To All U Experts Out There.

[Dalaras100]

Hello Everyone.
I'm about to buy a new pc for htpc + gaming and I've tried to build the best one I can under a budget of course (which seems to grow the longer I take to buy...) The pc will be hooked to my LCD.
After checking out prices & recomendations this is what I have so far.
I'd appreciate ur opinions as experts (about all the parts + bottleneck problems etc):
Amd athlon 64 (5000) Dual core 1MB(am2).
ASUS M2A-VM HDMI (AMD 690G)
2*KINGSTON 1GB 667
ASUS GeForce 8800 GT 512 DDR3 (retail=?)
ThermalTake MaxOrb \ Alpine 7 (cpu cooler)
2*WD 320GB 16mb AAKS 7200 \ SG (similar)
Pioneer DVR 212BK x18 DualLayer sata
NZXT LEXA BlackLine
Enermax NoiseTaker II 485w
Genuis TwinTouch wireless (kb+mouse)
Many thanks in advance.

[Olin Coles]

Howdy, and welcome to the forums.

Right now I find it difficult to be a fan of the Athon 64 X2 CPU because there are so many other Intel products which beat it (badly) for the same money. Additionally, there are 8800 GT's with full HDMI (audio+video) that negate the need for an HDMI motherboard. Finally, while we have reviewed the NZXT Lexa Blackline Mid-Tower ATX Case (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=61) here at Benchmark Review, I'm not sure how much room you want to take up for an HTPC. We have recently reviewed the Thermaltake DH101 HTPC ATX Case VF7001BNS (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=61) which I think is better suited (but costs more). For cooling, I would get away from the MaxOrb or Alpine 7, because all (and any) or the HDT coolers easily outperform them. Take a look at the OCZ Vendetta Exposed HDT CPU Cooler (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=62). Everthing else looks fine.

Anyone else care to comment?

[Dalaras100]

Howdy, and welcome to the forums.

Right now I find it difficult to be a fan of the Athon 64 X2 CPU because there are so many other Intel products which beat it (badly) for the same money. Additionally, there are 8800 GT's with full HDMI (audio+video) that negate the need for an HDMI motherboard. Finally, while we have reviewed the NZXT Lexa Blackline Mid-Tower ATX Case (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=61) here at Benchmark Review, I'm not sure how much room you want to take up for an HTPC. We have recently reviewed the Thermaltake DH101 HTPC ATX Case VF7001BNS (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=61) which I think is better suited (but costs more). For cooling, I would get away from the MaxOrb or Alpine 7, because all (and any) or the HDT coolers easily outperform them. Take a look at the OCZ Vendetta Exposed HDT CPU Cooler (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=62). Everthing else looks fine.

Anyone else care to comment?
Hi, thanks.
So the Intel equivilant would be 6700? + I could really use some help with exact names of motherboards/graphic cards because no matter how much I read (& I've been reading for months now every night) I still cant get all the facts/names that include everything I need. plus they'll try to shove me similar but not as good products at the store when I finally buy.
and about the size of the case - I really dont mind it (if thats the main problem).