New to HTPC. Need some opinions

Hi

Haven't been on the forume in a while...

I am thinking of either buying or building my own HTPC for home. I need the following from it:

* Chassis needs to be small. Prefereably those slim flat desktop type ones
* Have the ability to install one 3.5" HDD
* PSU of no more than 300W, though less would be prefered as I do not want the unit to draw a lot of power
* HDMI
* WiFi onboard prefered, it not, at least have ability to add it on with a PCIe card
* If I were to install a BR optical drive, it must at least be able to play the content without any issues. This must also be applicable to 1080P content played directly from the internal HDD of the HTPC without any issues.

Now I know you get some really nice mini ITX motherboards out there which is most likely what I will get. I am however unsure which CPU and VGA solution.

I had a look at some solutions which integrate AMD Llano based as well as Intel Atom paired with nVidia graphics. Even considering an Intel Sandy Bridge based Pentium or Core i3.

Now my questions are:

* I am using an app called Air Video on both my Apple iPhone & iPad to stream content shared from my current beast at home which is very power hungry. Air Video does have the option to perform a live conversion of the content you are watching on the fly while streaming it to your Apple device which consumes some memory and CPU resources during the process. Do you guys think that any of the following CPU/APUs would suffice:

AMD E-450, AMD Llano A8-3870K, Intel Atom D2700 (or similar) paired with nVidia GT-520, Intel Pentium Gxxx or Intel 2nd gen Core i3?

I know that the Intel Pentium Gxxx or Intel 2nd gen Core i3's sports sucky Intel HD2000 graphics so I may need to look at an additional graphics card.

I know the Pentium & Core i3 will do the job, but it is going to add to cost and power draw which is a concern for me. I need a low power draw system. Will any of these AMD E-xxx and AMD A8-xxxxy or Intel Atom's be powerful enough? Especially the live conversion via Air Video and HD playback?

Thanks


CTV

I am aware that a PSU draws only what it needs, its just that it does not need a lot of headroom as far as capacity is concerned.

I was looking at an ITX mobos with integrated WiFi and BT:

* Asus P8Z77-I DELUXE (socket 1155) - Expensive and need will need to buy Pentium / i3 plus a GFX card as onboard sucks. Expensive route
* Asus F1A75-I DELUXE (socket FM1) - Cheaper than above. Looking at the A8-3870K along with it. May not need to buy GFX card as onboard should be ok based on my requirments from the HTPC, right?
* Asus E45M1-I DELUXE (AMD E-450 integrated CPU with Radeon 6320). Not sure on this one?

longroadtrip! long time no see!

Well what I mean by "suck" is that they aren't as good as the AMD Llano platforms with their respective Radeon cores. In gaming one will notice it most, yet the HTPC is not meant for gaming in my case. Also, when looking at i3's, I was looking at those with HD2000 and not HD3000. Aren't there any issues surrounding HD2000/3000 and lack of support for standards like HDMI 1.4a or poor flash and SilverLight videos or any other? I have read that some platforms have limitations or performance issues in come cases - does any apply to a HD2000/3000 setup?

I don't think I will be using any tuners or anything. Just want enough oomph to play HD content via BR optical and local disk via HDMI interface to my TV (which will be right next to it). Most importantly, the setup has to have enough oomph to perform a live conversion while streaming using Air Video server to my apple devices (http://www.inmethod.com/air-video/index.html). Currently it is working great on my gaming rig but its overkill and chows alot of power.

As mentioned I would prefer a mobo with built in WiFi so I still have a free PCIe slot if I do decide that I want to add something to it later.

I would really like to get a chassis that is as small as yours. We have a lot of brands available here in South Africa but not as many as in the US for example. Lian-Li is really nice and one can ghet them in small formfactors but they are SOOOOO BLOODY EXPENSIVE. Same applies to Zalman or Antec etc. You can get those cube types ones as well but I am not a big fan of the look. I want something like yours or something flat (like old VHS VCRs).