SageTV (sort of) reviewed at ExtremeTech

[mlbdude]

For software encoders CPU usage above 70% (especially when it is being pushed their by other apps) will start to cause dropped frames and possible sync issues. The hardware encoders in the machine should continue OK though I would assume. I got rid of my AIW when I put in the 250's.

I had dropped frames all the time in my recordings, especially when i launched apps which typically drives up a CPU even for a few seconds.

[JasonJoel]

Yeah, I agree 100% with that.

I guess the software encoding only gets really useful for those of us that have a dedicated PVR machine.

I never launch anything on my PVR server machine, it is there to record with my 2 PVR250's. It also has an AIW video card (for no particular reason than I had one laying around). So for MY uses, I could probably use that AIW for software encodign with good results.

However, I agree 100% that if you use the machine for other uses, you are always better off with hardware encoding.

Jason

Originally posted by mlbdude
For software encoders CPU usage above 70% (especially when it is being pushed their by other apps) will start to cause dropped frames and possible sync issues. The hardware encoders in the machine should continue OK though I would assume. I got rid of my AIW when I put in the 250's.

I had dropped frames all the time in my recordings, especially when i launched apps which typically drives up a CPU even for a few seconds.

[falchulk]

Dedicated PVR's connected to a tv are losing favor. Why not spend a little more money and have a PC that you can play games (recent stuff like halo), surf the web, home automation, answering machine, speak to your family long distance for free, and watch movies and TV? I dreamed of having this ability years ago. I have it now. If you hit a lot of the boards, you will see that this is the way a lot of people are going now. Thats why CPU utilization matters.

FYI, with software encoders, there is an increase in artifacts and pixelation the higher your utilization goes. The cpu utilization most people look at is an average. There are many spikes along the way.

[mlbdude]

My "dedicated" HTPC still has me using it for MP3 and DivX. Heck even jumping out of Sage and opening up Explorer just removed the dedicated part.

[Ducky]

Originally posted by Beelzebub
SageTV Setup

$60 Athlon/Intel 1GHz w/motheboard or higher
$60 512 PC2700 DDR
$80 120GB 7200rpm 8mb Buffer
$35 16x DVD
$80 Geforce FX5200/Ati Radeon 9000
$60 SB Audigy 2
$250 SageTV + PVR-350

Total $625

Ehhh... that's waaaay overspecced for a dedicated Sage TV PVR...

For example, you can prob. cut the price for motherboard/CPU in half by going with a 500Mhz machine -- that's plenty already. (I use one -- no problems, really, even with it recording 2 channels on 2 cards and playing back two streams...)

That, in turn, drops memory to a PC100 512 MB, which is around $40, and you can go with pretty much any video card with a TV out.

The audigy 2 probably isn't necessary either -- most "generic" sound cards costing $5-$10 has 5.1 "built-in," and it's unnecessary if you already had a decent sound system.

So, you can actually shave another $100-$200 off of the estimated price -- or, for those who are forever upgrading, just use your old, "unusable" systems with some minor upgrades, and you'd have a decent PVR in addition to your ordinary PC.