HTPCs aren't about overclocking, and furthermore, they're not really about processor performance. They're about encode/transcode performance, and overall performance/watt. AMD wins out there, at the low end, and while idling. Also, with a 690 chipset you're looking at a dual-core PC that will draw 1...

I use 7-zip for everything. It's "lite", free, no ads, and x64-compatible, and has a better interface.

Actually, if you have some live Tool, I uh, need to benchmark it.

Specifically the 10,000 Days tour, the Denver concert?

Man, /no one/ needs that much Dead ;)

Yeah, Newegg has to buy processors by the lot, so a special order means having 999 other chips to sell to other dudes. Which is funny, because AMD sent me an X2 6000 for our testbench and it came in a 1000-piece box. One little processor, big big box :) 690 chipsets consume way less power than MCP6-...

8800 GTS 320 is silent (and not THAT big) but the PC P&C PSU is NOT.

Also, uh, wait a few days, since ATi might be releasing a much better card for the money. If anything, it'll lower the price of the GTS.

Good motherboard. . .you gonna overclock? Actually, overclock or not, you can't really go wrong with a Gigabyte DS3 board. Also, abit is rolling out great motherboards again. You should know that ATi is rumored to only be releasing their HD 2900 XT boards this month, and that the XTXs are supposed t...

By the way, I totally know you're across the pond and that Newegg isn't you're first choice of resellers, but I just wanted to show off the link.

I wouldn't recommend getting an nVidia chipset over an AMD one, since AMD has better graphics and overall performance (like 10% faster across the board) with their 690-series. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128043 No DVI, but you've got COM covered. For that matter, I've go...

Hey, I just wanted to say that most of those limitations are imposed by copyright holders that are not MS, and furthermore, that the remaining limitations are all fully present in /all/ versions of Windows. If you're seriously against those "limitations" and running any MS software, you're being a l...

I'm currently reviewing an 8600 GT and can say two things about it: It's very good at decoding DVD and H.264/VC1 (HD) standards. To give you an idea, ATi's upcoming DX10 hardware will be equally capable (web rumors, I'm not confirming anything here) so it's obviously a good card for that purpose, ev...

There shouldn't be any real difference between hard drives of the same design with different connectors; the connector and its contributing hardware don't produce any noise. SPCR has a primer on hard drives for their different noise properties and a list of drives they recommend here: http://www.sil...

I'm pretty much not an engineer at all, but one thing comes to mind; Why are you testing the airflow on the push side of the fan? The same amount of air has to go into the fan, and on that side you don't have to deal with turbulence. Just an idea, I suppose. [added later] Whoops, I'm an ass; I misse...

I think you should look at Abit's return-to-authority non-flagship:

Abit AB9 Pro (what you should look at) and MAX: http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q4/ab ... dex.x?pg=1