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[Darkness]

Well if you're running XP and you strictly want a web/HTPC Machine the Semprons are worth it because they beat out Intel's Atoms

[TomClancy]

I'm actually going to run XBMC on Ubuntu. Much lighter than XP, and a bit easier to work with.

I've actually managed to get the build down to $206. Dropped the GPU (for now, I may add it back in, not sure.) The soundcard isn't needed, the motherboard I listed has built in 7.1 surround, and you showed me the e5200, which is $20 less then the e5300 and virtually the same thing, just 100MHz slower.

e:
I may be able to get it down to $161 if this guy on Craigeslist responds to my email. (He has a similar motherboard and same processor I need.)

[Warsaw]

Damn, cheap HTPC for sure. I'd use that extra headroom to bump specs, but then again if all you are really going to use it for is audio and video playback, there's no need. You can instead use it to bump up your current rig (which has almost the same specs mine did when I built it...only mine is AMD...and no SCSI supremacy).

[TomClancy]

Haha, yeah! Unfortunately, the guy decline on my offer of $30 for CPU and $35 for motherboard. (Same ones I needed, too.) So back up to $196.

Oh nice. Yeah, I could seriously use an upgrade. I got an i7 build I'm going to purchase eventually. Probably going to wait for either the GT3XX's to come out or the next iteration of Intel processors so the price of the i7 goes down yet again. (Though, I can get an i7 920 for $199 at Microcenter, and that's dirt cheap.)

[Warsaw]

Good plan, waiting on the GPUs. By this holiday season we should see ATi's DX11 offerings, assuming they stick to their timeframe this time.

[343guiltymc]

Good plan, waiting on the GPUs. By this holiday season we should see ATi's DX11 offerings, assuming they stick to their timeframe this time.

The Geforce 300 series are suppose to have been put ahead of schedule to Q4, but they will be limited in stock when released. As for ATi, they are in no hurry beyond HD 4000, given how they going to release the Radeon 4750 and 4860 in less than two weeks.

[Darkness]

I actually recommend you get the sempron 140 if you can find it. It's been unlocked to 2 cores

[Warsaw]

The Geforce 300 series are suppose to have been put ahead of schedule to Q4, but they will be limited in stock when released. As for ATi, they are in no hurry beyond HD 4000, given how they going to release the Radeon 4750 and 4860 in less than two weeks.

Actually, AMD has started production of DX11 silicon, and already has working examples. At CES they were the only ones with working DX11 silicon. So, they will be the first out of the gate with the HD5870, though for sure you can expect that the GTX380 will be out before the HD5870 X2 model.

[TomClancy]

I actually recommend you get the sempron 140 if you can find it. It's been unlocked to 2 cores

I read somewhere they used the "ASRock M3A790GXH/128" motherboard. Do I need that exact one or just an AM2/AM2+ board?

[Darkness]

You need a board that has the SB710 or SB750 south bridge. By enabling ACC you may be able to unlock the cores. I recommend an MSI board since they said that they will not patch the bug, So you can unlock the cores.