Does the video controller make a difference?

[Sparkey]

Pardon my ignorance. I'm running BI on a server using it's builtin crap video (Microsoft Basic Video Adaptor). All my viewing is done remotely using the web UI. The sever is rarely accessed and never to view the cams. I assumed that the server video was irrelevant. Could I be wrong?

Motherboard is a Supermicro X10SLV-Q.

CPU is an Intel i7 4790.

TIA

 

[Dasstrum]

I'm sorry but what is the question?

The video card has no effect on how a BI system will perform.

 

[crw030]

I don't know if there is any tangible benefit, but I personally wouldn't run the Microsoft Basic Video Adapter because (and I admit I might be wrong here) I think that's using software rendering using CPU cycles (for example to render your Windows desktop).

Once again (could be wrong) but both the motherboard you listed and the CPU listed should provide onboard integrated Intel Graphics support. Since integrated graphics will have minimal if any CPU demand I would think you would want to leverage the hardware you have by running Intel Graphics using the Intel Graphics driver. What someone more knowledgeable could answer is, whether without the Intel Graphics driver installed, can Blue Iris still use Quicksync? Because if not you are seriously handicapping your hardware by consuming extra CPU cycles for software rendering your Windows desktop PLUS wasting CPU cycles by not taking advantage of Intel Quicksync (which benefits Blue Iris significantly).

However, any impact would be dependent on those two (potentially incorrect) assumptions which I am not certain about.

 

[Sparkey]

The question is - Will I see an increase in performance if a Install a more powerful video card. Keeping in mind that I never view videos on the server, only on remote workstations.

 

[Sparkey]

I don't know if there is any tangible benefit, but I personally wouldn't run the Microsoft Basic Video Adapter because (and I admit I might be wrong here) I think that's using software rendering using CPU cycles (for example to render your Windows desktop).

Once again (could be wrong) but both the motherboard you listed and the CPU listed should provide onboard integrated Intel Graphics support. Since integrated graphics will have minimal if any CPU demand I would think you would want to leverage the hardware you have by running Intel Graphics using the Intel Graphics driver. What someone more knowledgeable could answer is, whether without the Intel Graphics driver installed, can Blue Iris still use Quicksync? Because if not you are seriously handicapping your hardware by consuming extra CPU cycles for software rendering your Windows desktop PLUS wasting CPU cycles by not taking advantage of Intel Quicksync (which benefits Blue Iris significantly).

However, any impact would be dependent on those two (potentially incorrect) assumptions which I am not certain about.

I assumed the MB used crappy Matrox G200eW videos like most Supermicro server boards. Thanks for prompting me to actually look. Now I know it uses an Intel chip. LOL

 

[crw030]

The question is - Will I see an increase in performance if a Install a more powerful video card. Keeping in mind that I never view videos on the server, only on remote workstations.

As a general rule, no one here recommends running a dedicated graphics card on a Blue Iris machine.

There are a few EDGE cases, but 99% of the time a dedicated graphics card is not the correct answer, because:

1. it increases power draw (why pay rent to utility company)
2. causes problems using built-in Quicksync support (I believe these were mutually exclusive but Mike or BP2008 will correct me if I'm wrong
3. and they cost money (usually at least)

However, not using Quicksync built into your existing processor is just silly, as it can reduce the CPU burden (so it increases your capacity or reduces your power consumption for the same workload, whichever way you want to look at it).

 

[Dasstrum]

As a general rule, no one here recommends running a dedicated graphics card on a Blue Iris machine.

There are a few EDGE cases, but 99% of the time a dedicated graphics card is not the correct answer, because:

1. it increases power draw (why pay rent to utility company)
2. causes problems using built-in Quicksync support (I believe these were mutually exclusive but Mike or BP2008 will correct me if I'm wrong
3. and they cost money (usually at least)

However, not using Quicksync built into your existing processor is just silly, as it can reduce the CPU burden (so it increases your capacity or reduces your power consumption for the same workload, whichever way you want to look at it).

This

 

[Sparkey]

Thanks all. I went ahead and installed the Intel HD 4600 drivers for the builtin video. Strangely enough, the only place I could find them was on Dell's website. Neither Supermicro nor Intel had the server drivers for some strange reason.

 

[crw030]

I assumed the MB used crappy Matrox G200eW videos like most Supermicro server boards.

Like I said I might be wrong, but SuperMicro's site for that board says it supports Intel Graphics 4600 (here: X10SLV-Q | Motherboards | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc.) and my Google-fu says that processor also has Intel Graphics 4600 support. (here: Intel® Core™ i7-4790 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.00 GHz) Product Specifications )

Thanks all. I went ahead and installed the Intel HD 4600

Sweet! Can you tell whether it had ANY impact on CPU usage? Unfortunately, it might be small and undetectable, or not worth measuring at the outlet, but would be good to know for the future!

This is going to get a WHOLE LOT more confusing in the future with Intel adding non-iGPU processors back into their lineup.

 

[Sparkey]

Like I said I might be wrong, but SuperMicro's site for that board says it supports Intel Graphics 4600 (here: X10SLV-Q | Motherboards | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc.) and my Google-fu says that processor also has Intel Graphics 4600 support. (here: Intel® Core™ i7-4790 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.00 GHz) Product Specifications )


Sweet! Can you tell whether it had ANY impact on CPU usage? Unfortunately, it might be small and undetectable, or not worth measuring at the outlet, but would be good to know for the future!

This is going to get a WHOLE LOT more confusing in the future with Intel adding non-iGPU processors back into their lineup.

Looks like it dropped about 5%. Can't see any real world difference tho. Gonna play around with frame rates and see how much I can squeeze out of the system.

 

[Sparkey]

Bumped the frame rate up to 30fps on the Driveway cam and set the HW acc to Intel and it made a big difference. Most of the herky jerky motion is gone now.