99% CPU usage

[switz]

Hello, I am currently installing a system and really like the interface of SightHound and was very satisfied after installing my first four cameras. Now however, after getting up to ten, the computer is totally bogged down with a 99% CPU usage.

I am using Hikvision 4k cameras that are delivering astounding quality. But, I actually need to install a few more cameras and now with the system getting bogged, I am a little concerned that I am screwed.

I was just about to pull the trigger on the purchase and then this happened....

So, I have a new computer with the following:

Gigabyte mother board GA-B250M-D3H
Intel i3 processor
16 GB DDR4 2400 Ram
1 SSD C drive
4 1T Surveillance drives

Any help is appreciated. If I can get this working, I will purchase for sure as I really like the interface and how the program works. I understand my processor might need to be upgraded to an i7 but I am not sure that will be the fix all.

Thanks,

steve

[sv_alex]

i3 is likely not enough for what you want to do. Depending on the amount of the cameras, you may want to use mid-to-high end i7 or better CPU.

[switz]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I am surprised that there are not more folks (or at least SightHound as I am getting close to pulling the trigger on something) responding. In looking for the requirements for a computer system, I do see that an i7 processor should do much better; so off I go to Fry's. Nowhere do I see any talk of a video card. I am using the on-board video of the motherboard and do not have a dedicated video card. Would a dedicated video card make a difference? Or is it all processing power? I have a Q-See dvr with 12 cameras at 4k. This system doesn't bog down at all. I can have a total of 16 cameras on it and I assume it won't bog down with that amount. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

steve

[switz]

So, I went to Fry's and basically started over with the computer. I bought a higher-end Gigabyte motherboard and a new gen 8 Intel 8700k, 6 core 12meg cache, processor. I also purchased a dedicated Gigabyte 1060 video card. After getting it up and running again, I am seeing much different results. With 12 HD Hikvision 4k cameras, I am seeing 28 - 33% of CPU usage and the computer is no longer bogged down.

steve

[sv_alex]

Steve, fantastic -- that's what we want to hear. Make sure to pay attention to both your storage and network as well: 12 4K cameras put quite a bit of traffic on both.

- Alex

[switz]

I may be missing on the storage option. I have four 1T surveillance drives and want to break up the video on all four drives. It seems if I try to move a camera, then all cameras go with it. Is this true?

Thanks

[sv_alex]

Yes, data for all cameras needs to be stored in a single location. You could, theoretically, cheat with junctions, but that's not something I would recommend -- the headache will well outweigh the benefit.

So my advice would be to do it right, and get either a single storage drive (WD Purple comes in 4TB or 6TB, for example) , or put the four drives in a RAID. Depending on hardware being used the choice between these two should be reasonably trivial.

[Landofmichael]

switz, as SV_Alex stated If you have a drive for each of 4 cameras you can do what your attempting to do using a RAID setup and you will reap many other benefits also. RAID 5 and 6 will both increase data write and access speed along with providing redundancy for data security. You do pay a small price in terms of drive space utilized for data redundancy but this is necessary if your want to be able to recover your videos in the event of a failure. Don't use RAID 0 unless your willing to lose your data in the event of a disk failure as it puts your data (videos) at risk of corruption or loss in the event one fails.

See this article for a good explanation;

https://10gbps.io/blog/advantages-disad ... id-levels/

[Landofmichael]

switz, I have a favor to ask you. There's a new technology called GPU compute. This means that some of the newest generations of video cards are better suited to many tasks than the CPU. This includes some analytical duties. Many Video Security programs now take advantage of this new feature. I'm having trouble getting information on whether Sighthound leverages high end video cards for this purpose and there aren't many higher end cards than your 1060! Would it be possible that you run Sighthound without your graphics card on the integrated graphics on your motherboard (if your MB has integrated graphics, some gaming boards do not) so that we can get a baseline to compare with your the results you have with your 1060 installed? you may have to disable PCIE graphics in your bios to do so. I would understand if it's too much work but thanks anyway.

[switz]

I would love to but my trial period has expired. I have requested an extension but haven't heard back yet. If they get me another, I'll do it with the card and without. When looking in the sighthound web page, there is no mention of a video card. I am trying to configure a system that uses up to 16 4mp cameras. What I am very confused about is I have a Q-See system at my house that uses 4mp cameras and I have 12 now but can put a total of 16 on it. There appears to be virtually no computing power in the Q-See box but it handles HD video with no issues whatsoever. Very confusing to me....

steve