HTPC Spec check

[Furton]

Going to order my self a HTPC in the next week and have come up with the following spec.

Abit AN-M2HD nForce 520 Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ 2.10GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
Antec Fusion Black HTPC Case - 430HE Watt PSU
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-4200C4 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT12864AA53E)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS)
Pioneer DVR-212D 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS)
Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT DVB-T TV Tuner (PCI-Express) - Retail
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788)
Zalman CNPS7500-CU CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
Netgear WG311 54Mbps Wireless Desktop PCI Network Adapter

A few questions though.

Are Seagate Hard Drives still the quietest (been away for a year so out of the loop really)
Eventually I'll get a HD-DVD/BD player, will the CPU be powerful enough to decode HD content so I can make use of the HDMI output of the board?
Is the Zalman a pretty quiet HS or are there quieter ones?

It's mostly going to be used to record free view channels, play ripped content and watch TV.

 

[Furton]

AMD has the best HTPC boards. I'm not overclocking. I have 1 x 1 GB PC2-4200 installed. My motherboard is an Asus M2NPV-VM with integrated nVidia 6150 graphics. It's a purpose-built HTPC board and it does accelerate the playback of some popular codecs, including the much-lauded H.264. It handles 1080P without breaking a sweat, with about 60% of one core consumed.

That's the reason I chose the Abit board, on-board graphics with HDMI output, saves having a separate GFX card hence less heat generated.

Have you tried it with a HD or BR disc yet? If so what's the playback like?