Re:Originally posted by: guy
"I'm thinking ~300-500$"
Dang, that's skimpy! :shocked:
Here's a start…
CPU – Pentium Dual Core 2180 @ $90 – Newegg
MB – Foxconn P35A
Memory – A-DATA Vitesta DDR2 800 1Gx2 kit
Video – HIS Radeon 2600Pro 512MB
MB, RAM and Video card @ $174 after rebates & shipping – ZipZoomFly
Thanks everybody for the feedback. I was really surprised to get this suggestion from guy–last time I asked for feedback on components, I got the sheep picture he used to post for all the similar computer parts requests! 
Anyway, just pleasantly surprised by the suggestion. Thanks guy and guy also.
I actually ended up going pretty much with guy's suggestion–I grabbed the E2180 and the Foxconn P35A from ZipZoomFly. Also grabbed a 1×2 Gb kit of Corsair RAM for less than $50 after rebates. Also picked up MSI's passively cooled 8600 GT from Club IT. If I figure I need a new tuner card soon, I'll check out guy's link.
Thanks guys!
Re:Originally posted by: guy
You might want to go this route:
AMD 64 X2 4800 Brisbane 2.5 GHz (65 W) 99.99
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX 79.99
2 Gigs of DDR2 800 for around 50.00
<$300
Gigabyte also has an ATX board that is about 15 dollars more that has just about the same features.
later on add a video card as your budget allows…..
Maybe get ATI 2600 xt or the new 3xx0 series
This is not a high end gamers system but it is a good quality start for a HTPC system since the mb has everything you need short of the tv tuner card.
Only thing I might change would be the cpu – X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz would save around $20. Plenty of juice for an htpc.
May not need a vid card with the 690g until you go HDDVD/BluRay – and then just to reduce cpu utilization and keep things cool and quiet Welcome to the 2007 HTPCs!
ATI 2600/2400 or nVidia 8600/8500 with reduce cpu utilization 80%+ by removing vc1/h264 decoding from the cpu.
Check out the AVS Forums on that mobo – and vid cards if you feel like you have to spend the money.
Here is a HDTV PCI Tuner Card & USB HDTV Tuner Chart (http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/comparetuners.html)
Love my Fusion RT Gold . . . . 
Re:You might want to go this route:
AMD 64 X2 4800 Brisbane 2.5 GHz (65 W) 99.99
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX 79.99
2 Gigs of DDR2 800 for around 50.00
<$300
Gigabyte also has an ATX board that is about 15 dollars more that has just about the same features.
later on add a video card as your budget allows…..
Maybe get ATI 2600 xt or the new 3xx0 series
This is not a high end gamers system but it is a good quality start for a HTPC system since the mb has everything you need short of the tv tuner card.
Re:"I'm thinking ~300-500$"
Dang, that's skimpy! :shocked:
Here's a start…
CPU – Pentium Dual Core 2180 @ $90 – Newegg
MB – Foxconn P35A
Memory – A-DATA Vitesta DDR2 800 1Gx2 kit
Video – HIS Radeon 2600Pro 512MB
MB, RAM and Video card @ $174 after rebates & shipping – ZipZoomFly
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