G5 iMac + iTunes Firewire Library = Slow HD Playback?

Question

Wondering if anyone out there has had this experience:
I have a g5 iMac and an 232gig external Nautilus Firewire 400 external drive that I've put my iTunes library on.
I also have a bunch of high def (HD) TV shows and Movies that I've downloaded from the iTunes Store.
When I try to play my HD content in iTunes, my CPU goes to 100% and the playback is so choppy its unwatchable.
I can stream content from my iMac to my AppleTV fine, so I am pretty sure its not a Firewire throughput problem.
My guess is that the g5 iMac CPU can't handle the Firewire transfer AND the HD decoding. But this suprises me.
Anyone else out there have a situation like mine that works or doesn't work?
phil

Answer 1

My guess is that the g5 iMac CPU can't handle the Firewire transfer
FW does not use the computer's CPU. FW uses the FW chip to handle almost everythong for transfers which is why it is superior and faster than USB, which requires the computer's CPU for everything.
The FW is fine.
When I try to play my HD content in iTunes, my CPU goes to 100% and the playback is so choppy its unwatchable.
Your G5 cannot handle HD playback.