Which Computer Do I Buy To Run Blue Iris On? What Do You Use?

Moonbeam68x

Moonbeam68x

Getting the hang of it
Jul 22, 2023
37
36
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm totally foreign to the security camera world. I have been doing lots of research on Cameras & just learned about Blue Iris last week & have decided I want to use a Computer to place my Cameras on. I will be using 4 outdoor cameras and 2 doorbells.

I went to Ebay and was browsing through the Dell Computers but I'm lost on what to buy. Do I buy a computer with a SSD or HDD? Or do i need both SSD & HDD on the computer? If I buy a refurbished computer on ebay will I need to buy a video card or just a bigger hard druve? I'm really lost on purchasing the hardware for Blue Iris.

If you're using Blue Iris what system do you use?

Thank you in advance fof replying

Moonbeam68x
 
Purchase a Dell Optiplex 7040 SFF (or newer) or a HP 800 G3 SFF (or newer) with at least an Intel i5-6500 (6th gen) or later (preferably 8th gen or newer), with at least 8GB of RAM (16 even better).

SFF = Small Form Factor; insure there's a place for SSD (either PCIe M.2 card or 2.5") AND for a 3.5" HDD) Of course, a larger mini-tower will be just fine. Avoid the Ultra SFF, no room inside, CPU is likely a laptop CPU, they run hot and have a wimpy power supply. Basically you can't add anything to it.

Watch out for many eBay refurbs NOT telling the generation (hint: a 6th gen of i5 or i7-6XXX, 8th gen = i5-8XXX)

Put Windows 10 (Pro better), Blue Iris and the Blue Iris "db" folder on a SSD, put the video clips on a 3.5" surveillance-rated HDD (such as a WD Purple) of at least 4TB. CPU's older than 8th gen (gen 7 and lower) cannot run Windows 11.

Here's some good info on choosing hardware ==>> Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris

Then follow this ==>> Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

and this ==>> Sub Stream Guide

For now you can use the hardware acceleration (Quick Sync) of the Intel CPU of gen's I mentioned above and can add a video card later if you need. You may find that using the camera sub streams as outlined in the above guide will reduce CPU usage even better than Quick Sync.
 
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Im running BLue iris on an HP Elitedesk G4-800 SFF ( holds an SSD-250GB and 2-3.5" conventional spinning Hard drives with 13TB of storage. on 1 pc.
The other pC is a Dell Precision 3630 (tower) {small tower} with an 250GB Samsung SSD, and an 8TB western Digital surveillance drive.
Previously ran an Optiplex 9020 MT with a i5 4590 which had nice physical space.
Also ran an Optiplex 7020 SFF with an i7-3770 that had room for 2 HDD's and an SSD. But not natively it was the year they offered 4 layouts, USFF, SFF, Desktop ,and MT ( MiniTower)
But Dell keeps squeezing 3.5" hard drives out of the picture on Small form factor PC's.
 
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Moonbeam68x said:
Thank you so much f9r replying! Can I ask you if you're running the Blue Iris on a computer amd if so what set up are you using?
Click to expand...
Dell Inspiron i5-6500, 16GB RAM, 240GB Samsung 870 EVO SSD (Win 10 and Blue Iris), 4TB WD Purple (video clips)
 
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The 8th generation Intel chips are not only dramatically faster than previous generations, it's also the oldest Intel chip that you can install Windows 11 on. Therefore I would highly recommend that you stick with an 8th gen (or newer) chip to ensure the longest system life expectancy possible. An i5-8400 is just about as powerful as a i7-6700k and only about 5-10% slower than a i7-7700k. It also uses about a third less energy compared to those i7 chips too. The i5-8600k chip is more powerful than any of the older i7 chips, but will use about the same amount of energy as the older chips. IMHO, the energy efficiency is going to be much more important (because this machine will be running 24/7) than the minor differences in computing speeds. Running a BI set up with even 20 or more cameras won't break a sweat on any of these machines if you use sub-streams. Therefore I would recommend an i5-8400 chip.

You can find i5-8400 small form factor machines used on EBay for well under $200 (shipping included).
 
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Look at Dell Outlet, look at the scratch & dents. I have bought several in the past and never could tell the difference from the new ones I bought.

Intel CPU's are preferred with BI but my home built (Windows 10 O.S.) Ryzen runs like a Swiss watch.

Ryzen 2700 with 16 GB RAM, NVMe 500GB SSD for OS & BI, 4 TB WD Purple for the video footage. Have a GPU 1650 Super but I run the system with just the CPU. I have 6 Dahua (Empiretech & a few OEMs) cams running and I generally use around 12 - 14% CPU and under 4 GB RAM. 3 cams run 24/7/365 the other 3 on motion.

I get about 30 days storage on the above, 3 active and 3 motion only setup.
 
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I really appreciate all of your replies. I am going to check the kinks that were posted in the replies as soon as I can if not tonight it will be morning.. will be back with more questions after I look.. :) Thank you all I really appreciate the help.
 
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One of the guys that runs this forum/site recommended the HP elitedesk g4-800 i5-8500 back a year and a half ago (or so)
Because the DDR4 bandwidth was 35% faster,
plus the intel chip was energy efficient yet powerful
and the chassis in SFF would hold 2 35" HDD's natively( with no kinks)
So I bought one, and after a driver update to the intel graphics it hasn't crashed or anything in over a year.
 
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The Automation Guy said:
The 8th generation Intel chips are not only dramatically faster than previous generations, it's also the oldest Intel chip that you can install Windows 11 on. Therefore I would highly recommend that you stick with an 8th gen (or newer) chip to ensure the longest system life expectancy possible. An i5-8400 is just about as powerful as a i7-6700k and only about 5-10% slower than a i7-7700k. It also uses about a third less energy compared to those i7 chips too. The i5-8600k chip is more powerful than any of the older i7 chips, but will use about the same amount of energy as the older chips. IMHO, the energy efficiency is going to be much more important (because this machine will be running 24/7) than the minor differences in computing speeds. Running a BI set up with even 20 or more cameras won't break a sweat on any of these machines if you use sub-streams. Therefore I would recommend an i5-8400 chip.

You can find i5-8400 small form factor machines used on EBay for well under $200 (shipping included).
Click to expand...


Would this system be ok?

www.ebay.com

Dell OptiPlex 7060 SFF i5-8500/i7-8700 +up to 64GB RAM &2TB SSD &6TB HD &WiFi+BT | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell OptiPlex 7060 SFF i5-8500/i7-8700 +up to 64GB RAM &2TB SSD &6TB HD &WiFi+BT at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
 
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Moonbeam68x said:
Would this system be ok?

www.ebay.com

Dell OptiPlex 7060 SFF i5-8500/i7-8700 +up to 64GB RAM &2TB SSD &6TB HD &WiFi+BT | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell OptiPlex 7060 SFF i5-8500/i7-8700 +up to 64GB RAM &2TB SSD &6TB HD &WiFi+BT at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
Yes, but the SSD only needs to be 120GB or more for Windows, BI and BI's "db" folder. I'd go for the 250GB for $10 more.
Also, unless the $40 for a 4TB HDD is for a surveillance-rated HDD (like a WD Purple) I'd go for "none" and buy and install my own.
What's the Windows version?
 
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Better deal on that Dell. Comes with 256GB SSD (likely NvME). $150 shipped (plus tax) after 50% off with coupon WOW7060DESK :

www.dellrefurbished.com

Dell Refurbished

Laptops Starting at $199 & Desktops $99. Buy Dell Refurbished Computers, Laptops, Desktops and more - Includes Dell Warranty.
www.dellrefurbished.com www.dellrefurbished.com

Probaby can find a better deal if you hunt some and the EliteDesk are better if you want to add a second drive, but this is easy.
 
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Moonbeam68x said:
If I bought this then I could add the Hard Drive. Now my next question is, how easy is it to had a hard drive?
Click to expand...
Easy peasy.
NOTE: power OFF and unplugged while doing this. It's summer in TN, so no fuzzy sweater or nylon jacket and you should be OK static-wise.

You'll need a SATA data cable and drive power cable; most PC's will have an unused 2nd or 3rd drive power cable already coming from the power supply.
If the PC has an optical drive you can borrow the data cable from it until you can get one (note where it was plugged in).
If the PC has one drive (C:) and it's data cable is plugged into the motherboard SATA female connector marked "SATA 0", then you'll plug the new drive's data cable into "SATA 1".
With PC off and unplugged, mount the drive, hook up the 2 cables (data and power) then power up the PC.
Go to Control Panel => Administrative Tools => Computer Management => Disk Management, find the drive and format it.

If there's an optical drive, it's likely D: so the new HDD can be E: or F or G, etc. to Z. If no optical drive, the new HDD can be D.
 
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A guy quoted me $215 for a 256gb ssd, 16g ram, i5-8400 8th generation processor. I asked Jim how much he would charge to add a WD purple HD 8TB. And the price he qoutes for the computer adding the HD would be $450.

Is there a specific graphic card that I need?
 
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