First NVR build

[theboogieman]

This is my first NVR build. I will be running Blue Iris and looking at their recommendations, they list the following:

• Intel core i7
• 8GB or more RAM
• Microsoft Windows 8.1 or 10, 64 bit
• nVIDIA graphics adaptor for hardware decoding
• 7200+ RPM drives and/or SSD drive

A couple questions:

1. On the graphics card - Is this ONLY for playback capabilities, or does this somehow affect the ability to record high frame rate HD cams? My plan is this will primarily be a storage and alerting device fast enough to capture feeds from multiple HD IP cams. This will most likely NOT be the playback unit. This NVR will sit in the attic or basement and I will RDP to it on occasion. If I do have an event, I can then view remotely via another device and/or transfer that clip to another 'viewing station' - Is my plan flawed? Do I need to worry about a graphics card in this unit if viewing is infrequent?
2. Based on those recommendations, I'm looking at this unit that is on sale with the i7 processor. I love the small footprint. I can bump up the RAM. I can also add an SSD and load Windows 10. Am I missing anything from a hardware perspective? http://computers.woot.com/offers/shuttle-xpc-8gb-ddr3-2tb-sata-desktops?ref=cp_cnt_wp_3_3

Appreciate your help!

 

[fenderman]

That i7 is four years old....

 

[bp2008]

8 GB is plenty of RAM for just about any Blue Iris system. 4 GB is enough for most.

You can find better prices on refurbished i7-2600 systems if you look here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/PC-Desktops-AllInOnes-/179/i.html?LH_BIN=1&_sop=15&_nkw=i7-2600+refurbished

One generation newer i7-3770 systems are a bit more expensive but still cheaper than the $410 which you found at woot. Now to be fair the machine at woot already has more RAM and a bigger hard drive and probably has more room for expansion than most of the refurbished machines you can find on ebay. Many of the ebay refurbished systems are small or ultra small form factor and may not support an additional hard drive or graphics card.

Anyway, a graphics card is currently not worth anything, as we are still waiting for hardware acceleration support in an upcoming Blue Iris patch. I heard it was supposed to happen this year so there is still a chance it could be supported within the next week or so. It is unclear exactly which graphics cards will be most effective, so it might be that a cheap low profile card from 3 years ago could be all you need ... or not. We don't know yet.

 

[theboogieman]

That i7 is four years old....

Ahhh, appreciate that. What model i7 should I be looking for?

 

[theboogieman]

8 GB is plenty of RAM for just about any Blue Iris system. 4 GB is enough for most.

You can find better prices on refurbished i7-2600 systems if you look here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/PC-Desktops-AllInOnes-/179/i.html?LH_BIN=1&_sop=15&_nkw=i7-2600+refurbished

One generation newer i7-3770 systems are a bit more expensive but still cheaper than the $410 which you found at woot. Now to be fair the machine at woot already has more RAM and a bigger hard drive and probably has more room for expansion than most of the refurbished machines you can find on ebay. Many of the ebay refurbished systems are small or ultra small form factor and may not support an additional hard drive or graphics card.

Anyway, a graphics card is currently not worth anything, as we are still waiting for hardware acceleration support in an upcoming Blue Iris patch. I heard it was supposed to happen this year so there is still a chance it could be supported within the next week or so. It is unclear exactly which graphics cards will be most effective, so it might be that a cheap low profile card from 3 years ago could be all you need ... or not. We don't know yet.

Interesting. I wonder why the recommendation then? So will the hardware acceleration be only for playback, or affect recording as well?

 

[bp2008]

As fenderman hinted, there are newer and more efficient i7 systems you could be looking at. i7-4970 is a popular one lately. The difference in performance is going to be fairly small actually since CPUs have not gotten much faster in the past 4 years, so the main benefit is decreased power consumption.

 

[bp2008]

Interesting. I wonder why the recommendation then? So will the hardware acceleration be only for playback, or affect recording as well?

I imagine it will only be for decoding at least at first. It would not be necessary for most recording as you can just use the direct-to-disk option which eliminates the need to re-encode the video to record it. However Blue Iris has to decode all incoming streams at all times, so accelerating that has the potential to be a huge game changer.