In need for help

[lluis]

Hello, I want to know your recommendations for the current system that i am "rocking"

Setup
3- Dahua IPC-HFW4300R-Z
1- 20X PTZ Onvif 1080p No brand
A very cheap NVR that is struggling to keep up, very choppy.

I am planning to upgrade the NVR to something else. I want 25-20 FPS playback on the PTZ with continuous recording, and the 3 Dahua can be set up in motion recording. I also want full 1080p on all cameras.

So here goes my question. What equipment do I have to buy in order to maintain all of those cameras and record for a week or two. I would prefer to build an NVR as i think it would be affordable, and also use it as a NVR maybe?

Thanks in advance

 

[bp2008]

I don't know much about NVRs, but I suspect you could find a good 4 or 8 channel NVR for $200 or less. I just can't help with that beyond to say get one that doesn't have a really low bit rate limit or some kind of frame rate limit.

I would suggest a PC running Blue Iris, but a competent PC plus Blue Iris license plus PoE switch plus a larger hard drive would probably cost close to $500. That is to say nothing about the time you'd spend setting up the machine and software.

 

[lluis]

What specs do you suggest would be the appropriate for the PC. Would there be a problem if the PC is running 24/7? Would a max of $500 would satisfy the requirements? Thanks

 

[CoreyX64]

The general consensus is that BI has some steep hardware requirements, most notably a higher end Core i7. I have never built one so I can't speak from experience on the software (I hear it's really good) but have a lot of experience working with Hikvision Embedded Linux NVRs that would work for great what you are trying to accomplish for less than $500, factoring in the cost of hard drives as well. You can usually pick one up for $200-300, depending on place of purchase. If you go this route, do NOT order a chinese brown box NVR. you will have problems long term. OK to buy from China, it just must be the US genuine color box english version. Otherwise, it can easily handle 4 1080p cameras. Mine are setup with 4MP cameras and work very well on both recording and playback.

 

[fenderman]

The general consensus is that BI has some steep hardware requirements, most notably a higher end Core i7. I have never built one so I can't speak from experience on the software (I hear it's really good) but have a lot of experience working with Hikvision Embedded Linux NVRs that would work for great what you are trying to accomplish for less than $500, factoring in the cost of hard drives as well. You can usually pick one up for $200-300, depending on place of purchase. If you go this route, do NOT order a chinese brown box NVR. you will have problems long term. OK to buy from China, it just must be the US genuine color box english version. Otherwise, it can easily handle 4 1080p cameras. Mine are setup with 4MP cameras and work very well on both recording and playback.

To clarify, 95 percent (probably more) of blue iris standard setups can easily run on a 300 dollar i5-4590 machine with lots of room to spare. With the op's setup he will be running in the low 20's cpu wise on an i5-haswell. For reference, i7-haswell can be had for around 500. I seldom have to use an i7 machine. Blue iris recently added hardware acceleration that allows for many more cameras than were previously possible. Blows any hikvsion NVR out of the water both for recording and remote playback. That said, if someone is looking for plug and play the standalone NVR is a good option.