Low cost recommendations needed

[Hykos]

I'm looking to build a HTPC for my new HDTV (42" 1080p) and could use some recommendations for parts. I'm planning to use it primarily for accessing media from the 4+ PC's in the house and not as a DVR or disc player. Mostly H.264 and VC-1 playback and for MP3's and other music formats. Also it will be in a cabinet probably so it doesn't need to have an awesome HTPC case. Just something small and preferably quiet. I'm hoping to do this for as cheap as possible.

I was considering purchasing a Shuttle barebones PC (about $200), with either the Celeron Dual Core (about $70) or a low end Athlon 64 X2 ($50-70) depending on which Shuttle I got, and matching that with a GeForce 8500 ($50-70) and using a HDD and memory I already have. That should cost about $300 which is around the right price. Should that be enough horsepower to handle it? Would noise and/or heat be an issue with Shuttle PC's? If I did want to add a TV card later and upgrade the HDD do think I would have a problem with this hardware? Could you recommend other options in the $300-400 range?

Also what remotes would you recommend? I assume any MCE remote would work, but I'm also looking for something to operate the other A/V components with. I saw the Gyration remote and it looked like it would do the trick. Any opinions?

Any advise would be great. Thanks!

[philljp]

With regards to a low cost spec, this post may help you:

http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=444

You could then check out some of the Software configs here for playing you videos with MediaPortal:
http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/htpc.html

Hope this helps