I'm building a wife friendly HTPC and doing away with my ubuntu box and the tornado inside my windows machine.
So far, I've an ATech 3000 case, and very little else (the case already has a PSU and low speed slot read only DVD)
Because of the internal config of the case, I'm somewhat restricted in terms of coolers - the big, passive radiator coolers (scythe ninja etc.) are just too big, and even the quiet zalman fan cooler is the wrong size and shape for decent airflow.
As performance is not a major issue, I was thinking of (and was recommended) a Pentium M chip with a volt modded stock cooler - I'll probably undevolt and underclock the chip anyway, depending on performance issues.
As I'm an AMD fanboy, what are the AMD alternatives? Low power consumption and high maximum temperatures are paramount.
The HDDs are a bit of a no-brainer - Samsung spinpoints seem to be the best bet.
The MoBo will be dependent on the CPU, but will need an AGP slot (again, the case config requires this for the passive inflow GFX
cooling to work). Onboard wireless would be nice, as the PCI slots are all going to be taken up with tuner and TV card, land possibly sound, unless the onboard sound is good.
As for memory - there just needs to be lots of it.
Cooling is going to be two 80mm case fans (and whatever is in the PSU) - what are the quietest around at the moment?
Any suggestions welcome - it's been years since I last built a system, and I have no idea what is in the market these days.


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