Hey folks,

Here is what I have going on: An absolutely looney neighber hell bent on violence! She lives next door, and sold us the home we live in now. Didnt disclose all manner of things on the house, including all the asbestos she buried on the property. Has concealed weapons permit and has threatened to kill me quite a few times. Local sheriff is incompetent (so I sleep with one hand on a shotgun - it's gotten pretty bad, anyways).


Anyways, I'm putting up some security cameras. I ran down to Fry's and bought a few, and one of these: http://lorexstore.lorextechnology. [...] spx?id=771
Its recording software and PCI card for 4 cameras, software handles up to 8.
I was thinking that I could save some money by using an old pc to run it until I can later build something better - since the DVR boxes were really expensive (600+ not including HD).

The reqs' on the software/pci card are:
* Pentium III or higher processor
* Microsoft Windows operating system
* Optical drive
* 256 Mb RAM
* Separate video card with 64MB minimum (broadband connection required for remote connection)


One of my old PCs is a DFI Lanparty board, 1gb 166 ram, 1300mhz AMD processor, ATI 9800pro 128mb, Enermax 350wt PSU, & sata 250gb seagate HD (relatively new HD).


I was thinking I'd chuck this thing into a cool(er) part of the attic or top of a closet, and use remote desktop to access it.


Here's my question... how do I measure how much power this computer is drawing? Just because the parts are old and slow, doesn't mean they aren't pulling a lot of juice. Since this thing is going to be needed to run at least 12 hours a day but probably just 24/7 until the lawsuit is over... power consumption matters.


Are there processors out now that would do this job, but beat the pants off that old Athlon cpu in power savings?
How would you do this setup - would you use this system or get something more power efficient to sit in the attic?
How do you even determine how much juice this is drawing?

You can use the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator to get a rough estimate of power required. About 165watts at full load would be my guess and that would mean something like 215watts being pulled from the wall socket.
Probably less since you're not running any 3D games taxing the video card.
If you need a more accurate measurement you'll need to put a power meter between the wall socket and the power supply.

How are you handling the sound recording?

There isn't any atm, something I have yet to figure out. Any suggestions?