Zacate Build, Suggestions.

Your build looks great.

The only change that you might consider is to "downgrade" your windows to home from professional (unless there is a specific reason why you need pro). That will save you/him a few bucks.

Also you may want to consider a Crucial SSD with SATAIII for future upgrades should you want to use it in other builds. Although either SSD will work incredibly well in this build.

Great choices all around. Only issue I have otherwise is the price --- pretty high for a zacate build.

this is my zacate build, i post in zacate thread

- mobo/cpu/video combo ($150)
GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3
- case ($40)
APEX MI-008
- ram ($25) (order 4gb, will use only 2gb)
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)
- hard drive ($80)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4
- dvd drive ($20)
ASUS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
- keyboard/mouse ($50)
OIGEAR
- remote ($15)
Windows 7 Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver

Total: $380 +tax+sh

I would have chosen APEX MI-008 too since it gives you an external 3.5" slot so you can add a card reader and it cost less than the Lian-Li case+ Antec PSU. You don't need a 380W power supply for the build, it's overkill.

Not everyone wants to use a pico. So if he wants to use a full atx psu that's a fine choice.

Looks like a fantastic setup. We are getting into personal preference here but for the money I would chose
This case with PS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811121100

This MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-697-_-Product

Also, skip the SSD for now (just partition your HD), And consider the lower cost version of Win7

This would shave -$130 for the SSD and -$70 for the alternate parts. The microATX gives you options, space

samsung f4 hard drive?

What's your question?

you might want to add a blu-ray reader instead of the dvd burner. That way he can grab a blu-ray from redbox of blockbuster kiosk.

If saving as much as possible is needed, then look at the ASRock E350M1. It's a little cheaper and ASRock good. It's an ASUS company.... so it's not Foxconn or ECS quality.

If he's going to encode/decode, I think Zacate will struggle with that. From the benchmarks I've seen, it can do it, but it'll take a long time. For encoding then possibly an 880G with AMD Phenom X4 840 would be good. Yesterday, I priced a Gigabyte Miro-ATX 880G board and AMD CPU bundle at newegg for $190 with free ship. You can also wait and see what the next generation of AMD is going to produce and see how the latest steppings of Intel's motherboards are going to turn out. Especially see what's in the Mini-ITX format.