[mathias]

if you plan on playing games at 1080p the 8600 gt won't cut it. you will need a 8800 gt at least.

One of the compromises of building a HTPC is the noise levels , an 8600 will probably struggle with the likes of Crysis , but does manage to play a good few of the latest games OK , they can be had passively cooled which obviously makes no noise.

An 8800 on the other hand should cover everything games wise but will be noisy as hell unless you mod it with some kind of silent cooling solution.

[bigflause]

Originally Posted by mathias

One of the compromises of building a HTPC is the noise levels , an 8600 will probably struggle with the likes of Crysis , but does manage to play a good few of the latest games OK , they can be had passively cooled which obviously makes no noise.

An 8800 on the other hand should cover everything games wise but will be noisy as hell unless you mod it with some kind of silent cooling solution.

yeah my passive 8600 gts plays pes2008 at 1080p but you can forget crysis.

the 8800 can now be passivly cooled. the only company that make one out of the box is sparkle. hard to find though.

the best solution is the new thermaltake passive heat sink. works on the 8800 GTX even.

http://www.quietpc.com/ie-en-eur/pro...ers/hr-03-plus

www.quietpc.com is a great site for all that stuff.

there is a new antec fusion max coming out in march as well that will put you choices in a twist. this will be full ATX and can house a SLI setup.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article796-page1.html