Smallest tower/form for blue iris pc

jayleoness

jayleoness

Young grasshopper
Jul 17, 2019
86
4
jacksonville
can someone recommend a model I should be searching for or what the smallest tower I can get that would work as a blue iris pc?

I’m using 4 x 4mp cameras. My main concern is size and would like to buy smallest tower pc I can even if it costs a little extra.
 
HP Mini 400 or 600, dell micro PC 3050 3060. Get unit with M.2 for main os and on slot open for 2.5" drive. You can get new or refurbished in both units.
 
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looney2ns said:
Yeah, I'd stay away from those mini pc's for Blue Iris. A dell Optiplex Small Form Factor is pretty small, silent, and very energy effcient.

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk
Click to expand...
out of curiosity, Looney...how would a NUC hold up? I have a dell optiplex medium sized. Also doubles as my current Home Assistant stuff (so far, no issues with CPU usage). Always wondered if I get my hands on a i5 or i7 NUC if Blue Iris would be ok on that.
 
personal opinion, The nuc is too small for the continuous heat load that a BI machine generate running 24/7. It is not very expandable for additional disk drives. Also they are over priced compared to a use business computer.
 
I would agree on the over price. You would think...smaller foot print = small $$$. But such is not the case.
 
The NUC and Mini / micro are the same platform design. You ask what the smallest size you could use for BI with 4 cams. I have 8 setup mini’s running 2-4 cams over 2+ years on mini. These systems are in a Kiosk stand and could not fit a small form factor PC. If I could have fit SFF I would have used that. With nuc/mini you would be limited 4TB 2.5” drive size. Cooling fans in a mini are the same as a laptop, would not run 8 cams or high CPU load. SFF would be best for longevity and larger hard drive capacity.
 
As I have limited space I was also looking for the smallest system possible for Blue Iris during my search for a storage device ( NVR, VMS .. )

This is what I concluded:

Ideally get a system which can hold at least ONE 3.5" SATA HDD and one OS SSD/HDD ( 2.5" SSD or M.2 SSD works well on that )
Also a non-laptop i5/i7 CPU 4th gen+

The smallest systems which appeared at reasonable price points for performance was used Dell and HP business class SFF form factor systems.

If I wanted, I could build a nice custom small box with a i5/i7 that can hold a 3.5" - however that would run significantly more $
 
Sound like the SFF will be the best for your needs. Most of the HP from G3 or G4 will have M.2 Slot. Just make sure you check what type drive your M.2 slot supports PciE, Sata or NVMe.
 
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