[newman99]

I am replacing my ancient Linux HTPC. Here is what I am looking at for components:

ASRock H77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i3-2105 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics
nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I want to be able to watch HD video (HDMI to HDTV) and stream music (S/PDIF to reciever). It is going to be stored in a cabinet so it can't generate too much heat.

Did I miss anything?

Thanks,
newman99

[GortWillSaveUs]

I am replacing my ancient Linux HTPC. Here is what I am looking at for components:

ASRock H77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i3-2105 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics
nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I want to be able to watch HD video (HDMI to HDTV) and stream music (S/PDIF to reciever). It is going to be stored in a cabinet so it can't generate too much heat.

Did I miss anything?

Thanks,
newman99

What about OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

Keyboard (I love this one): IOGEAR Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel, 2.4GHz Wireless GKM561R (Black)

Remote: Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition

BD-ROM: LG UH12LS28K LightScribe 12x SATA Blu-Ray Combo Internal Drive, Bulk (Black)

SSD: Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2

I know,..I gave you a shopping list,...

[jackh]

Running Linux, an i3 and 8GB of RAM is an overkill. My own Linux HTPC (relatively new at 8 months old) has an Intel G530 and 2GB of RAM. Kicks ass and has RAM to spare (usually taking about 25%)
Oh, and I added a discrete video card (NVidia GT210) to ensure it works well. I am just a Linux enthusiast, not an expert, and for me, the challenge of making Intel HD Graphics to work with Linux was not worth the $30 bucks of the card.

For SSD, 32GB is fine (again, because of using Linux) unless you will want to load it up with other programs. And I agree with and encourage the idea of using an SSD for hosting the OS, and the separate WD Green HDD for data warehouse.

Regards,
George Costanza