Misconceptions from the start

My original thought about building a HTPC was that I wanted a motherboard that was as free of graphics support as I could get it. It seemed to me that this was an area of rapid change, and getting a motherboard with integrated graphics was a just locking myself into outdated technology. I didn't mind the motherboard having keyboard, mouse or network support. Those things were fairly stable, but each year brings newer, faster graphics processors. Why lock into today's GPU when next year's will be better? If I choose a motherboard without built-in graphics from the start, then I would merely have to replace the graphics card, not the whole motherboard.

Largely, I still believe this, but the reality is that finding a vanilla motherboard is just darn near impossible.

Below is my first attempt to design an HTPC:

Item	Size	Cost	Comments
Lian LI Black Case PC-C37B	3.7"	$159.99	1 CD/DVD Drivebay + 2 Internal Drive Bays 4 Expansion Slots
Gigabyte GA-M61PME-S2P	Micro ATX	$52.99	1 PATA (2 Dev Max) + 2 SATA + 1 PCI Express X16 + 1 PCI Express + 2 PCI Slots
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200	2.7 GHz	$56
Kingston HyperX T1 Series Memory	4GB	$54.99	240 pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit		$99.99
Blu-Ray DVD Burner		$159.99	CD-R Burn Speed 40X
Western Digital Hard Drive	1 TB	$94.99
Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I Low Profile		$39.99	Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 20 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800		$89.99	Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner 1299 PCI-Express x1 Interface
		-----------------
	Total	831.92

The first problem with this list of components is that the tuner is not a low profile card, while the case is. Fortunately Judy, my hardware Sensei, pointed this out. She also pointed out that the memory that I chosen was twice as fast as what the proposed CPU would support. However, even she missed that an important thing was missing from this list of components: the case had no power supply! Fortunately, I wasn't ready to plunk down my money yet, so I mediated on this list for a few weeks before I created my second list.

The motherboard that I chose did not have an HDMI output on it, and that was what I wanted. However, I was apparently the only one who liked this motherboard. In reviews of it, most people were unhappy at the outdated chip set that was being used on the board. One reviewer complained that Gigabyte was selling cost-reduced board at full cost.

The biggest problem with my first HTPC design was that I proceeded from a false assumption. I started with the case. Everything else had to fit within it. In my next post, I'll start with something more basic and much more important.