Finalizing a new WHS build with SageTV – some questions

[RagingGoblin]

I am new to the Sage and WHS communities and I think I am getting to the point of ordering components to build a brand new WHS box and order Sage stuff to drive my OTA TV. I want to make sure I pick an appropriately powered server but it may require some explanation.

I have already purchased a HD Homerun and have downloaded a trial SageTV Media Center. This works great on my main PC. HDHR+Sage = awesome product, awesome picture! I also downloaded a trial SageTV Client for my older, wireless laptop (specs below) and it can handle SD (20% CPU), but appears underpowered for HD playback (100% CPU – no video). I’m not sure what my options are to get this one to play recorded HD – probably need to transcode the shows I want for this?

I plan on buying a SageTV HD200 for my TV. I believe that the HD200+Media Center bundle will provide the software/license for WHS, right?

So, for my server, I would like a headless WHS box to squirrel away that can do the following:
1. Able to deal with the 2 OTA streams coming from my HDHR while supporting general file/media serving including streaming HD to the HD200 and at my main PC.
2. Able to schedule transcoding tasks to make some recordings playable on the laptop.
3. Enough headroom to do things like perform commercial skipping (offline) in the future. Not an important requirement.
4. Enough headroom to (in the future) handle transcoding for Placeshifter when away from home. Also not that important.
5. Cool & Low power – on 24/7

This is what I am currently scoping out for my server:
Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 45 Watt
Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 Motherboard
2x1GB DDR2 800
3x1TB WD Green (WD10EADS) HDD

Laptop: Dell Inspiron 5150 – XP Home, 15.4” UXGA screen, Pentium 4M 3.06GHz, 1GB DDR 333, 32MB Radeon Mobility 9000, 802.11g
Main PC: XP Home, C2D E6600 2.4GHz, EVGA 640MB 8800GTS, 2GB DDR2 800, MSI P965 Platinum, 2x250GB HDD, 24” 1920x1200 LCD

So – if anyone could comment on the server (particularly CPU power) and options for the laptop (recommended transcoding?), that would be appreciated.

[gplasky]

For your number 2 and number 3 tasks these are the most CPU intensive operations that you are looking to perform on your WHS. I would recommend a quad-core CPU. And the transcoding will take advantage of multiple cores. There are some good deals out there so I would recommend buying the fastest quad core your budget can afford. This will also help future-proof your installation. (Once you start doing commercial skipping you will see it will become more important to you than you think it is.)

Gerry

[SWKerr]

You are probably fine but it would depend on how quickly you want the transcoding done. The CPU slot on that board board should support future AMD chips so you have an upgrade path if you really need it. The AMD Phenom II would be an easy upgrade if you find you need more power in the future.

I would go with the 1.5TB drives. I have several now and they are just a little bit more.