We are running 11 cameras running at 1080p with an i5 3570 and 8gb ram, in an office with a significant amount of triggering between the work hours, we are getting ~90% CPU utilization most of the time, and are thinking about upgrading to an i7, would we get a significant performance increase with lower CPU load with this upgrade? or is it reccommended to lower the resolution on some of the cameras?
For comparison, I'm running an i7-6700 (Dell Optiplex 3040), 11 Cameras (8x 3MP, 3x 4MP), Dahua and Hikvision, Direct to disk recording 24x7, Highest quality setting on the camera, as well as motion detection enabled. My CPU is at
15-20% (and this is with a remote viewer (webpage) always running on a 10inch tablet in my hallway).
Blue Iris runs as a service. When I RDP into the BI server, and launch the UI, CPU usage goes up to 20-25%. I've also set the cameras (and BI) to do
10 fps.
So, if you are at 90% CPU with 11 cams on that i5, then yes, I'd say upgrade, *BUT* I'd also recommend to check your settings, ESPECIALLY "direct-to-disk" recording for all cameras. (Camera Properties->Record->Video file format and compression->Video Compression->Direct-to-disc). I'm also using the Blue Iris DVR format (also on that page).
As for a recommendation to lower resolution, personally, I'd say no. The whole idea is to have the best possible image if there is an event where you need to identify someone.