HTPC/Storage/Backup Rig

[Adam]

So I've been working on this project for awhile now, hopefully I can get it ordered soon so I can actually use it.

Basically, what this will become is a multi-purpose rig. I will be using it to backup my files, especially my steam games, so I don't waste time having to redownload them again. It will serve as storage as well. The best part about it, it will be hooked up to my brothers 52" inch television and I'm going to throw a blue ray drive in this baby so we can watch blue ray movies.

Case - Lian Li HTPC

Motherboard - ASUS P5N7A-VM
Awesome board. Onboard HDMI/DVI/VGA. I know the reviews look sketchy, but a friend of mine has the same board and he's had no problems.

Processor - Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33GHz
I was originally going to go with a Dual Core, but I decided to spend a little extra and give this thing some more power.

OS Drive - WD 160GB
I was thinking smart on this. If you have a media rig or a backup rig and you're putting your backups on the same drive that your OS is, that's just silly. I'm going to run Windows or Linux (Haven't decided yet.) from this drive, in case it dies, I won't lose my backups.

Storage Drives - WB 2TB
I know what you're thinking.. $230 is a lot of money, but I'm not really concerned with that. I will ultimately end up with 3 of these in this computer.

DVD Drive - LG DVD Burner

BLUE RAY DRIVE

RAMz - GSkill 4GB

 

[jombay]

I believe you need an HDCP compatible video card and display to play blu-ray in a pc. I think the chipset in that mobo is HDCP compatible, but you'd have to make sure about your bro's display.

4 gigs of ram might be overkill unless you'd also be using it as a home server.

Also, make sure the WD Green drives are what you want. Since they are "eco-friendly" they use less power but run at a lower speed. Might not be ideal for the storage/backup part of your plan.