HTPC from my current rig?

[SlugForAButt]

Thinking about about building a HTPC from my current rig when I upgrade in a couple of months. Just a few questions as I'm going to try to keep costs down obviously.

1) Can I passively cool my e7500 Wolfdale?
2) How much RAM would I need for a HTPC as I could sell a little RAM to claw back some costs if neccessary.
3) Is XP still a valid option for a HTPC? (I have a VLK so it would keep costs down somewhat)
4) Is my HD4870 good for HTPC now or should I sell it and get something crappier?
5) Is remote needed if you have a IR keyboard?


Current rig is E7500, ASUS P5Q-PRO TURBO, 4Gig HyperX 1066 RAM, Powercolor 4870 512Mb.

Just playing with the idea atm, but I fancy an upgrade in a couple of months so I'm wondering if it's worth selling my gear or just building my HTPC from it?

Thanks for any ideas chaps.

 

[adrichardson81]

Not sure about passive, but I'm using a scythe Shuriken on e4400 (3.ghz undervolted). Barely audible. If your 4870 is anything like mine, I'd swap it for something quieter.

If you're not planning on gaming:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-123-HT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1699

XP should be fine with something like XBMC. TMT's a good option for bluray playback. If you want to use Media Centre, Win 7 HP's a better choice.

4gb's a bit pointless with XP x86 (I'm assuming you're not planning on doing anything crazy and running XP x64!)