first time HTPC

[gilljoy]

Hey all I'm looking to get myself a little HTPC.

Ideally I'd be looking for something that can output high def movies to my 26" sony bravia, soon to be 32". Ideally at 1080p.

I've never really built a HTPC before so bit confused and got a few questions,

1. is it better to buy pre-puilt or custom build one?
2. can i use an old e7200 core 2 duo if going for custom?
3. is having a drive essential, Ideally I'd be looking to rip blu-rays onto a HDD for easy viewing.

Any recomendations? or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gilljoy]

No, decide what you want it to do and buy the case based on that .

I've currently got the following from my old system,

CPU: Intel Core 2 duo e7200,
PSU: Corsair 550w.
Memory : 2gb Generic ddr2 ram.
also have a Dual layer DVD-RW drive, tho could possibly get a blu-ray drive.

I'll need a case, motherboard and a descrete GPU for HD video output.

Any good socket 775 mini-itx boards? really like the lian li PC-Q07B but not sure if i'll be able to get a board with a PCI-E slot.

If not I may go for a fusion based setup, this one looks quite good Sapphire itx fusion board