Building a Home Theater PC in the near future

[Miskatonic]

Sometime later this summer or early fall I plan on working on my second build. I watch so many movies and listen to so much music that I'd like to incorporate that into a new PC. I'm not a hardcore gamer, especially where PC's are concerned, so that isn't one of my top priorities.

Here are a few of my objectives:

- Reliability (I don't plan on oc’ing)
- Upgradeability (I’m willing to spend a bit more to have a motherboard that will accommodate technology that will be coming further down the road.)
- A case with good airflow and cooling potential.
- I want to use an AMD 64 setup
- Be able to hook it up to a home theater receiver
- Be able to hook it up to a 24" widescreen LCD monitor.

I'm planning on using a Dell monitor and an Onkyo TX -SR703 receiver, unless there are some better options for receivers out there in the $500 and below price range. Haven't selected speakers yet, though I'm not sure if I should buy a surround sound system for movies and floor speakers for music, or not. These items are not included in the build budget.

My budget is $2000, give or take a hundred bucks. This includes:

Motherboard
CPU
Graphics Card
Sound Card
Memory
Case
DVD +/- DL Burner
Power Supply
Any extra cables or accessory hardware I might need for the computer.

So far these are the cases I've narrowed down to:

Thermaltake Eureka VC8000SWA
GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANS
COOLER MASTER CM Stacker STC-T01-UWK
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS

The sound card I've been looking at is the M-Audio Audiophile 2496.

As far as everything else goes, I am open to suggestions as the build is still in the planning stages. I look forward to reading your responses and providing more information if it is needed!

[XenaWP]

My suggestion is to go to AVS forums, the HTPC section, and ask for advice there. The expertise on what you are asking is at a much higher level there.

[Staren]

I would also look at the froums at www.byopvr.com HTPCs are kind of a specialty area.

[pam123]

I've found these guys very useful : http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/index.php?

[Miskatonic]

Thanks for the links folks! Checking em' out now.

In the meanwhile, does anyone have any motherboard reccomendations?

Edit: I should specify that I'm wanting a dual core motherboard and processor.

[Staren]

What exactly are you planning to do with this PC, so we can help you fine tune your parts? For home theater use, most everyone is going to tell you to keep clear of ultra powerful CPUs to cut heat and noise. The standard chip at the moment are Athlon 64 Venice cores. Either a 3200+ or 3500+ because they run cool and are pretty cheap. If what it is going to be doing is playing video and music you don't really need more.

[Miskatonic]

I plan on using the PC for more than just that. I will also play games at times, as well as surf the net and download things. The usual every day stuff. If I have to purchase a water cooling system for the case I will. It will be a multi-purpose PC as long as it is compatible with a home theater setup.

This is one motherboard that caught my eye.

ABIT AT8 32X Socket 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon XPRESS 3200