A little update, I managed to get hold of a Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R motherboard and i already had 2gb or geil pc2 6400 ram so the search was now on for a decent low profile cooler - details copied from my thread
here trying to suss out a cpu cooler:
In searching for a quiet low profile cpu heatsink/cooler i was tearing my hair out at the
Zalman CNPS8700 which is by all accounts a great cooler but just that little bit too wide for my case by about 10mm on one side due to a case fan and a very snug fit with the north bridge on the other.
Case layout and fan on right side:
Tight fit with north bridge on the otherside:
In order to fit the Zalman i'd need to remove the case fan which isn't such a big deal though in such a confined space the extra air flow would be handy.
Having considered some Akasa 1U low profile passive coolers and trying to find out if these would do a decent job of cooling, i didn't find anything definitive saying yay or nay, but decided as there wasn't anywhere near the amount of air travelling through the case that there is in a 1U that i'd be better off with the something else. Looking at lots of other coolers and trying to weigh up noise against cooling i kept coming back to the 8700
Then I had a brain wave - Get a quiet slim line 15mm fan to replace the case fan. Something like the Hyperflow HFF-1W08W-UV which fingers crossed will give the clearance i need for the zalman 8700 (hyper fan in dark blue)
So i took the plunge and ordered the hyper along with the Zalman CNPS 8700 (and a samsung spinpoint 500gb hd woops)
The hard drive and the 8700 have arrived and on first inspection and offering the 8700 up to the cpu it appears that there may just be enough flex on the case fan bracket to be able to squeeze the 8700 in without the need for the 15mm fan, which is yet to arrive. However, i think the hyperflow will be much quieter than the existing case fan anyhow.
If the 8700 does fit i will try running as is and see how the noise from the case fan is. I will also try running without the case fan (would be ideal if i could get away without the case fan as it would mean reduced noise levels)
The next issue after the 8700 is installed will be to connect up the hard drive fingers crossed the 200w PSU will be able to cope. I think the PSU will be the cause of most of the noise. If it is too noisy and or can't cope then i will have to look at replacing it - not easy as it's a strange size, however, the Silverstone LC11 takes the same size PSU but a 300w version so that would be my next port of call.
At the moment i don't have a TV suitable to connect this htpc system to (only have scart or composite inputs) so until a new TV appears there is no need for the low profile graphics or TV cards which would put extra pressure on the PSU.