I've been researching this for a while, and pretty much all day to confirm a parts list.

Here it is...

*nMEDIAPC HTPC 100 SA Silver Steel MicroATX Media Center Computer (Case)
*ECS C51G-M754 Socket 754 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX (Motherboard)
*AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 1.6GHz Socket 754 Processor
*Crucial Technology 256MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) (x2 -- 512MB)
*Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JB 120GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 (Probably do a 20GB Partitiion for OS, then the rest for recording)

Okay here are my thoughts for the day after researching. I will not be recording HDTV, so I don't need enormous processor power. I have already purchased a PVR-350 card, and an Nvidia 5200 Card for TV-Out.

Socket 754...this is what I'm looking for confirmation on. My main desktop is 939, researching I found that the 939 uses less power and is a cooler processor, so this makes me think I would be ahead of the game to try and find a microATX motherboard that supports 939. I also figure that 939 will be better for future upgrades if I desire to step it up a notch.

I've read all the posts in regards to VIA chipsets, so I'm trying to stay away from them. I've been looking more towards the nvidia chipsets. Only other question I have is what are everyone's thoughts on SiS chipset?

How is SATA support these days? If I go to a 939 processor, everything I have found uses SATA instead of IDE.

I hate this 'newbie' question(s), but I feel that I've RTFM a few times, and I'm now just asking for reassurance on this parts list or if I need to go another direction with this?

Any and all help, suggestions, etc. is greatly appreciated!

[quote="basketcase"]How is SATA support these days? If I go to a 939 processor, everything I have found uses SATA instead of IDE.[/quote]
I just searched NewEgg and came up with 15 hits for MicroATX motherboards with Nvidia chipsets and PATA. SATA support has improved but it's defintely something that is still likely to give you grief.

Disk space, more is better. The extra cost to double (or better) the capacity is minimal, and the cost / Gb is generally a net win. Prices on good PATA WD drives from NewEgg for comparison:
>>> 54.99/120
0.45824999999999999
>>> 56.99/160
0.35618749999999999
>>> 69.99/200
0.34994999999999998
>>> 67.99/250
0.27195999999999998
>>> 99.99/320
0.31246874999999996
For an extra $13 you more than double your storage... You can see the same trend in almost any on-line shopping site.

Even if mail order isn't an option for one reason or another they're great resources for doing you product availability research.

My one question is, why have so many people been buying PVR-350 cards when they don't intended to use the TV outpu on them? Have there been deals that make them cheaper than the 250s or 150s?

[quote="tjc"][quote="basketcase"]How is SATA support these days? If I go to a 939 processor, everything I have found uses SATA instead of IDE.[/quote]
I just searched NewEgg and came up with 15 hits for MicroATX motherboards with Nvidia chipsets and PATA. SATA support has improved but it's defintely something that is still likely to give you grief.

Disk space, more is better. The extra cost to double (or better) the capacity is minimal, and the cost / Gb is generally a net win. Prices on good PATA WD drives from NewEgg for comparison:
>>> 54.99/120
0.45824999999999999
>>> 56.99/160
0.35618749999999999
>>> 69.99/200
0.34994999999999998
>>> 67.99/250
0.27195999999999998
>>> 99.99/320
0.31246874999999996
For an extra $13 you more than double your storage... You can see the same trend in almost any on-line shopping site.

Even if mail order isn't an option for one reason or another they're great resources for doing you product availability research.

My one question is, why have so many people been buying PVR-350 cards when they don't intended to use the TV outpu on them? Have there been deals that make them cheaper than the 250s or 150s?[/quote]

I bought the 350 card because of it's onboard encoding, and I was going to stick this in a PIII 700mhz box.

I now want something more appealing for the living room, so new motherboard/components it is.

The PVR 150 and 250 both have onboard encoding. The 350 is essencialy a 250 with TV output.

[quote="spideyk21"]The PVR 150 and 250 both have onboard encoding. The 350 is essencialy a 250 with TV output.[/quote]

I was under the impression that the 350 was the only one that had the hardware encoding capabilities, and that the 150 and 250 depended on processing power to encode TV.

After discussing with a few ppl, I'm going to take the 3500+ out of my current system, replace it with a 4400+ X2 processor. the MicroATX motherboard I'll use is from Asus A8N-VM CSM.

Per the recommendations above, for an extra $16 or so, I can go from 120GB to 200GB...

Per Hauppauge's Site

[quote]Digital VCR, too! Record your TV shows and home movies to disk using hardware MPEG-2 compression with selectable formats from 2 Mbits/sec to 12 Mbits/sec (DVD quality).[/quote]

[url]http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/prods_pvr.html[/url]

This is for both the 150, and 250. No big deal if you have purchased the 350 already. But it is cheaper if you are not going to use the TV out. Save a buck here and spend it somewhere else.

[quote="spideyk21"]Per Hauppauge's Site

[quote]Digital VCR, too! Record your TV shows and home movies to disk using hardware MPEG-2 compression with selectable formats from 2 Mbits/sec to 12 Mbits/sec (DVD quality).[/quote]

[url]http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/prods_pvr.html[/url]

This is for both the 150, and 250. No big deal if you have purchased the 350 already. But it is cheaper if you are not going to use the TV out. Save a buck here and spend it somewhere else.[/quote]

Okay....So I'll use the 350 since I have it, and I'll use the TV-Out on that card. Do I still need the nvidia fx5200 card I have?

I would say NO. The 350 will do the TV out that you need. You may have to get the correct cable to connect to your TV but that is trivial.

[quote="spideyk21"]I would say NO. The 350 will do the TV out that you need. You may have to get the correct cable to connect to your TV but that is trivial.[/quote]

My TV is old I got all that when I was trying to get a shuttle box to do what I wanted it to do.

So I'm good to go I think. Appreciate the feedback/guidance.

thanks!