This afternoon I out out a few tweets with regard to a HTPC.

Heres the system build I came up with:

Motherboard

Gigabyte H55M-S2H, Intel H55, 1156, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1600/1800/2133, SATA 3Gb/s, ATX, VGA

£66.98 Inc VAT from scan.co.uk

Processor

Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) – OEM [CM80616003180AG]

£91.98 inc VAT from overclockers.co.uk

 

Case

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case – Black [0761345-08300-3]

£44.99 inc VAT from overclockers.co.uk

Power Supply

EMD525AWT II – 525W Enermax Modu82+ II DXXI READY! Efficiency 88% 8xSATA 5xMOLEX 3xPCI-E 6+2 FREE TWISTER FAN

£83.57 Inc VAT from scan.co.uk

 

RAM is just about ubiquitous. For this particular system I plan on getting 2x 2Gb DDR3 from overclockers.co.uk since they have some good deals. But please do state your preference for RAM in the comments.

This list does not include the plethora of fans cables, etc that turn components into a PC.

I know have to sell this idea. WMC is hard enough to explain to people in words. Actually showing them the thing and letting hem use it is a very different proposition. This is what I found withthe AppleTV. Having had it for a year, everyone loves it now. So i’m going to put the TV tuner card into the desktop, hook the desktop up to the tv and let people have a go with WMC. Thats next weekends project.

In saying all of this, it all depends on the iPad. There is only enough money in the budget for one or the other. Once I actually have the thing in my hands, then i will be able to decide.