with 12mp worth of cameras draw?



I agree that they probably spec their machines just right with little overhead power, and I would also guess low 80%'s.

I like the idea of the gpu in case I want to play some games. However, it is not much of a gpu anyway. I think I will check both systems on my killawatt and see if I should swap PSUs.

You cant compare both machines directly because they have different cpu's...I would not play any games on a blue iris pc. It should be dedicated to the task.
More importantly the hd8490 is super weak and benchmarks LOWER than the integrated hd4600. (about half)
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+8490
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Intel+HD+4600
Take that card out asap.
I never attached an NVR to a killawatt...if you look at the specs it varies from 10-50w or so for the average 4-16ch units...(without the disks)...

 

[frankred]

You cant compare both machines directly because they have different cpu's...I would not play any games on a blue iris pc. It should be dedicated to the task.
More importantly the hd8490 is super weak and benchmarks LOWER than the integrated hd4600. (about half)
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+8490
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Intel+HD+4600
Take that card out asap.
I never attached an NVR to a killawatt...if you look at the specs it varies from 10-50w or so for the average 4-16ch units...(without the disks)...

Thanks for the info. Why in the world would HP have equipped this pc with that card? To make a buck on selling it?

 

[fenderman]

Thanks for the info. Why in the world would HP have equipped this pc with that card? To make a buck on selling it?

No, I think it's there for folks who insist on hdmi or dvi... Makes no sense since display port is superior and all you need is a ten dollar display port to hdmi/dvi cable or adapter...

Sent via Taptalk

 

[scn101]

Here's a data point on power consumption:

Hikvision NVR 7816N-E1
2TB WD Purple Installed
8x POE 3MP 2xx2 cameras connected to 2x GigEthernet 8-port switches that have 4-ports POE aggregated by 1 GE Non-POE switch (and then to LAN Access)
2 streams coming in via LAN from Wi-Fi cams
All cams have IR enabled and turn on when dark
All the above (except Wi-Fi cams) are connected to a line interactive 1350VA UPS

The watt meter measured all the power (including the UPS which seems to take 10W on it own - no load):

3064 hours, 159 KWh consumed = 1.25 KWh per day. So at 10 cents per KWh, the setup cost 13 cents per day, or roughly $4/month in electricity. So not too bad, I think.

 

[wcrowder]

But you lose functionality that Blue Iris has. I've had those nvrs no way I'd go back to that for 3 dollars a month.

 

[trl]

Very informative scn101, thank you.

I did the same test myself on a DS-7608NI-E2/8P/A + 8 x DS-2CD2052-I, all from Hikvision, and I got between 65-92W/hour of power consumption, depending on the tasks NVR do:
- 60W when no cameras are recording (no movement detection = no recording at all).
- 92W when all 8 cameras are recording during the night (raining a lot in front of all cameras = all 8 cameras will record).
With an old Apollo UPS (new battery inside) with AVR included (line-interactive UPS) I got approx. 1.59 kW/day which means approx. 47 kW/month of power consumption; quite high I'd say, more than my refrigerator, more than air conditioner, more than my 52" SONY LCD TV that plays cartoons for about 15h/day. However, during the winter power consumption could increase a bit, because of the IR that will kick off for additional 4-5 hours/day. No TV/screen was powered on during the test, just the NVR + cameras + UPS.

UPS takes between 17-20 W (half the charger and electronics inside and the other half the AVR itself), so removing the UPS should decrease power consumption from 47 kW/month to about 35 kW/month. Cameras take between 3.5-4.5W, depending on day/night usage of internal IR.

Disc drives are 2 x 2TB Seagate Constellation ES.3 which takes about 8.5W each when continuous writing and approx. 4.5W when idling (most likely near to 0 when in stand-by mode).

The additional network switch was not counted here, but I don't think will make much of a difference anyway.

Test was done for an entire summer week, rain was included 3 out of 7 days.

 

[scn101]

I think I know why your setup uses so more power. In this post, HikVision DS-7608NI-E2/8P - some pics and first impressions you mention that your setup is in the attic, 40C+ temps (my attic will occasionally exceed 130F/~55C). Semiconductors (CMOS) transistors use more power to switch on/off as the temp increases and their current leakage (off condition) also increases with temp so even just powered on doing nothing they use more power as the temp increases. Reliability also goes down for semiconductors as the temp goes up. Measure the power consumption in the winter, or move the NVR to an air conditioned space and measure the power consumption, I'm sure it will be lower.

 

[devastator]

Thanks for sharing @fenderman ! I'm in the market for replacing my I5 3330 setup which draws ~65W (5 cams, 12 fps, 3&4 MP) with one remote monitor displaying UI3. It's running at 50% load. I wish more people shared their power consumptions.

 

[trl]

I think I know why your setup uses so more power. In this post, HikVision DS-7608NI-E2/8P - some pics and first impressions you mention that your setup is in the attic, 40C+ temps (my attic will occasionally exceed 130F/~55C). Semiconductors (CMOS) transistors use more power to switch on/off as the temp increases and their current leakage (off condition) also increases with temp so even just powered on doing nothing they use more power as the temp increases. Reliability also goes down for semiconductors as the temp goes up. Measure the power consumption in the winter, or move the NVR to an air conditioned space and measure the power consumption, I'm sure it will be lower.

It's just a tad more than your system, differences consist in different NVR and more resolution cameras (probably 5-6W/h more from here) and two added fans for NVR and UPS (2-3W/h from here too).

I found no power consumption difference between summer and winter, although if it was less than 5W/h I probably ignored it anyway.

 

[trl]

Basically, avg. power consumption is around:
- 4.5-5.W for an IP camera >3Mpx (my 1Mpx AXIS PoE camera draws only 3.5W)
- 7-10W for NVR motherboard
- 5-7W for an operating HDD (less than 1W if stand-by)

An enterprise HDD can take more than 10W, so don't use them inside NVRs...like I did (I have 2 x 2TB Constellation ES that consumes 12.2W each when operating and 7W when idle), just use dedicated surveillance HDDs.