Ready to jump in, trying to avoid Costco systems!

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime

Getting the hang of it
Sep 29, 2014
282
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My wife and I have decided we need a cam system around the house. I have friends happy with their Lorex system from Costco, but I'll soon have a PC I can dedicate to this (AMD XP2600 processor / 4GB RAM) and generally prefer DIY builds of most things. Are there threads already built with recommended PC builds? I think I want to setup a network rack in the garage and install an IP system. I'm fairly tech savy, but have never gotten very much into video and graphics.
 
Welcome to the forum! You can forget about using that amd system for anything related to ip cameras. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+XP+2600+
Most of the lorex/swann ip systems (not sdi or analog) are actually hikvision systems rebranded. They are pretty good. The benefit of building your own system is that you can choose your camera types. Before you build or buy a pc, you need to determine what software you will be using, some are very cpu intensive like blue iris, others like ivms and pss from hikvision and dauha or xprotect from milestone can use in camera motion detection and get away with much less. How many cams will you be installing. Check out the offerings from hikvision and dahua.
 
Welcome.

Rolling your own certainly has its advantages. You are in control. Choice of cameras. Choice of recording system. Better quality recordings.
And disadvantages, that you will be walking through a forest of options, and maybe spend more time educating yourself.
But then you have the advantage of knowing how things work and not needing service calls.

I checked with our alarm installer one time regarding some cameras and it started with a $1000 for the recorder and $500-1000 per camera. Needless to say that didn't happen, and after lots of research I rolled my own, with pretty good results, for a fraction of the cost.

Most of the people on the forum run Hikvision or Dahua cameras.

Many use 2-3MP cameras as that seems to be where the value spot is. Extra detail for a great price. Mine are 3MP and I run them at 1920x1080 as that gives a little wider field of view (plus fits the screen when I want it to), gets the job done, saves a bit of data and gives me a smoother flowing and sharper picture (vs running maxxed out).

There's some practical and aesthetic variations between small bullets (size of a coke can), domes (glass cover), turrets (eyeball no dome cover), regular size cameras, ... Some are more compact and easier to install and maybe conceal in tight spaces. Some like the domes conceal (to some extent) where the camera is aimed.

Lens sizes will vary between 2.8 4 6 8 12mm. Going from wide view to tele. It is easy to think, I will just go wide and cover it all, but while that is good for overview shots, it doesn't always give the most detailed or best result under the circumstances. With the low cost of cameras it can be good to match a few wide ones with a strategic tele or two so you pull in more details from a narrower area to ID faces and car tags.

You'll have a choice of direct import (no warranty or support) or local reseller (which gives some support and 1-2-3 yrs warranty through the store).

For recording, in this forum, there's largely a 3-part split somewhere between people who run:
- blue-iris on a powerful pc
- iVMS / Exacq / etc on an intermediate pc
- a dedicated NVR recorder
Note. Some software's free options will either have short recording duration or storage size limitation or then have a per camera license in full version. Hence a popularity of Blue Iris, and the camera manufacturer's own free software.

Then a smaller section that records to NAS or on the camera's SD storage option, if so equipped.

Recommendation will be to go with POE (power over ethernet) and run solid copper CAT 6 cable (better electrical properties, better specs, future proof).

Some people find live view important, others just want it record 24/7 or on motion, want notifications ( Note: weather, rain, snow, sun shadows, pets, critters, bugs, etc cause a lot of video motion detection than I thought)

Installing the cameras and setting them up is pretty straightforward, if you're a bit handy and know a little bit about home networking, have done some wiring.

:)
 
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CAT 6 is definitely in the plans...just need to decide where to put the patch panel in the house!

When you say a dedicated NVR recorder, are you speaking of a home built PC server? Or an actual third party pre-built box?

I'm also interested in NAS, but more than likely will begin with a computer that pulls double duty as my main box while also doing cameras...my desktop is getting old (10 years) and it's time to build a new one...will be a little hard on the wallet if the AMD 2600 cannot handle camera duty...
 
The AMD 2600 simply cannot handle hd cameras at all. If budget is a issue, you may be best off with a prepackaged system with a dedicated NVR, both as far as initial cost and electricity use. You dont want your main personal pc as your security pc. You will want a dedicated box. A standalone NVR, is more stable and reliable, although you will have way less custom options. Keep in mind that if you choose to use hikvision or dahua exclusively and run their free software you can use an i3 and be fine. IF you choose to go with something like blue iris with 3mp cameras you will need an i3-i7 depending on the amount of cams....If you are budget minded, i routinely buy refurbished systems that are only months or weeks old from the dell (optiplex) and lenovo (thinkcentre) outlets and hp (elitedesk) via ebay. I only buy the business class machines that have 3 year next business day warranties. I must have about 20 that i purchased in the last 3 years and have yet to have an issue with any. I get the i3's for about 200-240, the i5's for about 300-350 and the i7 for about 450-600 depending on features and sales. These are not old refurbs. These are the latest haswell chips. You cannot get close to building a system for these prices.
here is an example albeit priced high.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HP-Elit...1422733684?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item20ed73a974
This one is an utlra slim so no explansion room at all, not even for a drive... but they have a tower and small form factor that has more room.
Dell has outlet sales all the time.
 
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sounds like he will be better off with a cheap ~$100 NVR such as: http://www.amazon.com/Eyesurv-ESDV-...UTF8&qid=1412050788&sr=8-8&keywords=Dahua+NVR

that amd2600 might as well go into the recycling heap, you can pull faster equipment than that out of the same heap.. it sucks too much power for the performance it can provide, a more efficent system will pay for its self in the long run just over power savings on a 24/7 space heater... that was a dog cpu 10 years ago, you could get a small embedded multicore computer with more processing power that uses 5w of power for ~$100.. vs 200w that computer probably takes..
 
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Props to the OP for still being able to run anything on that machine!! Good call on that NVR. Its cheap and good, and works with dahua cams that can be had for about 100 each. Note motion sensing will not work with hikvision. OP keep in mind that with NVR's you cannot mix and match brands willy nilly, you need to confirm that not only recording but motion detection will work with the specific NVR and camera brand.
Here is prepackaged option 720p and superb nightvision ( better than on 3mp cams) (dahua) http://www.samsclub.com/sams/qsee-4x4-secrty-sys/prod11570578.ip
or the 999 lorex at costco..but thats over priced for what it is...you can build a cheaper system by getting cams and NVR on aliexpress
 
I always have an up to date laptop from work, so the AMD system has served me well for just paying bills and reading forums...but these days it can't even play an HD clip off you tube!

The $100 NVR is definitely a great intro price. Once I get it installed, then upgrade my home rig, I can always justify passing it along to one of my wife's brothers when I finally can build my own NVR.

You guys have begun great the last few nights. I appreciate the advice and comments keeping me from reinventing wheel.
 
My biggest desire is to not get locked into a manufacturer. I'd really prefer to be able to mix and match my cameras as well as be able to come and go as I please in the software.
 
wouldn't we all; but sometimes thats not practical.. this isint a standards driven industry and if you try that route you may compromise more than you gain.
 
example, most mobile applications are mediocre at best and different brands may only work with there apps.. so if your not careful you may end up with multiple apps of varying quality to view multiple cameras, instead of one decent application that works with them all.

good software NVR's are going to need licenses, most of them are not very cheap; and then you will be locked into brands that are listed into its compatibility chart because you invested into that software.

one way or another there going to get you, its often best to find a brand that fits your needs and stick with it so you get similar performance, features, and expectations across the board.. having identical model cameras throughout isint a bad thing, if a high priority camera dies you can quickly replace it with one from a less important area while a replacement is coming, you might end up with a spare and put it some place redundant until needed.
 
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You haven't mentioned how many cameras you need. There's no need to buy from aliexpress. You can get what you need on amazon or vendors in the states. I got my dahua 8 channel NVR from amazon at a good price. It's a good idea to get your head around a price upwards of 4-600 bucks for an nvr with two large capacity hard drives, which is what you'll want. Decide, I mean really understand what you want to monitor, how many cameras you think you need, and work from there. Don't let cheap be your guide. Smart shopping for good prices yes, but not just cheap. Post some pics of the places you want to cover. People often underestimate how many cameras they think they'll need when trying to match their expectations. Careful planning in the beginning will always save time and money.
 
If you really want to mix and match your cameras then Blue Iris is the way to go. You should count on buying a refurbished/long warranty haswell i7 system like fenderman was talking about.

Otherwise if you stick with one brand you can use a much cheaper NVR.
 
I use an i7 3770k to run 10 cams, 9 are at 3MP and 1 is at 1.3MP. If you tweak Blue Iris, you can get it to run quite well on that config. It is also my desktop PC for now, will migrate it soon to its own system.
 
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