High Performance Hardware¶
In order to achieve the maximum performance of XIMEA USB3 Vision cameras like xiC and xiQ, it is important to use selected hardware components.
The list below is updated regularly and represents our best knowledge on high performance components.
Connection¶
To achieve maximum frame-rate at maximum resolution - each camera must be connected to dedicated USB3 controller, where no other devices or cameras are connected.
Tested hardware¶
Following tables list tested hardware components using which you will be able to get maximum performance from USB3 cameras connected.
CPUs¶
| CPU |
| Intel i5-3770 |
| Intel i7-3770 |
RAM¶
| RAM |
| 4GB DDR3 |
Motherboards¶
| Vendor | P/N | Details |
| Gigabyte | GA-Z77M-D3H | Socket 1155, Intel Z77, 4xDDR3, Onboard 3xUSB 3.0, GbEth, mATX |
USB 3.0 host adapters chipsets¶
Following table lists the maximum data transfer speeds achieved using the selected controller on Windows 7 x64 with CPU Intel i7-3770.
| USB3 Controller | Driver version | Data MB/s | Port |
| Fresco Logic FL1009 | 3.5.24.0 | 395 | PCIe-Graphics *1) |
| Fresco Logic FL1100 | 3.5.24.0 | 400 | PCIe-Graphics *1) |
| Intel QM77 | 1.0.4.220 | 450 | Chipset connected to CPU |
| Intel Z77 | 1.0.4.220 | 450 | Chipset connected to CPU |
- link speed must be 5Gb/s
- must be one of PCI Express Graphics Port. In most mainboards - such port is dedicated for PCIe graphics card. It is located nearest to CPU. Some main-boards have 2 or more of such special PCIe ports with lowered latency.
Cables¶
Following table lists the cables which were used while testing of maximum transfer speed.
| Vendor | Part number | Length | Screw locking |
| XIMEA | CBL-U3-3M0 | 3m | MicroB only |
| XIMEA | CBL-U3-3M0X | 3m | MicroB and A |
Cameras¶
Minimum transfer speed¶
Following table lists the minimum data transfer speed needed to achieve maximum camera performance (maximum number of frames per seconds at full resolution).
| Camera Model | FPS at full res | Data MB/s |
| MQ013MG-E2 | 60 | 90 |
| MQ042MG-CM | 90 | 400 |
Maximum frame rate (FPS)¶
Following table lists the maximum frame rate - Frames Per Second (FPS) that can be achieved with active region of interest (ROI), free run mode (no trigger), RAW8 data format, exposure time 200us.
Tested with: Intel i7-3770, 4GB DDR3, GA-Z77M-D3H, Windows 7 x64, API_INST_V3_19_16. Measured with application (streamtest) with no data processing.
| Camera Model | USB3 Controller | FPS | ROI |
| MQ013MG-E2 | Intel Z77 | 2100 | 1280x12 |
| MQ013MG-E2 | FL1009 | 860 | 1280x56 |
| MQ042MG-CM | Intel Z77 | 970 | 2048x180 |
| MQ042MG-CM | FL1009 | 500 | 2048x300 |
In order to get all captured frames in such extreme conditions - buffering setup in application should be optimized.
To implement it please read our article about optimization of buffering for high frame rates.
Software¶
xiAPI uses Auto Bandwidth Calculation (ABC) before opening of each camera as default.
After measurement the 90% of measured value is used as maximum allowed transfer speed of camera to ensure stability of transfer.
It is important to set this parameter to XI_OFF to ensure highest possible data transfer speed.
To disable ABC application you should set parameter XI_PRM_AUTO_BANDWIDTH_CALCULATION to XI_OFF before first use of xiOpenDevice.
This setting disables ABC and camera stream is not limited.