Use a PowerMac G5 (1.8Ghz) as a SageTV Server?

[osx-addict]

We've got a spare PowerMac G5 sitting around that could be repurposed and I was wondering if it would have enough horsepower to record 4 streams from a pair of HDHomeRun dual tuners (4 channels total) and at the same time stream content to 2 of the HD300 Sage boxes?

I realize it's certainly not the most efficient configuration power-wise (I believe that machine will eat about 100W at idle and up to 450W at full-tilt)..

Is that machine up to the task if it's connected to a hard ethernet line?

Should I move over to a new server running Windows with a quad-core CPU instead?

Either way, this box will NOT be used directly for 'viewing' -- just recording and streaming.

[fidget]

If you are just recording and playing back, Sage doesn't have much of a CPU requirement. However, I don't know if your G5 Mac will run the version of MacOS needed for Sage and the tuners that you want. Have you verified the OS system requirements?

[osx-addict]

Thanks for the reply.. The G5 does meet the minimum requirements and it is certainly more than capable on the storage side of the world -- I'm just not that enamored with the power usage angle -- but if the CPU/network is not going to be that big of an issue (requirements claim it can run on a G4 -- meaning a laptop I guess in my case -- I've got one of them too!) then I guess it should work for now.

I've also got an older Epia M800 (VIA based) machine running at 933Mhz (the CPU is a C3 VIA CPU) which is a little above the minimum requirements (which are 800Mhz for the VIA processors).. That machine has XP already loaded on it..

Anyone want to compare between SageTV for Windows vs Macintosh? Any major issues/differences between them? I'm assuming the Windows side is more actively developed from what I've been able to determine from posts on the forums here.

Comments?

[fidget]

I was talking about OS requirements, not CPU. I only run Sage as a client on my Mac, and I run an x86 based Mac. I don't know if Sage requires Snow Leopard or not.