Thumbs UP or DOWN for this PC on new install

[ias]

Hey everyone,

I've been running BI on my daily drive PC with test cameras to learn how to use the program for 6 months. I've been reading the forums, the wiki, and everything else I could find but I'm still a noob to this entire field.

Now I'm ready for a dedicated PC with 12 forum recommended cameras. I've been looking for ebay deals on a PC but can't find the lo-cost, high performer that I see people occasionally bragging about finding.

I found the following for $300 total and it looks like all it needs is a Purple drive.
Dell Optiplex 3040 SFF i5-6500 3.20GHz 16GB DDR3 128GB SSD Win 10 Pro 8ST5HH2 | eBay

So...should I keep looking or does this look adequate?

 

[SouthernYankee]

You will need to calculate the number of Megapixels / second for your total ssytem. As been said a thousand times, it is not the number of cameras but the MP/S

use this web site to look at PC cpis and camera support
Blue Iris Update Helper

after you get your system up and running join the helper.

 

[bp2008]

I would sooner buy one of these and save $180.

Dell Optiplex 3020 Intel Core i5-4590 @ 3.30GHz 16GB DDR3 RAM 1TB | eBay
Dell OptiPlex 3020 Intel Core i5-4590 @ 3.30GHz 16GB DDR3 RAM 1TB HDD | eBay

Assuming they come with a win7 or 8 sticker on them you can use that key to activate win10. Use Microsoft's media creation tool to put the windows installer on a USB flash drive.

SSD is not necessary but if you wanted one anyway for the OS and clip DB then you can get one for like $22 http://amzn.com/B07D7VTDNB

 

[ias]

Thank you both.
SouthernYankee, I understand Megapixels vs. number of camera comparison. I was just trying to say I was looking a "mid-sized" system, compared to the specs I've seen other users cite.

And bp2008, I was using the following, which I clipped from somewhere on the forum, as my minimal configuration. So I wasn't even considering processors older than 6th gen, thinking that they'd run less efficiently.

Should I be looking at older processors also?

Best performance:
i7-8700K / i7-8700 (6 cores / 12 threads)

Great performance:
i5-8600K / i5-8400 (6 cores / 6 threads)
i7-7700 / i7-6700 (4 cores / 8 threads)

Good performance:
i3-8350K / i3-8100 (4 cores / 4 threads)
i5-7600 / i5-6600 (4 cores / 4 threads)
i5-7500 / i5-6500 (4 cores / 4 threads)
i5-7400 / i5-6400 (4 cores / 4 threads)​

 

[bp2008]

Yeah, the 3rd and 4th gen processors might be a little less efficient but they are much cheaper to buy so it probably doesn't matter. I wrote that part of the wiki article a long time ago, before H.265 Quick Sync decoding was implemented in Blue Iris (and found to not work). The main difference with a 6th-gen or newer CPU is that they have H.265 decoding acceleration capability (which still doesn't work in BI, and may never work for all we know).

 

[ias]

Oh hey! I just cited you to you!

So I can save $ buying an older processor, assuming there's not a significant difference in energy consumption. Is there a minimum level processor I should consider and not drop beneath for a "mid-range" home system?

 

[bp2008]

Yeah, I'd avoid the 2nd-gen chips since most (maybe all?) of them don't support hardware acceleration for resolutions above 1920x1080. 3rd gen is okay but you probably won't find them much cheaper than 4th gen, and 3rd-gen configurations are likely to have less RAM and older, smaller disks.

 

[ias]

bp2008, you just saved me hours of thinking. I bought one of the units you selected.

Thanks for your help!

 

[crw030]

Yeah, I'd avoid the 2nd-gen chips since most (maybe all?) of them don't support hardware acceleration for resolutions above 1920x1080.

@bp2008 do you know if this can be tested somehow? I found documentation that 2nd Gen supports hardware acceleration up to 1080i/p on Anandtech or something, but nothing on Intels documents, nor related to the newer generations (Gen3 or Gen4). Blue Iris lets me set hardware acceleration on my 4MP camera, and the CPU definitely APPEARS to GO UP when I disable it (which makes zero sense). This is on a i7-2600k, so would be a good "very old" CPU to test on. I found this processor has Quicksync via HD Graphics 3000, but nothing about hardware acceleration resolutions beyond a single Anandtech article.

For the OP, you could easily run 12 cameras on a 2nd gen i7 processor, if max resolution for every camera was 1080. Just do yourself a favor and get the newest one you can afford, because newer generations will be lower cost to operate (more efficient), and should be more powerful per watt of power (so cheaper to run), and more modern architecture (increased compatibility).