Hi All,
I'm looking to upgrade my MacMini to a full blown HTPC. Components will be:
Intel Core2Quad 8200S (or similar)
4 GB standard DDR2
ASUS P5N7A-VM LGA 775 motherboard
32GB Corsair, Extreme Series X32, MLC-Flash, 2.5", SATA II, Read 220MB/s, Write 135MB/s, Retail
BDC-202BK - Pioneer BDC-202 5x Blu-Ray Reader Combo DVD±DL Writer internal Black OEM
All content will be streamed from a NAS. The SSD is only going to hold the OS. I've really only gone SSD for low power, silence, with boot speed as a very distant 3rd.
Can anyone recommend a decent HTPC case to go with this lot? It must have at two 5.25 bays as I'll need to mount a IR sensor. I was thinking of hiding it behind a 5.25" mesh blanking plate.
Is there a much better processor than the Q8200s for similar money and with a similar thermal footprint? Swapping the motherboard is not an option, so it HAS to be Intel.
Cheers...
b0redom