The goal: Micro ATX, low power, simple PVR and scheduled record, wireless, and no HDTV - for around $500.

I think I have it figured out here... takes a lot of research for a noob Please correct me on anything you see that is out of place.

The mobo I'm looking at basing this system is this one:
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=tforce+6100
(BioStar TForce6100) - which in my best estimate had the problem of unsupported nVidia drivers (you could not use it because it did not support 7676 or earlier, or something to that effect).

Then I read this thread: http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6321&highlight=7676+drivers
("Hardware to avoid - Read this BEFORE making a mistake!") and at the bottom, the very last post, it mentions that now, this WILL work because nVidia has added support for Linux with this chipset - http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-8174.html.

So, without further ado, the $500 system based on the possibility of this board working. (I already have a case... so I'm cheating a teeny-tiny bit)

Mobo
BIOSTAR Tforce6100
- Socket 754
- NVIDIA GeForce 6100
- Micro ATX

TV Card:
Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350

CPU
AMD Sempron 64 3000+

Video Card:
Rosewill RW5200-128D2 Geforce FX5200 128MB DDR AGP

Memory:
CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB DDR400

Card Reader
LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader

HD:
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 6K040L0 40GB 7200 RPM 2MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133

DVD Burner:
Lite-On SHM-165P6S

Wireless Adapter:
D-Link DWL-G510 IEEE 802.11b/g 32bit PCI2.2 2.4G

Well sorry, I thought I had one, but the simple fact that I want MICRO atx pretty much screws me on the Mobo chipset.

I am using a cheap (old) Micro-ATX at home - Asus A7VM400-MX. It does have a VIA chipset, but seems to have enough bus bandwidth for 2 video capture cards

_________________
| Nigel Pearson, nigel.pearson.au@gmail.com
| "Things you own end up owning you" - Tyler, Fight Club

Hey,
I appreciate the info- after discovering the thread warning away from VIA chipsets, that sort of ruined my setup. I suppose it isn't as black-and-white as it may appear at first glance- but still, when buying hardware, I want to be sure before plunking down the money.

I think I got it now, first post updated.

The 6100 chipset based motherboards aren't well supported yet. The problem is that the Nvidia driver versions which do support these (8xxx series) have some other serious problems.