Upgrade BI PC to SSD

W

wagonwheel555

n3wb
Mar 11, 2021
9
4
UK
Hi

I have a 2012 (I think) Dell PC running BlueIris. Its Core i3 and 8GB RAM.

Running 5x cameras. 3 Hikvision and 2 IMou Wifi jobbies from Amazon.

CPU sits about 90% and RAM about 6-7GB most of the time but its been like that for years and not skipped a beat.

However, its painfully slow to use the PC itself when I want to change a setting in BI or try to Bulk Delete the recordings from OneDrive so I am thinking it might be wise to upgrade the hard drive to SSD and reinstall everything? It seems slow even with BI closed, like a PC used to feel like 15 years ago and I have reinstalled the OS several times which does little to speed it up.

I don't fancy spending £800 ish to replace it with a new Windows machine as to be blunt, I hate Windows with a passion so would likely just buy the latest Mac Mini M1 and take my chances with the likes of Security Spy.

Cheers
 
Your OS and programs should always be on a SSD nowadays. You would use a mechanical drive as the storage device to hold the actual recordings from BI.

So yeah, upgrading to a SSD will provide a good speed increase.
 
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Thanks for your reply.

I am deliberating ditching the PC for an NVR now I have done some more research.

I really just need it to record and be able to access the cameras via an app, I don't need fancy bells an whistles and a Hikvision NVR is about £200 so I could ditch the PC and also a POE switch that the cameras use and then just use the NVR for everything.
 
wagonwheel555 said:
Thanks for your reply.

I am deliberating ditching the PC for an NVR now I have done some more research.

I really just need it to record and be able to access the cameras via an app, I don't need fancy bells an whistles and a Hikvision NVR is about £200 so I could ditch the PC and also a POE switch that the cameras use and then just use the NVR for everything.
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IMO, that PC's i3 CPU is too old to provide Quicksync, so maybe it's also time for a new PC with a more recent CPU with more horsepower suited for processing video and IP cam streams?

You have read the numerous posts, especially the recent "NVR vs Blue Iris", and STILL decided to ditch BI for an NVR?

Then go right ahead, my friend.....sounds like I'd be wasting my time trying to get you to reconsider. :idk:
 
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TonyR said:
IMO, that PC's i3 CPU is too old to provide Quicksync, so maybe it's also time for a new PC with a more recent CPU with more horsepower suited for processing video and IP cam streams?

You have read the numerous posts, especially the recent "NVR vs Blue Iris", and STILL decided to ditch BI for an NVR?

Then go right ahead, my friend.....sounds like I'd be wasting my time trying to get you to reconsider. :idk:
Click to expand...

I literally have a few cameras at home, its not a business like setup where I need bells and whistles.

My requirements are literally:

Recording of the five cameras to a drive for playback should anything happen, i.e. someone hit my car out front etc
Access to those cameras via an app

A £200 NVR would do just what I need for less than a new PC is going to cost, plus it will use less electric and I can get rid of another PoE switch (NVR has one built in) so more savings there.
 
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I'm still curious why you even came here and posed the question...it sounds to me like you've already made up your mind and certainly that's your prerogative.

Are you hoping someone will convince you that you are making the right decision?

OK, here goes...absolutely...ditch BI and get yourself an NVR...it'll be great and you'll love it. :blankstare:
 
TonyR said:
I'm still curious why you even came here and posed the question...it sounds to me like you've already made up your mind and certainly that's your prerogative.

Are you hoping someone will convince you that you are making the right decision?

OK, here goes...absolutely...ditch BI and get yourself an NVR...it'll be great and you'll love it. :blankstare:
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Initially I was considering upgrading my PC hard drive to an SSD but having done some research since posting the original question, I think my best option would be an NVR.

You are being a little bit hostile and I am unsure why. This section is called NVR/DVR/Computers so my question was perfectly valid and its obvious you prefer BI to any alternatives which is fine but BI might not always be the best solution for everyone. My requirements are very basic so I could spend £200 on an NVR or £500+ on a new PC, both of which are going to do the exact same thing for me in terms of my requirements.

I haven't made up my mind at all, I am weighing up options as its clear my PC is not up to the job so I was perhaps thinking an SSD might be a cheap way to improve things but it sounds like the PC probably needs upgrading and I don't need to be spending that sort of money for a PC I won't use for anything else (I hate Windows) and its literally to record 5x cameras which a £200 NVR will do happily by the sound of it.
 
You do not need to buy a new PC. A member here just this week found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. Most of us purchase refurbished PCs that come off a business lease. A lot cheaper.

What version BI are you running? An update in May 2020 added a substream option that would bring your CPU usage down a ton - that may be enough drop to make your existing system operational.

And a 4th generation is plenty now with the substream option. Especially for 5 cameras. A member here is running 50 cameras on his 4th generation at sub 40% CPU

Have you tried an NVR for playback - most of them suck. I can literally in less than a minute watch any activity from overnight on Blue Iris. It takes longer than that just to log into my NVR. And then playback is atrocious - even more so if you need to watch back for several days to find out when that car parked on the street was hit.

And common practice is to match brands of cameras with the NVR, so you may find your mix-match to not work properly with an NVR.

The ability to add more cameras and from different brands and do 3rd party add-ons if you desire I believe puts the favor into Blue Iris.

Most NVRs will cap the bitrate you use. And limit the resolution of the camera. As long as your computer can handle it, BI can accept whatever bitrate and resolution the camera is capable of.

An NVR is a watered down computer with an underpowered CPU that is running 24/7...I still am running an NVR that feeds cams to my BI computer. The NVR is pulling more power than the BI computer...

I have had whatever the NVR operating system is running on go out. TWICE. Got to buy a whole new NVR - TWICE

I have had the ethernet port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.

i had the HDMI port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.

Most I ever got was 2.5 years. The only working part was the HDD that I simply moved from the old NVR to the new one. I got to the point of realizing that an NVR is simply a stripped down computer, so I went to BI and never looked back. I got tired of buying a whole new unit.

So in my BI Computer, at least if the SSD goes out, I can just replace it. If the ethernet card goes out, I can just replace it. If the HDMI port goes out, I can just replace it. etc.

Personally I gave up on NVRs because I have found them to be clunky and a struggle to review clips and if a component goes out like the internet port, then you are stuck buying a new NVR whereas a computer part goes out and you replace just that component. I went to BI on a dedicated machine and haven't looked back.

Keep in mind that not all NVRs are created equal - look at bandwidth - a cheap one is usually limited to 80Mbps total bandwidth for all the cameras and limits cams to 4096 bitrate, so once you look at an NVR that can pass a higher bandwidth, the dedicated computer and Blue Iris was cheaper in my case. Pros and Cons to each and many people on here run NVRs successfully.
 
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Thanks for your reply.

I am on the older 4.x BlueIris but support expired so I don't think I can upgrade it without paying the £65 fee again.

I wasn't aware of the Substream option, I will look into it.

Sounds like I might get away with upgrading the main drive to an SSD to help the OS performance and then using the existing HD as a storage drive combined with using the substream thing
 
Yeah, you would need V5 for the substream option. I believe you can upgrade to V5 for like $35 or so. The substream option alone is worth the $35 - it makes a huge operational difference, especially on older machines. The one member here could never run 50 cameras 2MP and higher resolution on a 4th generation without it.
 
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Kudos, @wittaj , for getting the wind to blow in the other direction.....
wagonwheel555 said:
Sounds like I might get away with upgrading the main drive to an SSD to help the OS performance and then using the existing HD as a storage drive combined with using the substream thing
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What ? :idk:
 
TonyR said:
Kudos, @wittaj , for getting the wind to blow in the other direction.....

What ? :idk:
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Christ. Install an SSD for the Operating system to help performance there, i.e. boot time etc. Use the existing non SSD hard drive to store the recordings from BI. Then install v5 of BI combined with the Substream thing wittaj mentioned which should drop the CPU usage.
 
You do not need a large SSD to house just Windows and BI, so don't go crazy with a large one! 120ish or 250ish is plenty.
 
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wittaj said:
You do not need a large SSD to house just Windows and BI, so don't go crazy with a large one! 128 or 250 is plenty.
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Thanks. Will check out the PC tonight just to double check it can take an SSD and have the other HD as a second drive. Assuming it an but want to be sure before ordering etc.

Can pickup a 256GB SSD from Amazon for about £30 and its about that to get the upgrade to BI by the look of it so for £60 I could have improved things enough. I don't plan on getting more cameras anytime soon so if I can improve the PC performance enough to ensure the CPU and Memory are not high, I will be happy
 
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wagonwheel555 said:
Thanks. Will check out the PC tonight just to double check it can take an SSD and have the other HD as a second drive. Assuming it an but want to be sure before ordering etc.

Can pickup a 256GB SSD from Amazon for about £30 and its about that to get the upgrade to BI by the look of it so for £60 I could have improved things enough. I don't plan on getting more cameras anytime soon so if I can improve the PC performance enough to ensure the CPU and Memory are not high, I will be happy
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You can always remove/unplug the CD drive to make room too and use it's port on the motherboard.
 
1) upgrade to BI v5 to use substream that will reduce your CPU.
2) add a 120GB SSD for your C drive
3) add 8GB memory so you are at 16GB.
4) remove the CD rom, it is useless.
5) when adding the SSD and do a clean install of windows. use "Microsoft media creation tool"
 
Replaced the HD with an SSD leaving the non SSD as storage for the recordings.

Also upgraded to BI5 and enabled the sub streams for each camera.

Difference is like night and day.

CPU sitting on 15-20% and memory used <1GB used by BI, not bad for a 2014 Core-i3 and 8GB of RAM!
 
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