Hi all.

I want to build a computer for File sharing in my home network and maybe also to try the mythTV stuff Tom's has been publishing about.

The basic requirements are.

Quiet operation
Gigabit Networking
RAID 5 for file safety (3 320Gb Seagate HDDs SATA)

I would also like to try MythTV at some point to capture and record SD TV and HDTV

There may also be a time when I want to run some VMs using the free VMWARE server. These would be very small VMs, mostly for WIKI pages and source control.

The question is this
What processor should I build this system around?

The AMD EE processors seem like a good fit but they are very hard to come by.
On the other hand the Intel C2D 6300 may work well for this project.

This machine would run 24/7.

Please comment on your choice of hardware for this.
Any comments are greatly appreciated.

whats you budget and are you going to reuse any componets?

The budget is around $700.

Monitor, keyboard, mouse are extra.

I don't plan on reusing any components.

I was thinking about using the new PCTV HD Pro Stick from pinnacle as capturing device if they get it to work with MythTV

You may want to consider buying a used computer. You should be able to find one much cheaper. If not, try a barebones computer maybe. You can find good deals on them.

If you do want to build and are serious about going with silent operation though, use a mobile processor with a fanless heatsink or water cool with a fanless radiator. Mobile processors run cooler, and it is possible to build a computer with no fans at all, but a large case fan (12cm or larger) and a PSU with a large fan (14cm or 12cm) would be best for keeping your components cool and quiet.