Need advice on Processor for ECS KN1 Extreme

[glowme]

OK, I think I have finally settled on a board for my new Vista MCE Build, but I am having a problem choosing a processor.
I am seeking opinions from those people that have this board or those that have a better familiarity with the newer processors than I do.
I am 99% sure that I am going with the ECS KN1 Extreme and will be using the machine solely for the Media Center feature of Vista and maybe my son will be playing a few games here and there.
That 1% doubt is dependent on the ability to fit two Theater 550 Pro PCI-E x1 Tuners on the board due to the large chipset cooler, or a swaying opinion on something better within the same price range and the amount of connectivity that is offered on the KN1 Extreme; plus I must have Firewire as well.

I only have considered the ECS KN1, because of a friend who purchased one, and went on about how great it was, so I started reading the reviews, and found that like my friend, a lot of others were pleasantly surprised at the performance of the board as well.
So, I have decided to grab one up and see just how long it last.

I am aware of the 4 double sided DIMM problem of some of the earlier processors so I am looking for the latter such as the E6 stepping, but I have no idea what would be the best core to run on this board.
I will actually be reusing 4 - 512MB XMS CMX3200C2 DIMM’s until I can afford to purchase four 1GB DIMM’s, so this 4 DIMM compatibility problem is something I want to avoid getting blindsided with.

I guess my first question is, would I actually see a substantial benefit from a dual core, or should I save my money and go with just a plain Athlon 64 and put the money saved towards say, a MCE Keyboard instead of just the plain MCE Remote?
Like I said, I will be mostly running Media Center, watching DVD’s, TV, may edit some video, and burn a DVD or two, although I have a dedicated Adobe machine for editing video and DVD Authoring.
I will be a running dual tuner configuration, and plan to use 2X ATI 550 Pro PCI-E 1x Tuners, if they will fit with that tall chipset cooler used on the KN1 Extreme.
However, if those will not work, I plan to use the NIVIDIA NVTV Dual Tuner instaed.
Whatever processor I choose, it’s going to have to be it for the foreseeable future, so I want to be able to get best bang for my buck.
I think $150.00~$175.00 is as much as I want to spend at this time, and I am leaning towards an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ since it falls within my budget.

I would be very appreciative of any advice anyone can lend pertaining to a suitable processor for this board and the software I plan to use, and thank you in advance for your time.
Below is a list of components I plan on using for this build.


ECS KN1 Extreme
x2 Seagate Barracuda ST3320620AS 320GB RAID 0
x1 Seagate Barracuda ST3400832AS 400GB for Bkp/DVD Storage
ATI X1600 Pro 512MB PCI-E
x2 Theater 550 Pro PCI-E or NVIDIA NVTV Dual
Audigy2 Platinum
2GB CMX3200C2 (4 X 512MB)
Lite-On SHM-165H6S
Pioneer DVR-110D

 

[Lamont Cranston]

as of right now that 3800 is going to give you the most bang for your buck and is a pretty decent overclocker to boot. I dont think you can go wrong with that chip

 

[glowme]

as of right now that 3800 is going to give you the most bang for your buck and is a pretty decent overclocker to boot. I dont think you can go wrong with that chip

The more I think about it the more something tells me to just wait, unless I get tons of LED orders in the next week or so.
I moved one of my tuners into my AT7-MAX2 Machine in the bedroom this weekend and compared to using just the AIW 9800 Pro there was a vast difference in performance.
I just can’t have dual tuner due to the AIW 9800 being a software tuner, or so I read; I really didn’t even try to set it up yet to see.
I might just go ahead and order the two 320GB SATA drives for now and run them in SATA 1 mode until the processors come down a bit and I get some more info on the KN1.

So far, I have not got an answer from anyone about that cooler getting in the way of the cards installed in the PCI-E x1 slots.
Anyone?

The other two tuners I have are PCI-E x1 Theater 550 Qualification Samples from ATI and from looking at the board more closely; I don’t think they are going to fit anyway; I might just look around for another board first instead.
I originally wanted to get another Micro ATX so I can get a small case to fit under my table in the bedroom and get rid of the tower.

If anyone reads this that has the KN1 Extreme, I could really use some info on those x1 PCI-E slots.
I think the tuners are about 6 inches long, and I would hate to order the board only to find out they will not fit.
Any other boards micro or otherwise with 2 x1 PCI-E Slots?