Hardware / Software Two Different Locations

[Dekade]

Can the BI5 software be located on an Intel PC and the 4TB Purple HDD be located on an AMD PC? Then just run BI5 in Chrome (or otherwise) browser UI3 on the Intel [much faster and much beefier] Intel i7 - 4790K 4.00GHz processor, cheap graphics card, Radeon HD6670 graphics plus Intel onboard graphics, and 32GB Ram PC.

Reason - I just finished building my BI5 Server and it is too slow. PTZ takes forever to maneuver around the property.

The intended Server is an AMD Server with an A12 processor / graphics integration, 16gb ram, 4TB purple hdd. Maybe I need a higher processor and a separate graphics card to make it function better.

[HeneryH]

Wow, a lot to think through here...

But, if you issue is poor performance I would do a decision tree breakdown of common causes before going to some exotic architecture that may not even work.

Standard decision tree would be something like: 1) are you using direct-to-disk recording? There is almost no reason anymore for not using d2d. This will cut down the compute load by almost half on any installation.

2) steps two, three and four would come next.

[Dekade]

Thanks HeneryH,

In general I agree. In retrospect of OP I should have mentioned I'm not even doing any recording at the moment. My reason for this is to first get top ticket camera operations then move onto recording learning. However, first concurring the configuring stated in my red typeset OP is my first priority; so as to get it off my mind.

Yes, am using D2D on all four cameras.

What are steps 2) 3) and 4). I don't understand this part of your reply.

[TimG]

A couple of thoughts:

A. Having a hard drive on a different pc for BI5 is likely to end badly. Even USB hard drives tend to turn off just as BI5 tries to write to them. A NAS maybe.
B. AMD A12 ? I did a Google search for AMD A12 vs my previous BI5 rig using a 2013 Intel i5-3330. The A12 cpu is much slower. Then I checked it against my BI5 rig cpu previous to that, an AMD FX-8350 from 2012. It showed the 2012 cpu to be 38% faster than the A12.
C. What is the fastest AMD cpu you could transplant into that motherboard ? I recently swapped two AM4 cpus in my home computers from the Ryzen 1800x to the Ryzen 7 5700G to allow me to put Win11 on them. The A12 uses the same AM4 cpu socket, but you would have to check cpu compatibility for your motherboard/bios combination. I note that cpu.userbenchmark.com shows my Ryzen 1800x to be 63% faster than the A12, and your i7-4790k to be 10% faster than the Ryzen 1800x.

TLDR: The A12 is a very slow cpu. Probably OK for a web browser. If you are going to have multiple high mega pixel cameras, and then want to add on artificial intelligence with BI5, then you will need a beefy cpu. My present BI5 rig runs an Intel i7-8700k which runs everything I have quite nicely.

PS> Anybody in the UK want two used Ryzen 1800X cpu's ?

[HeneryH]

My comment on 2/3/4 is that there are a series of common issues impacting performance. I did not yet go through them yet.

I might suggest 2) being the ability of the CPU/GPU to decode the video streams. If your cameras are set to H264 or H265, make sure the CPU/GPU can handle the respective streams with good hardware acceleration and that the hardware acceleration is actually turned on in the BI settings for that camera.

Look up your CPU in the user database of installations and see what others are getting in terms of performance.

https://biupdatehelper.hopto.org/default.html#stats

[Dekade]

I might suggest 2) being the ability of the CPU/GPU to decode the video streams. If your cameras are set to H264 or H265, make sure the CPU/GPU can handle the respective streams with good hardware acceleration and that the hardware acceleration is actually turned on in the BI settings for that camera.

Look up your CPU in the user database of installations and see what others are getting in terms of performance.

https://biupdatehelper.hopto.org/default.html#stats

As usual with most components there is a pot full of choices. Can anyone give some advice as to what would be some good choices (AM4 Socket-Summit Ridge) for BI5 that wouldn't break my bank. $300.00+- price ranges would definitely be unachievable.

[IAmATeaf]

If the A12 isn’t capable why still keep it? Why not just move the HDD into the Intel PC?

In terms of BI optimisation, it used to be the case that you needed an Intel CPU of a certain gen and above so that you could enable hardware acceleration but with BI now supporting substreams hardware acceleration is no longer a biggie requirement.

As mentioned, I think it might be case of biting the bullet and offload the A12 if it’s no capable and move on from there?

[HeneryH]

You can't beat the price performance of buying a used tiny/micro/mini with an intel cpu. You can get one for as little as $200 for a 7th gen or newer i5 or i7.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dcat=1 ... 20Gen%252E

[IAmATeaf]

Personally if looking for a replacement I’d be looking at an i5-8500 or better as that gen CPU officially supports Windows 11 should the need arise.

Also I prefer something that can accommodate 2 internal hard drives for storage.

[TimG]

My cpu swap may be a cheap and fairly easy option. It took 20 minutes per pc to actually swap out the cpu. I researched the available cpu's for my motherboards, and had to update BIOS with the Ryzen 1800X fitted. I had chosen a cpu with a gpu and with a similar tdp, and a low(ish) cost. The 5700G hit the sweet spot at around £150 each. This enabled me to remove old graphics cards too, and I am left with better graphics.
As for the number of hard drives, since I build my own pc's, I use ATX motherboards in large cases. My present BI5 rig has three spinning hard drives in front load caddies, an SSD for "New" and the database, and an NVME card for Windows.