HTPC build - higher end gear

[{CLR}geneSW]

Family first man. Always family first. The HDTV box will still be there, as will I. lol. Whenever you get around to it is fine.

[WalkinTarget]

Thread update:

The build was finished off last night, as the last piece of the upgrade puzzle was picked up. So here's the hardware -

CPU: AMD Brisbane 5050e (2600MHz)

Motherboard: MSI Media Diva 5.1

Memory: 2048 MB of Buffalo Firestix DDR2-800

Video Card: Integrated Radeon HD3200 ATI

Hard Drive: Seagate 1,500.0 GB @ 7200 RPMS

Monitor: Panasonic TC32LX50 plasma TV

DVD R/W: Lite-On 16A7S

Storage Interface: SATA

Sound Card: Realtek ALC888/D2Audio

Speakers: Yamaha 5.1

Internet Connection: Verizon xDSL @ 3.0/768

Operating System: Vista Home Premium

Other Components:
Ultra Micro Fly SFF case
Microsoft Media Center keyboard
Microsoft Media Center remote
Corsair vx450 PSU

I haven't gotten the rear sats hooked up yet, nor the center (I got these speakers minus a center channel for free from my father-in-law, so I need to pick that up yet) but with just the fronts and sub it just thumps and bumps like a disco joint !

I'm laying on the sofa with a big ol' grin as I run through my playlists, enjoying the sound. The beauty of the whole setup is how much gear I was able to remove by going with the MSI board and its integrated 5 channel 100w per channel amp. No more dedicated receiver, no wire bundle from the video output (using HDMI to HDMI on the plasma) ... its just cleaner.

I also upgraded from MCE2005 to Vista Home Premium, in part to take advantage of several apps or utilities made only for Vista MCE, such as LifExtender (removes commercials from your recorded TV shows) and My Movies, a plugin that downloads info about each movie in your library.

Pics to come this weekend after I get a chance to get some speaker cables for the rears ... going wireless with them using a Rocketfish wireless transmitter !! Anybody near me know how to drill holes in walls safely ?? Trooper, you busy on Saturday ??

Gene, I didn't forget about you, but the new board only offers PCIe slots (NO PCI !!) so I have no capture card currently ! Once I solve that, I will get back to you. I know, I know, an MCE rig without a capture card is sorta useless ...

[Duke{CLR}]

It looks good to me.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Anybody near me know how to drill holes in walls safely ??

Yea, don't hit any cables. lol, seriously though..... Check for studs, and don't drill near outlets. Depending on how your home was wired, the 110v wires might be running along the bottom of the wall, or halfway up it. Hope they used cable staples so you don't have just loose wiring in your walls.

[WalkinTarget]

Well, I stopped at Lowe's this weekend to acquire rear speaker mounts, and they had .. NOTHING !!! I asked about any local stores and was told they are all out of business:

Tweeters
Town Sound
Circuit City (still open, so I guess I could stop there)

So that was not what I wanted to hear, but I ended up finding an online vendor that sells nice units for $20, free shipping. I'll order those awhile and update once I can finally hang some more speakers.

Its always the little things that delay these builds.

Ohh, and no .. I am not going to just hammer in a nail and bend it to fit