CPU Help for new PC-NVR System

[elevatedthinking 0]

Hello all,

I am trying to put together an affordable PC based NVR system that will be recording four 3MP IP cams. It will record to a local RAID at first, but would like to eventually expand to record to a NAS.

 

Important note: I am not sure which NVR software I will be using. I would like to demo both BlueIris and Milestone Xproject.

 

I haven't been very in touch with computer hardware lately, and was hoping people could chime in with their thoughts.

 

I was considering the AMD FX-6100 3.30 GHz CPU

Anyone have any experience with the FX series or this specific chip? From the research I have done so far (minimal) there seems to be really great feedback. I was hoping to try to figure out how it operates both BlueIris and Milestone as this will be a software based NVR.

 

I was looking @ pairing this CPU with a Gigabyte AM3 760G mobo and 4GB of DDR3.

 

So how does AMD perform vs Intel in these sorts of battlegrounds? Are there limitations within the CCTV world of using one vs the other?

 

Thanks.

[MaxIcon 0]

The system really depends on your NVR, so some testing may be in order. I have experience with Blue Iris and the Aver NVR for their hybrid cards; I ran Xprotect Go briefly, but didn't like the limitations and troublesome setup.

 

Blue Iris needs a fair bit of horsepower for MP cams, and there are a lot of variables that affect CPU requirements. There are a lot of PC performance threads over at their community forum, cam-it.org.

 

The Aver system runs a lot lower power, and an NV-6480 board runs fine on my low power i3-540, recording 20MP at 10 fps without breathing hard. These cards are expensive if you buy them new, though.

 

With Blue Iris, my i5-3570k box runs 14MP at 10 fps with no problem, and some room for more. My older i3-540 box tops out at about 8MP at the same settings. Here's a thread with some detail on this: http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=4583.msg23966

 

Passmark benchmarks:

i3-540 - 2669

i5-3570k - 7119

FX-6100 - 5417

 

Now, benchmarks need to be taken with a grain of salt, but as a general guideline, you may be able to run 12MP of cams at 10 fps, but you may be hitting the limit. Best bet is to download the demo version of BI and see how it does.

 

In terms of general differences between Intel and AMD, the main thing is power usage. A CPU uses more power as the CPU utilization increases, so a less powerful CPU with a lower TDP that runs at 90% may use more power than a more powerful, higher TDP CPU that runs at 30%.

 

The i5-3570k chip has a TDP of 77W, and my box runs about 90W or so typically, using the on-CPU video (a video card will add a good bit to that), and running around 60% CPU.

 

The FX-6100 has a TDP of 95W, and how much the system power will be will depend on things like hard drives, motherboard chips, and how much CPU % it runs.

 

Where I live, power is expensive, and the $100 price difference between an i5-3570k and an FX-6100 would be covered in probably 6-12 months of running the i5, with it's lower power draw. Add to that the ability to add more cams (or even better, go for the 4th gen i5 CPU for a few dollars more and even more overhead), and the Intel chips really pay off in the long run, in my opinion.

[elevatedthinking 0]

The system really depends on your NVR, so some testing may be in order. I have experience with Blue Iris and the Aver NVR for their hybrid cards; I ran Xprotect Go briefly, but didn't like the limitations and troublesome setup.

 

Blue Iris needs a fair bit of horsepower for MP cams, and there are a lot of variables that affect CPU requirements. There are a lot of PC performance threads over at their community forum, cam-it.org.

 

The Aver system runs a lot lower power, and an NV-6480 board runs fine on my low power i3-540, recording 20MP at 10 fps without breathing hard. These cards are expensive if you buy them new, though.

 

With Blue Iris, my i5-3570k box runs 14MP at 10 fps with no problem, and some room for more. My older i3-540 box tops out at about 8MP at the same settings. Here's a thread with some detail on this: http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=4583.msg23966

 

Passmark benchmarks:

i3-540 - 2669

i5-3570k - 7119

FX-6100 - 5417

 

Now, benchmarks need to be taken with a grain of salt, but as a general guideline, you may be able to run 12MP of cams at 10 fps, but you may be hitting the limit. Best bet is to download the demo version of BI and see how it does.

 

In terms of general differences between Intel and AMD, the main thing is power usage. A CPU uses more power as the CPU utilization increases, so a less powerful CPU with a lower TDP that runs at 90% may use more power than a more powerful, higher TDP CPU that runs at 30%.

 

The i5-3570k chip has a TDP of 77W, and my box runs about 90W or so typically, using the on-CPU video (a video card will add a good bit to that), and running around 60% CPU.

 

The FX-6100 has a TDP of 95W, and how much the system power will be will depend on things like hard drives, motherboard chips, and how much CPU % it runs.

 

Where I live, power is expensive, and the $100 price difference between an i5-3570k and an FX-6100 would be covered in probably 6-12 months of running the i5, with it's lower power draw. Add to that the ability to add more cams (or even better, go for the 4th gen i5 CPU for a few dollars more and even more overhead), and the Intel chips really pay off in the long run, in my opinion.

 

Thanks for the reply, I hadn't even ventured into the capture card department yet. I assumed the majority just go straight to their NIC and then recorded to a drive. What is the advantage of using a card like the Aver? Does it allow for more throughput?

 

Great info regarding the difference in CPUs, thanks for that. I suppose you always get what you pay for, I am just trying to find an affordable way to get this done. I agree, the difference in price will be made up given 6-12 months of use. Really interesting the relationship between power consumption and cpu utilization and that it's not linear as one may assume. I'll keep digging, the 3750 sure seems like a solid choice and will no doubt leave room for some upscale down the road. Based on how fast even *I* have seen the IP Megapixel field change in the last 6 months since I started learning about it, there will no doubt be some huge leaps in the near future. Having a PC that has room to allow for those changes will be of value as well.

[MaxIcon 0]

Yeah, as 1080p and 3MP cams have gotten suddenly affordable, I'm finding my system load goes up steadily.

 

I originally used the Aver as a hybrid card (starting with an NV5000. limited to 4 IP cams), but having retired all my analog cams, it's really just acting as a dongle to enable the software to record on all the channels. This gives me 2 completely separate redundant systems, with BI recording motion detect and the Aver recording 24x7.

 

My NV6480 doesn't have any analog cams attached, and doesn't do any processing of the IP video, as far as I can tell. It lets me record 16 IP cams on a relatively low power PC, and the Aver software, while a bit old school, is robust and reliable, doesn't require per-cam licensing, and supports a wide range of cameras.

 

I was using all 16 channels for a while - 8 cams with motion detect, and the same 8 recording 24x7 - and it never skipped a beat. The main CPU load is how many cams you view at once, not how many it's recording.

[elevatedthinking 0]

So after some thought, it seems more practical to invest a little more upfront into a CPU that will draw less energy over time. Ideally I would go for an i7 but I just can't swing that in my budget. I am already over budget, lol. These things add up fast. I am thinking an i5 3750. Using your numbers of being able to support 14MP, that should be sufficient for some time. And in the future, if I need to upgrade, I think this rig will hold it's value a little better. Maybe thinking that just makes me feel better

 

Despite researching pretty much daily, I still don't feel completely up to speed with hardware. This is something I have pieced together, but it's hardly specialized for CCTV. By this I mean is this mother board overkill? If the Intel HD onboard graphics can render the substreams, then I would assume I don't need a gpu? Also, besides an additional NIC, I can't really think of what I would need all the PCIe slots for so maybe this is overkill?

 

Side note, was the 14MP number you posted regarding *playback* or *recording*? If I am understanding things correctly, the recording aspect isn't where the workload is at it's highest? Anyways, I will quit rambling, here is the setup. All input would be much appreciated!

 

---Side note: I will only have a couple Hik 3MP cams to start with, but will eventually be expanding so I am trying to leave plenty of room for expansion with this build. I already have a 2TB Seagate to start with.

 

*D'oh* Forgot to mention I am planning on using Blue Iris, although I will be testing Milestone...just not sure I like only being able to save 5 days of video.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.98 @ Outlet PC)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)

Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Microcenter)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.25 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $532.16

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-18 16:00 EDT-0400)

[ssnapier 0]

I cannot stress this enough... make sure you use high quality ENTERPRISE GRADE hard drives! If you buy consumer grade hard drives, you will kill one about every 3-4 months. Spend the money up front on quality drives and save yourself some headaches.