Graphics card is not being utilized by BI

acoolov

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Hello everyone,

Recently i've been testing my old PC that was laying around with Blue Iris. I connected 16 cameras to it resulting in 50-60 CPU load.
I also had a very basic Nvidia GT520 graphics card laying around. And once I plugged it in and installed the drivers, I checked BI CPU load and it about the same.
Also when I check windows performance, the GPU is almost not used at all, (at only around 3%), while the CPU is taking on the full load of BU.

Is there a setting I can tweak to put more load on the graphics card, or is this graphics card simply to slow and not usable?

Apart from the quick sync option, how can I offload some of the CPU load onto the graphics card?
 

acoolov

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So putting the GPU into the computer doesn't mean it is going to help at all? Is there no way to make the GPU work? Why is it not being used by BI?
 

TonyR

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So putting the GPU into the computer doesn't mean it is going to help at all? Is there no way to make the GPU work? Why is it not being used by BI?
You likely need to configure BI properly.

I suggest you open BI's "Help", perform a "FIND" or search for "nVidia" and read about how to configure BI's "Hardware Decoding" (if your card qualifies); I can't say, as I use the onboard Intel QuickSync.
 

acoolov

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I don't think i'm using deep stack. This is just a vanilla installation with motion detection recording of 16 cameras.
I just switched Hardware Acceleration to Direct X VA2 and it is now utilizing 100% of my GPU at all times, however, this has not resulted in lower CPU utilization a single bit. In fact sometimes it seems like it's even higher now.
I am wondering if I should just get a machine with the intel processor that supports quicksync? I heard it's a great way to reduce CPU usage with BI.
 

acoolov

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Actually, I think it did result in lower CPU utilization.
 

sebastiantombs

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Why are you using anything other than NVidia hardware acceleration? That is the only one that will work with an NVidia card. Look at the drop down list. Direct X is making your CPU re-encode all the video pushing it to 100%. Record in BVR and export is you need a video useable outside of BI. Click on the Help button and read about hardware acceleration.
 

acoolov

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When I select Direct X VA2, it loads the GPU to 100%, not the CPU. Any other Nvidia option does not result in GPU utilization at all.
 

sebastiantombs

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Have you tried NVidia acceleration and what is the CPU utilization with it and without and acceleration?
 

acoolov

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Why are you using anything other than NVidia hardware acceleration? That is the only one that will work with an NVidia card. Look at the drop down list. Direct X is making your CPU re-encode all the video pushing it to 100%. Record in BVR and export is you need a video useable outside of BI. Click on the Help button and read about hardware acceleration.
What do you mean by export? Do I need to manually export the videos to keep them outside of BI? Wouldn't recording in AVI or some other well known format enable to view recordings outside of BI without having to export anything?
 

sebastiantombs

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Sure, if you don't mind all the overhead. Unless you have a specific need to watch every minute of video recorded it is pretty pointless, IMHO. In "normal" situation recording to BVR is the most efficient way to record since it's, basically, a data stream written directly to disk without any real processing. Frankly, instead of fooling with hardware acceleration you're better off using sub streams to unload the CPU and the GPU. Sub streams are used for motion processing so they do get some analysis by the CPU but it is a fraction of what the full stream requires, as in anything from 10 to 20 times less depending on the resolution of the sub stream.

What is each camera set for? Try setting them to NVidia as well. My experience is with 20 cameras using sub streams and seeing less than 7% load on the GPU.
 

wittaj

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If you do every optimization in the wiki, there is no need for the GPU offload as it relates to BI. In fact, recent updates have been problematic for some reason with Hardware Acceleration.
 

Rob2020

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With Nvidia acceleration it does not put any load on my nvidia card.

Sample size of one;

Ryzen 2700 and four Dahua 2/4 MP recording 24/7, runs about 8 - 10 % CPU. This is using just the CPU.

I have a Nvidia GTX1650 Super, when I use the BI5 drop down menu and bring the GPU into the mix my CPU drops to about 6% and the GPU, can't exactly recall but I remember around 10% GPU.

I am just using the Ryzen right now. I did not crunch the numbers to see the power usage one way or another but it runs find on just the CPU so I stayed status quo at least for now.

I am guessing your graphics card is not supported.
 

acoolov

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FWIW, from my post #2: :cool:

"Use camera sub-streams...see ==>> Sub Stream Guide"​
and​
"Did you perform all other optimizations found here ? ==>> Optimizing Blue Iris' CPU Usage "​


I just configured sub streams and they truly work miracles!

I am have added 22 cameras on an old Dell OptiPlex i5 CPU with only 10 - 20% CPU utilization because of the sub streams. This is incredible! It means I can add twice as many cameras and run a pretty large camera system on an old PC.

I'm starting to like Blue Iris a lot!
 
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