First HTPC build - no PVR required.

[calliusmaximus]

First id like to apologise if somethings i ask are fairly basic, as i specialise in large Disk arrays and not server hardware/os's anymore.
After having almost every version of the Netgear media players over the years i now wish to move to a htpc after getting annoyed with the limitations of prebuilt players.
I do not mind spending what is required to fit my requirements. I have a seperate gaming pc in a different room for day to day use.Lets say $1000-$1500 budget so arround £1000 pounds.

Dual screens , 1080p projector for playback and 1080p vga screen for surfing.
I need to play 1080p mkv content easily.
All data is served via several NAS devices, all 1gb network.
Ability to play newish games at 1080p with most of the good stuff turned on, likely more golf/racing/soccer games on the PJ.
Bluray image playback including extra's if possible.
Ideally lossless pass through to my Onkyo amp , aka 7.1 HDMaster audio etc.
Ideally black HTPC case
Ideally quiet operation, though louder is fine when playing games.

So far my thinking is
CPU - I3 530 ish, enough horse power
CPU fan - quiet as possible
Mobo - no idea
Ram - no idea what is required 4/6gb i guess
Vga - currently use ATI 5850 for main pc, though would be overpowerd for a htpc ?
The most quiet PSU i can get
Case ideally Black HTPC case, quiet as possible.
Control - Media keyboard/ microsoft/logitech
Software - an unknown for me, but i guess win7 64bit - WMC - arcsoft media theatre ?
Xbox 360 wireless controller

 

[MrCrispy]

I would look at this guide - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972 (the latest version is donationware I believe) as well as that forum, its very helpful.

7MC + MediaBrowser is going to be perfect for playback. I prefer XBMC but it doesn't deal with Bluray and HD audio nicely.

 

[Topherhead]

well on the case, this is a bit of a push, but the sexiest HTPC cases IMHO come from Origen
http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/index.htm
All of their cases are nicely overbuilt and extremely attractive to me, im using the S10v myself, its a black one too, and it displays file info while playing.

 

[Topherhead]

also i went through quite a bit of trouble making WMC work, PM me if you want any extra info.