Building a cheap, low-power HTPC for a secondary TV

[Vcize]

I'm looking to throw together a cheap, low-power HTPC for a secondary TV I have. Being small wouldn't hurt either. This is only for a secondary TV, so no need to be top of the line here. I just want it to not use a lot of power and not generate a lot of heat, and get the job done. I doubt I'll be recording any HD on it, but you never know. Also, I certainly will be playing 720p files that I've downloaded on it. That said, on to the questions...

1) I'm looking at this CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819104241
with this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813135214

Will that CPU be fast enough for what I'm looking to do with it? The main thing that worries me is the 128mb L2 cache. The 3100+ with a 256mb L2 is actually cheaper, but it's OEM meaning no heatsink with it and whatnot, and there are far fewer reviews on it (3 vs. 136). It's here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819104236

2) I'm not totally against a Manila (AM2) core Sempron, but is it true they actually run hotter than the socket 754 chips?

3) Are the built-in graphics (S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP) on that board going to be enough for what I'm doing? I'm not going to be gaming on it or anything...

4) Any recommendations on cases and power supply? I'm looking for cheap, quiet, and small. Obviously that's probably everyone's favorite combination for an HTPC and cheap and quiet/small don't really go hand in hand, but I just don't know how wise it would be to throw together a system for 200 bucks and end up spending more than that on the case and power supply...

Thanks in advance guys..

 

[Vcize]

Bumpity...

 

[Slammy1]

Dell E521's have been coming in cheap lately. They offer enough power for a future HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, and if you invest in a video card to do H.264 decoding you can get a lot of power cheap. Watch for hot deals. Generally, a dual core 3800+ is the min I'd spec for a real HTPC due to demands for Hi def. It's also nice to have the processing power for upconverting DVDs.

 

[Quasmo]

If you already have a Media Center PC, just get an Xbox360. Then you can connect it to your first HTPC and stream content.

 

[Vcize]

Originally posted by: Quasmo
If you already have a Media Center PC, just get an Xbox360. Then you can connect it to your first HTPC and stream content.

I don't already have a Media Center PC, and I do already have a 360 - though it stays hooked up to the primary (61") TV, not the little secondary 32" LCD...

 

[Eos]

I just built an HTPC from my old machine.

It is in my sig.

http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.aspx?id=34131

It does really well for being 2+ years old and having a 64mb video card with passive cooling. Granted, not all HD DVD content can be played back. Maybe 6 out of 10 cannot, but the ones that do look SO GOOD... I mostly playback .avi files.

My new machine never hiccups at HD DVD content, so that gives you an idea of what hardware is needed. All I have to do is move the main rig into the media room to do serious HD playback.

http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.aspx?rigid=34131

I bought my proc, mobo, video card and RAM from Newegg for about $530 USD.