PC requirements
We got many questions about PC requirements for SRTMiniServer
- What is CPU I need for 5 feeds simulteniously ?
- What is GPU I need ?
It strongly depends on the parameters of incoming streams.
For example: my notebook with Core-i5 uses 17% for 4 incoming streams of HD@25fps/2Mbs (see details below)
Before let me note SRTMiniServer does two expensive operations:
- decode incoming feed (from h264 or h265 or mpeg2)
- encode to NDI feed
Let's go over these points
Decode incoming feed
SRTMiniServer allows select "software decode" or "hardware decode"(means GPU). But we recommended use "software" in many cases.
Because:
- "hardware" decoding is very sensitive to format. If shortly - NVidia decoder perfect for feed only from NVidia encoder.
- hardware decoder usually has limit for simultaneous session (usually 2-3).
Resume: using CPU for decode is preferable.
Encode to NDI
NDI uses only CPU. No options.
Resume
GPU does not make sense
CPU is make sense. We recommended use Core i7 or Core i9 and 16 Gb RAM.
Tips and examples
Do stress test
Perfomance very sensitive to incoming feed: 4K@60fps and HD@25fps show different CPU usage.
So common recommendation is make stress-test for got real perfomance of your PC.
UPDATE: we prepare special tool for stress test ( here )
For stress-test you need (on other host):
- ffmpeg
- pre-recorded file (mp4)
If you plan use HD@25fps / 5Mbs, then prepare mp4 (h264/aac, HD@25 5Mbs) duration ~5 mins.
Use this command for send SRT stream to SRTMiniServer by ffmpeg:
ffmpeg -re -i hd_25_example.mp4 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -f mpegts "srt://192.168.1.53:9001?streamid=streamkey1ABC"
you need change IP and streamid for your value
You can run many commands (with different streamid) at same time for generate many feeds. For example I run 4 feeds to check my notebook for HD@25fps feeds:
my notebook with Core-i5 uses 17% for 4 streams of HD@25fps/2Mbs
example: I run few streams from macOS
Don't use Preview window long time
Built-in Preview window takes CPU for rendering, so no reason use it on slow PC long time. In our test we got increase CPU usage from 17% to 35% when open Preview window
