iMac: i5 vs. i7 for Sighthount

[Walt Dockery]

I am getting ready to replace my 5+ year old iMac that runs a little slow when running sighthound and wanted some input. I read some of the existing CPU threads, and read the examples in the support area but still have some questions.

I am running 9 cameras. Would ideally like to match source at 1920x1080 (bitrate 4mbps, frame rate 10fps if that matters). I currently match my lower resolution stream at 640x480 on my old iMac but would like to switch to the HD stream.

I would most likely replace w/ an iMac, I like the form factor and this is in a part of my house where looks are important. It would be mostly dedicated to running sighthound (would probably get occasional use for other uses, like streaming music, but I could even close SH when I do that as I'd be home, making alerts less useful ... I have a separate, standalone NVR that records 24/7). I would prefer to stick w/ the 21.5" screen size, again a function of where this is going.

I'm wondering, would I see a benefit stepping up to the 3.1GHz i7, compared to say the 2.7 or 2.9 GHz i5?

Other things that might matter? RAM, I assume worth maximizing? Does the graphics card matter? Would flash storage like the fusion drive make SH run faster/better?

[ryan]

Hi Walt,

We have a few example iMac systems here: http://www.sighthound.com/support/system-requirements

The i7 definitely packs more power.

For a more 'real' comparison of the capabilities of processors I find the website http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ infinitely helpful.

Ram is definitely good to have more of. Mac minis are nice in that the ram is really easy to swap yourself, I think I paid about $150 to get 16gb for ours. Note that with so many streams (especially high resolution) disk speed can become an issue, though hopefully the SSD the iMacs ship with is sufficient.

Hope that helps!

[Walt Dockery]

Thanks. I'd love to get a Mac Mini, if only my old iMac had a thunderbolt input so I could use it as the display, and use the mini as the dedicated security cams computer.

[ryan]

Apologies for getting iMacs and minis mixed up in my head as I was replying. The mini stats from the article should still be somewhat in parallel.

[ahallada]

Adding a Fusion Drive to an iMac or Mac Mini can increase performance from 20-30% in many apps. That's incredible! Well worth the investment IMHO.