Blue Prints: HTPC part 2

So I've been pretty busy lately and I haven't had the time to update my blog, sorry for the wait but finally is part two of my blue print of a HTPC. The first important thing is to decide exactly what you want your HTPC to do. I'm interested in having an HDTV tuner and possible to watch blue-ray discs some time in the future when they are cheaper, other maybe interested in play PC games. For this I've decided not to use a graphics card since it will only increase the noise and the heat generated by the system. I've decided after some research to go for integrated graphics based on the AMD 780G chip set. With this chip set I'll get a nice little Radeon HD 3200 graphics chip. I could go for a higher level chip set but all it would add is cross-fire support for 2 or even 3 graphics chips. That maybe a good idea for a gaming PC but to much for my little HTPC. Based on reviews I've heard from this integrated graphics chip, it is the best on the market right now and is more then capable to handle blue-ray decoding. So based on that I can look into a motherboard I'm interested in.

I've done my research for my motherboard on newegg.ca at work, don't tell my boss, since they have a wide selection and have a large amount of reviews collected from purchasers. I suggest this method of research for anyone interested in make a computer. The price may or may not be the cheapest but you can all ways look to your favourite vendor after you know what product you want. From there I have found a nice little Gem, the ASUS M3A78-EM(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324). This motherboard has a lot of features I'm interested, the correct chip set, AM+ in case I was interested in going for a AM+ CPU (probably not, to much power), and it's a micro ATX which means I can fit it into on of those nice little HTPC cases. Reviews for it too are all most all 100% which is pretty much amazing. Good features, good prices at currently $91 CDN it is a dream come true, now to go onto the CPU.

Kinna set into getting a AMD CPU now because of the chip set, but pretty excited for that because I wanted to make an AMD based build for my gaming PC but Intel kicks their gaming CPU's out of the door. AMD on the other hand has some nice low energy low heat solutions which make it perfect for my needs. For this I've picked the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103298), it's a nice little 2.6Ghz dual core that has a thermal power of 45W. That is an insanely small value for such a fast CPU. It's the fasted of the new Brisbane core series with a 65 nm die size. For 75.99 I would be insane not to pick this CPU. There really hasn't any competition in my mind for which CPU I will be using.

Anyways that's all my time for tonight, look forward to part 3 of this build much sooner then before. I also would like to start posting some Tech news that's happened just recently that I think people would be interested in hearing about. Till then, keep on building.