HTPC feedback requested

320 GB Drive is an absolute waste of money. Get 1TB min.

All else looks ok to me. PS choice may limit you down the road if you add many periphs... Good choice on the brand. 330W Seasonic at least = 500w cheapo brand.

depends on what kinda of videocard u are talking about ,a high end videocard can use more then 200w on load.You are fine unless u get a 4870x2 or a 295

I agree with your specs listed. Not sure if I would go with a 320. Probably best to go with 500-750 for future expandability. I have been using WDs as of late. The Green ones work pretty well.

As far as a video card, I would suggest an ATI HD4670 or HD4650. They run with no additional power cable like many of the nvidias and they also decode HD very well and pass HD audio via HDMI. They aren't that much and do quite well.

I have always found Tom's Hardware a good resource on video cards. They have a best video card for your budget article.

Here is a link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...card,2118.html

The 4650s will run you less than $100.... some close to $50.

Depending on what you are needing, this may offset what you are spending on the mobo. I have been using MSI and ECS boards over the last 2 years with great success. Latest install was an ECS 7050M board. It is W7 compatible, can hold up to 8GB of ram, and has 4 SATAs and 1 (2) IDEs. I was able to pick up that open box for $30 and it tested fine (I am always test these first with stress tests... open box items). I believe the new retail one is around $50. There are similar ones with Gigabyte too. I used them in the past and they are made well too. I have learned to stary away from Foxconn and PC Chips. If you spend only $50 on the mobo and another $50-60 on the vid card, you will have a much better system. Anytime you really on on-board graphics it is going tie up more resources and CPU cycles. And the memory sharing doesn't help either.

Just some thoughts.

Also, are you sure you need 4GBs. I only have 2GBs on my client and it runs just fine. Remember that a 2GB system with a 512MB vid card is actually equivalent to about a 2.5GB or more system. Memory is cheap though so it may be worth just getting the 4GBs now especially if you are going 64bit.

Some will tell you cheap mobos break down, but it is important to remember than many of those "cheaper" motherboards were state of the art $100+ boards 12-18 months ago. Other than onboard video, there haven't been as many advances. You just need to know what you are looking for. But to each his own.

If this HTPC isn't storing media, then scrap the 320GB altogether and get a 2.5" laptop HD. Or even a SSD drive. That's what I'd do.

I think what he means on the 2.5" is that they make a lot less noise. A SSD will be silent (and fast) If you already have the media server, then a small drive is fine I guess. Also, in the interest of quiet, adding a fan controller can really help the noise situation. I just did one in my htpc that handles 5 fans, and it made a world of diff. I recently put mine in a new case that had more drive bays and added considerable noise. Adding the fan controller brought everything back to earth (noise wise).

I use a single HD4870 vid card and it calls for minimum spec 550W ps, recommended 600+. Spec'ing a PS to full capicity is not a great idea. Consider though that gaming is probably one of the only things you will do that will run all these components to rated power consumption. Typical htpc duties won't raise temps much. (which is where PS usage comes in)