Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)

[Grant]

>>> Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu)
>>
>> My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if
>> you ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a
>> hardware-accelerated codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like
>> it's about to launch itself into orbit doing software decoding.
>
> Completely true.  I switched from nvidia-drivers to nouveau and now I
> rely on ffmpeg threads to decode 1080p.  It works great most of the
> time.  There are some videos that won't decode via threads, they
> return some sort of "cannot parallelize" error.
>
> I went with this Phenom II X4 3.7Ghz hog:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934
>
> I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single core
> now without losing A/V sync.  I kinda doubt it.  I've been on an
> Athlon X2 3.1Ghz.
>
>> And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also
>> rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and
>> mount fans).
>
> I'm discovering that fans which are said to be very quiet actually
> are.  I'm going to increase my case fans from 0 to 2 along with this
> aftermarket CPU cooler:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016
>
> Thanks a lot for everyone's help.
>
> - Grant

I've put together the new system and everything works really well.
Here's the Gigabyte motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490

- Grant