My First Project -- The noobatude becomes me

[Banebot]

Howdy y'all,

I've been lurking here and at a bunch of sites for a couple weeks now. For a while I've been wanting to create my own HTPC, but the problem is that I've never built a computer before. Now, that's not to say I'm ubernoob (or maybe it does if you're that guy), so as a result I have no clue what components work better with what, etc.

First, before I show what I have picked, I want to establish what I'm going for:

1) TV recording (preferablly while I'm watching TV)

and

2) .avi or .mp4 playback and storage

The setup I run right now is my iMac networked in with my xbox360 so I can stream movies I have ripped (legally) onto my tv, which is just a SDTV. I also want the ability to upgrade so I can record HD shows, and be able to rip/play blu-ray movies.

That being said, here's what I have built up on my newegg wishlist:

 IN WIN Black Steel IW-BL631.300BLP Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail
 GIGABYTE GA-73PVM-S2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
 XFX PVT86JYAHG GeForce 8500GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
 AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe MCE ATSC/NTSC/QAM Tuner Card w/MCE Remote & L-P Bracket - Retail
 Intel Pentium E2220 Allendale 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2220 - Retail
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail
 SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
 LITE-ON Black SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-4O1S-11 - OEM
 Scythe SCMNJ-1000 80mm Sleeve "NINJA MINI" CPU Cooler - Retail

Let me know what I have that's wrong, any recommendations would be awesome as well. I'm running blind here, and could really use the help.

Thanks. 

[Miller]

Your parts look ok. For SD everything should work fine. If you want to do HD you'll probably want a better videocard. I would go with a ATI 3450 if you want cheap, but good. You could also go with a higher 3xxx card from ATI or a nVidia 8xxx card or higher. For that matter, if you do want the HD, it is probably a better long term option to go with a slightly bigger case and get a full-size ATX board with a stand-alone videocard.

You didn't say what OS and pvr program you want to use I don't think. Do you have any thoughts there?

Also, if you're ripping all these movies you're going to run out of hard drive space pretty fast.

[Banebot]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into the bigger cases. It was something I was thinking about anyways just because it would be easier to upgrade (more HDs, etc.)

As far as OS' and programs, I really have no clue. They all seem like they would work well for what I want, but to be honest I'm no where near smart enough to deal with Linux, so I would probably go with XP MCE, or Vista. If anyone has any advice about what would work best with what I have listed above, I would appreciate it.

[Miller]

You might also try XP with SageTV, BeyondTV, or GBPVR. They are great third-part pvr programs that have a some perks over MCE (namely, no DRM issues).

[Banebot]

Okay, a big bit of an update. I've been going over the parts a little more, and have been asking around on other forums and so this is the list I've come up with:

SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 1.0mm SECC body LASCALA 10 CS-SST-LC10B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100233L Radeon HD 3450 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

2 x AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe MCE ATSC/NTSC/QAM Tuner Card w/MCE Remote & L-P Bracket - Retail

Antec Neo Power 430 430W ATX12V Power Supply - Retail 

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor Model ADO5000DSWOF - Retail

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail

2 x SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

LITE-ON Black SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-4O1S-11 - OEM 

Scythe SCMNJ-1000 80mm Sleeve "NINJA MINI" CPU Cooler - Retail

Lemme know what you think!

[Miller]

That should be good for HD or SD. You might not need the videocard, but the nice thing about your chipset is that it will combine your motherboard graphics with your videocard and boost it if you need it to. Good choices!