In need of some HTPC enlightenment

[wildheart]

Hi all, wondered if someone can give me an idea of the spec i would need when building a HTPC.

The intended purpose would be:
playing some games like pro-evo (its primary use would not be for gaming though)
playing blu-ray / HD movies
Watching / recording programs
streaming / playing various content

I will be probably be using Media Portal, for those that know it.

Basically the main questions i have about HTPC's are:

1. Would i need to go quad core?
2. What would be a suitable graphics card for 1080p output to an LCD TV?
3. Is it better to have content streaming from network attached storage than 1TB of HDD in the HTPC (im thinking for heat and noise purposes i want it to be cool and quiet )
4. I would be looking for a case that looks nothing like a PC and with the ability to use a remote any suggestions(the antec one looks ok)?
5. TV cards, Media portal recommends some but would i need 2 if i wanted to record 2 programs at the same time?

Thanks to anyone that can answer any of these question! Much appreciated.

p.s Oh and although i have been looking (really i have) there does not seem to be a dedicated area on OCUK to HTPC's? is it just me or would that be a good idea?

cheers all!

 

[wildheart]

Thanks for the response all!

With my HTPC setup I have a client/server model. The server sits in the cellar holding all the hard disks and the capture cards. The client sits on the TV doing nothing but playback. I boot it from a 2 GiB CompactFlash card so it has no hard disks to make noise.

Ah thankyou for bringing me onto that topic, another question i wanted to ask was about CompactFlash card/drives? I want it to boot up as fast as computerly possible (within a reasonable budget) Is a flash drive the way to go?

I currently have 2 10,000RPM raptors in raid 0 so faster booting that that would be nice i can probably get some boot speed specs from g00gle though but any thoughts are always welcome!

 

[wildheart]

No, it'll be a lot slower. Flash has a fairly low sustained transfer rate, on the order of 35-40 MiB/s for the best cards. RAID'ed Raptors will be more than twice as fast. It will be infinitely quieter though.

sorry i ment Solid State Hard Drive not CompactFlash card/drives. Would they be faster than a raptor setup?