Spec me an HTPC!

mcwildcard · 5 May 2009 at 16:39

I'm considering selling up my PC and putting together an HTPC system in it's place.
All I want it for is Usenet, web browsing, emails and office stuff, also to output 1080p via HDMI (although DVI is acceptable).
It's not going to be used for gaming at all.
My current system is:
E6300 @ 2.8GHz
4 x 1GB CAS4 Geil DDR2 PC6400
2 x 320GB 7200.10 SATA 3.5" HDD
8800GT OC BFG
GA-965P-DS3 v1.0
SB Audigy EX Soundcard
1 x SATA DL DVDRW

What out of that could I use and what else would I need?
I want to do this as cheaply as possible, paying for it with the sale of my excess PC bits and hopefully having some cash leftover at the end to take a chunk out of my credit card. Obviously I'd like it to be as quiet and small as possible, but cost > size > noise.
I'm a complete noob when it comes to this sort of thing, I know nothing about what sort of PSU is needed and what SFF graphics cards are capable of 1080p.
All I've known until now is bigger, faster, more FPS!

Any help is gratefully received.

mcwildcard · 6 May 2009 at 14:36

Thanks, advice duly noted, that graphics card is well loved it seems!
I was also considering going down the Mini-ITX route, but I really have no clue at all what my options are for that, I'm hesitant to go for it, as I don't want to end up buying crappy components due to my ignorance, but info on Mini-ITX stuff seems quite limited online.

mcwildcard · 6 May 2009 at 16:11

Well my original system was built when I was gaming a lot, but that's transferred almost entirely to my PS3 now, so really it's being criminally underused for it's spec.
Looking at some of the mini-itx options, I can use a lot of my existing kit as well, which I didn't expect.
My current PSU is built into my case, so I'll have to grab a new PSU as well as a new case for any fresh build. I think that for my needs, an m-atx build will probably end up costing only slightly less than a mini-itx build!
Hmmm... it would seem I have much to consider!

mcwildcard · 7 May 2009 at 11:40

For playing media I'll probably just stream it to my PS3 via the Media player server, there's very few formats that it won't play natively now, so it'll just be problematic stuff with obscure codecs that might be watched via the PC.
I'm looking at grabbing the following:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-OP
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-ZT
+ a cooler that will fit and a quieter case fan to replace the stock one.

I reckon if I sell on the bits I don't need from my current PC, I should be able to do it all for an additional £50. The only other thing is is my OEM Vista HP, I'll try and talk MS round into letting me use it for the new build, I might get away with it, as it's actually only really the mobo I'm changing and I can just tell them the old one died.
I do need to pick up a retail one, although I'm wondering if Windows 7 might be worth a go instead. Is the beta still available for free?

mcwildcard · 12 May 2009 at 11:41

Okay, so here's what I've basically decided on...
Old bits:
E6300 - (to be replaced by a 45nm CPU at a later date)
3.5" 320GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA HDD - (to be replaced by a 2.5" drive at a later date)
Pioneer DVDRW SATA drive - (to be replaced by a slimline drive at a later date)

New bits:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-OP
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-ZT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-014-OK

+ Windows 7 64bit

It's a pretty standard build, but I want to know roughly how much CPU OCing I'll be able to do with that 120w PSU?
Also, will any Zalman CPU coolers fit in there?