New HTPC Build - Please help!

Hi guys, thanks for reading. I am looking to put together a new HTPC and I'm not sure if these will be the right components.

CPU: AMD A6-3500 - $78
CPU Cooler: ?
MOBO: Asus F1A75-M LE - $95
HDD: 128GB Crucial M4 SSD (Selvage)
Case: Streacom FC8 - $181.50
ODD: Panasonic UJ-225 - $70
Remote: ?
RAM: ? 4/6/8GB?
NAS: 12TB Synology DiskStation DS411j (Selvage)

Looking to have it running XBMC (100% of the time, no dropping back to Win7) 24/7; smooth as silk playback and maybe a game here and there. HDMI to my Cambridge Audio 551R and then to my Panasonic P65ST50A.

Your thoughts?

Many thanks!

 

Most people atm seem to be going for something like this:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/B75M/ $68 Not sure how this will go in that case though.. might have to get a slightly different mobo http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/B75M-ITX/
Intel i3-2120 $124
4gb Ram $25
everything else should be fine as well

 

That case is ITX so the M-ATX Asus F1A75-M LE will not fit.

 

Prob get a separate video card with HDMI out and make it an nVidia. You'll have a better time of it if you ever decide to try out a Linux -based HTPC like MythTv / Mythbuntu. I'm a fan of the latter and the nVidia drivers work a lot better out of the box than AMD on a Linux HTPC, from personal experience.

Not sure an SSD is right for the HD though. The read/writes will ensure a short life I would have thought... though I've had not experience with these on an HTPC. I run WD Greens in mine and even with multiple simultaneous household connections, the performance is great. I found 7200 RPM drives for the media / recordings ran too hot. Especially Seagates.

 

I think Linus Torvalds would take exception to that =p lol

As for your build OP, looks solid. I'd change a couple of things though, such as swapping your 128gb SSD to a 64gb SSD and only install commonly used programs on it, you've got the storage covered with a NAS.

Also aside from that, maybe use savings on boosting that CPU to the A8? The more powerful GPU component could come in handy if you ever feel like running a small game or using the GPU to encode movies.

What are you planning to use to capture the TV?