Low Cost HTPC

[DowntownJerm]

I'm currently streaming my movies from an NAS to an AppleTV and I've decided that instead of going with an additional Apple TV for my other room, to go with an HTPC instead of the NAS. I don't really want to spend much more then $300 and this is what I've come up with. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated:

Things I don't need: Cables, OS, Hard drives. I current have 2 2TB drives.

Mobo/Processor:
I was thinking of getting the X2 560 Black Edition with the MSI 880GM E35. Would the onboard video (Radeon HD 4250) be powerful enough to render/stream 1080P movies? Or, would it be better for me to get an Atom based mobo/processor?
X2 - http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html
Atom - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131635

Case - nMEDIAPC 5000B. I like this case because of the extra 3.5" bays in case I want to add some more hard drives
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204035
Or nMEDIAPC HTPC 8000. This case is just sweet looking, so I can't decide between the two.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039

Power Supply - Antec Green EA-380D 380W. I believe this is powerful enough for the components. In addition to the 2 2TB drives, I have an extra 10krpm drive from my desktop that I'll use for a boot disk.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

Ram: Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104221

Blue Ray Drive - LG Black 12x UH12LS28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136232

So, assuming I go with the X2 and the 5000B case, the total cost for this is $308 (not including tax/shipping). Any comments on the components would be appreciated. If there are any upgrades that are pretty cheap, but would be a noticeable improvement, I'm open to spending more, just don't want to go too crazy with expense.

 

[Outlander_04]

Definitely NOT the atom based machine . Too damn slow . You will wait seconds after you click on anything .....

The 880g is easily capable of smooth bluray playback . The combo deal looks really good . An x3 athlon would be another option if there's a combo .

Cant say I like your cases . The first has fans are very small and they seem to have compensated by cutting holes everywhere . That means cool but it can also mean a bit noisy too .
The second one ...... doesnt remind me of a computer at all , but it does have a big fan and might be quieter

The silverstone GD 05 has a lot to recommend it . Big fans that you can lower the speed on to keep it even quieter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163166

 

[masseybe84]

Another option is an H61/P620 combo. More CPU and GPU (HD2000) power. It will cost you 27 bucks more, 19 if you buy the cpu from a microcenter. You could run in to some stuttering using HD 4250 depending on which software path and options you choose to use. You can save a few bucks going with 1333 ram instead as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157241

Another option since that cpu/mb bundle is a pretty good deal is to save 10 bucks on the cheaper MB bundle and get a GT 430 which will cost 30 bucks more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121397

Here's a link to a very thorough article by Assassin over at AVSforum. It's well worth the read as are some of the other stickies in the subforum. I'm not sure if you've decided on the platform that you are wanting to use in order to playback your rips or if you will be bitstreaming HD Audio to a receiver or not so just things to think about.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1302559

 

[DowntownJerm]

Thanks to both of you for the replies. Outlander, I'll definitely look more into the case you linked. Massey, I'll look into the options you sent, plus read up on that article. Like I said, I'm fine adding $30-$40 onto the mobo/cpu combo if I'll see a noticeable improvement, just overall want to keep the cost down as much as I can. Thanks again!

 

[michxymi]

Zacate platform is ideal for you!

Mini-ITX case that comes with 200W PSU, more than enough for this system!

Thermaltake Element Q VL52021N2U Black SGCC / Plastic Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case 200W SFX Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133093

The E350 from Asrock

ASRock E350M1 AMD E-350 APU (1.6GHz, Dual-Core) AMD A50M Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157228

4GB of RAM. Only thing is motherboard supports up to 1066 so you may have to manually change this from BIOS!

Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996586
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748

Plus a Blue Ray Drive. I prefer Samsung over LG.

SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Combo Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151222


SUM here is 250$. Optional is a small SSD for this system as you can stream from your Nas. 2TB can do the work ofc!