Looking to put together a decent BI computer for HD Cameras

[Joshua T. Chiarini]

I am currently running a 8 Core AMD FX 8350 4.0 with 16 gig of ram on Windows 7 Ultimate. with 4 3mp cameras and a few off brands but I have a few 4mp cameras on the way. CPU usage is at 50-70% recording on motion looks like most of the time on a 3rd monitor.

Seems like all I read is i7 is the way to go. I am having trouble playing videos online most of the time, its choppy and laggy and I assume its from the cameras weighing down the system?

Want to put together a standalone for 8+ Cameras on BI plus home automation and file storage. Using 2 Vera's for home automation.

Seen a few i7 systems on craigslist for 3-500 range want to see if I can lowball them. What i7 range should I look at? And what is the primary concern in a build? Mostly processor speed from what I understand? And why is the Intel's the way to go for these builds? Always have been a AMD guy lol.

Thank you for any help!

 

[fenderman]

I am currently running a 8 Core AMD FX 8350 4.0 with 16 gig of ram on Windows 7 Ultimate. with 4 3mp cameras and a few off brands but I have a few 4mp cameras on the way. CPU usage is at 50-70% recording on motion looks like most of the time on a 3rd monitor.

Seems like all I read is i7 is the way to go. I am having trouble playing videos online most of the time, its choppy and laggy and I assume its from the cameras weighing down the system?

Want to put together a standalone for 8+ Cameras on BI plus home automation and file storage. Using 2 Vera's for home automation.

Seen a few i7 systems on craigslist for 3-500 range want to see if I can lowball them. What i7 range should I look at? And what is the primary concern in a build? Mostly processor speed from what I understand? And why is the Intel's the way to go for these builds? Always have been a AMD guy lol.

Thank you for any help!

You will want a skylake based i7-6700....they can be had for 400-530....search the forum for optiplex and elite desk...or at least a haswell i7...you can also likely get away with a skylake i5-6500 system for 300 dollars....you should dedicate this system to BI...its silly to use a security VMS system for other purposes.
Intel is MUCH more power efficient and BI iris can leverage the intel HD with quicksync for hardware acceleration reducing cpu usage. AMD should never be used for a vms...or for anything else, really, the price for full warrantied intel systems is less than what you can build an AMD system...

 

[Joshua T. Chiarini]

You will want a skylake based i7-6700....they can be had for 400-530....search the forum for optiplex and elite desk...or at least a haswell i7...you can also likely get away with a skylake i5-6500 system for 300 dollars....you should dedicate this system to BI...its silly to use a security VMS system for other purposes.
Intel is MUCH more power efficient and BI iris can leverage the intel HD with quicksync for hardware acceleration reducing cpu usage. AMD should never be used for a vms...or for anything else, really, the price for full warrantied intel systems is less than what you can build an AMD system...

Excellent thank you for the response! Using a few resources I have used over the years to build computers I ended up on portatech's site, I have other stuff laying around to add to the system like a purple hard drive and a few other misc things. Came up with a nasty system for under 500 dollars whats your thoughts on this? Here is the basicf it: Barebones / Custom PC w/ Core i7 6700 (4 x 4.0GHz CPU - 8MB Cache +Iris Pro Graphics) $361.90 http://www.portatech.com/products/product.cshtml?id=91919&o=91868,92434&r=p&utm_source=pricewatch&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Intel+H110+MB+++Core+i7+6700&utm_campaign=Barebones+Computers

Also what is the ram recommendations and any need to a high speed video card or will the on board be sufficient? Looking to save on electricity, I have basically a high powered gaming system running all the time for my setup. Wondering if I can get away with a 400 watt power supply on this system vs. a 600.

 

[Joshua T. Chiarini]

I have done a few builds with porta tech, outstanding pricing and they assemble! Just more time saved on my end. Going to run windows 7 on the server and like you said this will be a stand alone BI server.

 

[fenderman]

I have done a few builds with porta tech, outstanding pricing and they assemble! Just more time saved on my end. Going to run windows 7 on the server and like you said this will be a stand alone BI server.

It is crazy to overpay for that system…you can buy it much cheaper with a three year next business day warranty. .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-Optiplex-3040-SFF-i7-6700-8GB-RAM-500GB-Windows-10-Professional-Warranty-/291913138090?hash=item43f760ffaa:g:ZwUAAOSwNRdX-ME5
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-5040-MT-i7-6700-8GB-500GB-SSHD-DVDRW-Radeon-R5-340X-3yr-Warranty-/302072307263?hash=item4654e99e3f:g:pL8AAOSwPCVX2DuW

You dont want any discrete graphics...use intel hd...for that tower linked above you would want to remove the radeon card.

 

[Joshua T. Chiarini]

It is crazy to overpay for that system…you can buy it much cheaper with a three year next business day warranty. .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-Optiplex-3040-SFF-i7-6700-8GB-RAM-500GB-Windows-10-Professional-Warranty-/291913138090?hash=item43f760ffaa:g:ZwUAAOSwNRdX-ME5
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-5040-MT-i7-6700-8GB-500GB-SSHD-DVDRW-Radeon-R5-340X-3yr-Warranty-/302072307263?hash=item4654e99e3f:g:pL8AAOSwPCVX2DuW

You dont want any discrete graphics...use intel hd...for that tower linked above you would want to remove the radeon card.

Well I broke down and took your suggestion, bought the [FONT=&amp]Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF i7-6700!

How do you guys like running BI on windows 10? Was thinking of downgrading to 7 on this system with a SSD for boot[/FONT]

 

[fenderman]

Well I broke down and took your suggestion, bought the [FONT=&amp]Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF i7-6700!

How do you guys like running BI on windows 10? Was thinking of downgrading to 7 on this system with a SSD for boot[/FONT]

Works great on 10..why pay for 7? you will need to squeeze that ssd in using double sided velcro as there is no slot for it...

 

[Joshua T. Chiarini]

Works great on 10..why pay for 7? you will need to squeeze that ssd in using double sided velcro as there is no slot for it...

Pay for it? Lol plenty of copies on the net! Figured it would save on system resources being an older Windows version. Rgr that on the Velcro thank you

 

[fenderman]

Pay for it? Lol plenty of copies on the net! Figured it would save on system resources being an older Windows version. Rgr that on the Velcro thank you

Using a pirated copy of Windows from the net is just about the dumbest thing you can so for a VMS system...

 

[tspicer]

you will need to squeeze that ssd in using double sided velcro as there is no slot for it...

looking at the same system.. Are there connections for a second drive??

 

[fenderman]

looking at the same system.. Is there connections for a second drive??

I believe so, the spec sheet is available online...There should be at least one spare sata port..

 

[tspicer]

ya, I was actually looking for that or a MB pic last night to confirm and pull the trigger but hadn't found it.. So was searching for a M/T

 

[tspicer]

found it in the manual fenderman.. 3 7 pin sata connectors

 

[bryansj]

If there isn't a spare (but there should be) you could always just disconnect the optical drive and use its connection.

 

[bp2008]

Doesn't Windows 7 still not play nicely with hardware acceleration in Blue Iris?

 

[fenderman]

Doesn't Windows 7 still not play nicely with hardware acceleration in Blue Iris?

only if running as a service

 

[supie]

Well I broke down and took your suggestion, bought the Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF i7-6700!

I am also thinking of buying this computer but I was concerned since the specs shows it only has a 180W Power Supply. Do you think (or does anybody else think) this Power Supply is good enough for Blue Iris demanding CPU usage.

Thanks Supie

 

[bp2008]

It is plenty. The CPU itself won't exceed 65 watts, and typically will be much lower.

 

[ipcamgeek]

Looking at some NVR where they publish their specification for incoming/outgoing bandwidth. If buying a PC to run BI, Is there a specific type of motherboard to meet the incoming/outgoing bandwidth?

 

[fenderman]

Looking at some NVR where they publish their specification for incoming/outgoing bandwidth. If buying a PC to run BI, Is there a specific type of motherboard to meet the incoming/outgoing bandwidth?

No, there will be no bandwidth limitation because the computer is gigabit, the limitation will be in the cpu...its really the same for the nvr however the nvr manufactures use the bandwidth as a measure of cpu consumption