I just finished building a new HTPC so i thought I'd share some pics and info.

The build:

ASRock E350M1/USB3 mini-ITX M/B - $159
Aywun MW-107 Mini-ITX Case Black - $59 (I had planned for an Antec ISK300-65 but couldn't find stock)
Kingston 2GB DDR3-1333MHZ - $28
Kingston 30GB SSD V-Series - $79

Total - $325

Existing components were - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 and a Logitech Dinovo mini edge.

My original plan was to create a dedicated XBMC box with XBMC live. However I soon discovered that ATI and linux don't play nice. So W7 was my backup.

In the end its a solid system that I'm very happy with. The goal was a low cost, low power streamer that can playback all my rips perfectly with a great interface. Some bonuses were things like access to web content like ESPN3 (you could go even further down this path with a U.S proxy).

Now some pics (sorry about the quality)

The pics would look better and slightly more in focus if you reduced their resolution/size. Instead they are big blurry things with loads of sensor noise.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

$98 done.

playstation media server

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So that motherboard has the CPU and GPU built in?

Yeah it's the new AMD Zacate. I chose it over the Ion because it can bitstream HD audio.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

$98 done.

I've got a WDTV but wanted a much nicer interface. A HTPC is also a lot more flexible.

playstation media server

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Again the interface, and also I have tried ps3 media server and had problems with some files. Also trying to skip ahead in movies on ps3 was impossible.

Yeh thats my only Q too; otherwise awesome :)

Cinavia is not my problem..
I have no problems with PS3 Media Server. The interface is fine (ps3 looking) and costs nothing, plus it can stream video and radio from the web.

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I can't see why you wouldn't, it's only a couple more cables, the space is already there up the top for it.

so this plays 1080p over the network perfectly fine? do you use wireless or cabled? would be a great little solution instead of our wdlive that hates playing mkv files

I want to build one of these for myself also for SNES roms.

I can't see why you wouldn't, it's only a couple more cables, the space is already there up the top for it.

Yeah its definitely possible.

so this plays 1080p over the network perfectly fine? do you use wireless or cabled?

Mine is hardwired and yes it does although at the moment I play my files off an external HDD. I'm planing to move all my media onto the network.

Are you using XBMC on Windows?

Yeah. I first tried XBMC Live but it was unusable in its current state for this CPU/GPU.

meh. skipping through your pron while having a bat would be annoying on psm yeah. Rarely need to skip through a show ever.

Can the WD live act as an MCE extender?

I have an old HP desktop (core 2 duo + 4gb ram + GT430) running XBMC on W7.

It great.

Its also got 3TB of storage in it and is where my data is stored, which is less than desirable, but not too bad.