Tuning my Intel NUC D54250WYK or buy a new box.

[Gilles0181]

So i have a nuc, the Intel NUC D54250WYK with the following specs;
CPU: Intel Core i5-4250U
Memory: 16GB DDR3L (SODIMM)
250GB SSD

According to the Intel page it supports Intel® Quick Sync Video; which i think means it supports hardware decoding of the streams.
did a fresh install of windows 10; no tweaks to OS done, only Blue Iris and Blue Iris Tools running. Added this cam, with the wizard, all default settings. When i add just one camera, the CPU usage jumps to about 60% of blue iris. I am not recording yet, and still using the demo version. I also don't know if i am even using QuickSync already.

What are the things i need to pay attention to, in order to get the most of Blue Iris?
- Limiting the frame rate in the camera configuration
- Direct to Disk recording
- Hardware decoding
- Limiting the live preview frame rate
- Anything else?

If i get a list of things i need to check i can see if i need to upgrade my NUC to something beefier, e.g. an desktop i5 or desktop i7 with possibility to have an external graphics card like the GTX950.

And where should i set up motion detection/triggering? In Blue Iris or in the camera?

I hope @fenderman and @bp2008 can respond and help out so we can get one sort of 'knowledge' thread.

 

[tdwilli1]

So i have a nuc, the Intel NUC D54250WYK with the following specs;
CPU: Intel Core i5-4250U
Memory: 16GB DDR3L (SODIMM)
250GB SSD

According to the Intel page it supports Intel® Quick Sync Video; which i think means it supports hardware decoding of the streams.
did a fresh install of windows 10; no tweaks to OS done, only Blue Iris and Blue Iris Tools running. Added this cam, with the wizard, all default settings. When i add just one camera, the CPU usage jumps to about 60% of blue iris. I am not recording yet, and still using the demo version. I also don't know if i am even using QuickSync already.

What are the things i need to pay attention to, in order to get the most of Blue Iris?
- Limiting the frame rate in the camera configuration
- Direct to Disk recording
- Hardware decoding
- Limiting the live preview frame rate
- Anything else?

If i get a list of things i need to check i can see if i need to upgrade my NUC to something beefier, e.g. an desktop i5 or desktop i7 with possibility to have an external graphics card like the GTX950.

And where should i set up motion detection/triggering? In Blue Iris or in the camera?

I hope @fenderman and @bp2008 can respond and help out so we can get one sort of 'knowledge' thread.

I replied to you on the Dahau thread, here is what I found out.

I had just gone through a setup with a NUC also, a 5i5RYH. Loaded up both WIN7 and WIN10 and it struggled with my 7 cameras at 30fps. It was slow even though CPU was at 50%. Couldn't use the timeline playback on BI without it jumping, freezing or smearing. Had everything setup with all updates and D2D. Had to lower fps to 15 and it still was at 50% but the playback was a little better. Still not very good. So I had an old i7 3770 MB sitting around and tried it out and it was light years better than the NUC. Same setup and CPU was below 20% at 30fps and timeline playback was stutter free. I use the NUC's for HTPC's and they do well for that but it can't handle the stress of BI it seems.

You don't need a external graphics card.
I have my motion detection done in BI.

 

[Gilles0181]

@tdwilli1 thank you for your reply. Once i tuned the cam to be "direct to disk" Blue Iris 'only' used about 10% CPU. Nevertheless i am thinking about building my own pc. I know it takes a lot more power (around 50-80w normal load but this way i am sure of a well performing system).

I already have a 960 EVO and skipping the external video card for now. It should also run Plex media server.

I have 2 options (as in; this is what i came up with):

Option 1:PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i7-7700T 2.9GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Case: Fractal Design Node 605 HTPC Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
+/- 1000 EUR; 7700T uses less power then option 2.

Option 2:PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Case: Fractal Design Core 500 Mini ITX Desktop Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
+/- 843 EUR; Since the normal i7-7700 might not be compatible with the mini-itx board, i choose the older Skylake model.

All i need to 'record' is Plex Media Server, 3x ipc-hdw5231r-z and one sd59225u-hni-ptz.

 

[tdwilli1]

@tdwilli1 thank you for your reply. Once i tuned the cam to be "direct to disk" Blue Iris 'only' used about 10% CPU. Nevertheless i am thinking about building my own pc. I know it takes a lot more power (around 50-80w normal load but this way i am sure of a well performing system). I came to this list; not going for a videocard now, and the 960 EVO i already have. What do you think? It should also run Plex media server. Total price is about 1000 euro's in the Netherlands and it has a 40w-130w estimate according to pcpartpicker.

If you only have 1 camera you might get away with double purpose. But if you are going to add more cameras I would suggest to have a dedicated BI machine. Ebay for any i3770 or above would be OK and then get whatever you want for the Plex server.

 

[Gilles0181]

If you only have 1 camera you might get away with double purpose. But if you are going to add more cameras I would suggest to have a dedicated BI machine. Ebay for any i3770 or above would be OK and then get whatever you want for the Plex server.

Well the plex server will only be used sporadically, e.g. if i am on holiday or want to watch something remote. So it will index my library, but stay idle mostly. I just added 2 options you might not have seen them. Going for second hand is kind of risky, and i can charge the computers on the company. @bp2008 or @fenderman please put me back on the ground here, what would you do?

 

[fenderman]

@tdwilli1 thank you for your reply. Once i tuned the cam to be "direct to disk" Blue Iris 'only' used about 10% CPU. Nevertheless i am thinking about building my own pc. I know it takes a lot more power (around 50-80w normal load but this way i am sure of a well performing system).

I already have a 960 EVO and skipping the external video card for now. It should also run Plex media server.

I have 2 options (as in; this is what i came up with):

Option 1:PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i7-7700T 2.9GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Case: Fractal Design Node 605 HTPC Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
+/- 1000 EUR; 7700T uses less power then option 2.

Option 2:PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Case: Fractal Design Core 500 Mini ITX Desktop Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
+/- 843 EUR; Since the normal i7-7700 might not be compatible with the mini-itx board, i choose the older Skylake model.

All i need to 'record' is Plex Media Server, 3x ipc-hdw5231r-z and one sd59225u-hni-ptz.

With your light load, a full non nuc system will run about 20-30w max..
your builds are a complete waste of money...you can buy an i7-6700 based system for under 500...search elitedesk and optiplex.

 

[Gilles0181]

@fenderman any cpu i should avoid, like the T variants? I now found this one for 650 eur
Dell Optiplex 7040 MT
· Processor: Intel i7 6700T
· Intern geheugen: 8 GB DDR4
· Harde Schijf: 256 GB M.2 SSD
· Videokaart: Intel HD Graphics

Or this one for 380 eur
Processor Intel Core i7-4770 @ 3,3Ghz
Geheugen 8GB (2x 4GB DDR3)
Opslag 128GB SSD

 

[Gilles0181]

This is about 700 eur, but new;
PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock Z270M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[Gilles0181]

here you go; this is what i've bought:
New computer needed for Blue Iris

Al in all i spend 375 EUR for a brand new box (which includes the selling of my old NUC for 350)