Just ordered soem new bits and bobs, switching over from my ION motherboard + Silverstone sugo case as it's too small and I want to be able to use more tuners for recording multiple channels

So I went for....

4GB DDR2 Ram
Fractal Design R3 case (a bit large but will do)
2x2TB Samsung F4 drives

Should be plenty for HD tv

Interesting! I love the look of an R3 for a new build I've been contemplating for ages, but recently the Sugo 7 looked awesome for portability. Not that I ever take my PC anywhere, but it'd be nice to be able to go to LAN parties AND have a sweet looking box near the TV.

What's the rest of kit like?

Well the R3 has to go back, it arrived damaged so probably wont get to sort it out before christmas.

Rest of the kit....

Core 2 Duo E6600 (or possibbly my E4300, underclocked/volted either way)
DFI Blood Iron p35 motherboard (with an aftermarket northbridge heatsink)
4gb DDR2 ram
ATI 4350 (or something similar for hdmi out) card
about 5tb of hard drives (as 6gb/hour can fill up quickly)
Some name brand psu (cant remember who, might switch it to a generic spare I have if it's too noisy)
1 DVB-S card currently but likely to expand on this at a later date

Sounds good, but please don't put a generic PSU in there. They're ALWAYS crap and you risk the rest of your system, including your media. For quietness, pick up a Seasonic S12II in the smallest wattage. I think that's 430w off the top of my head.

What DVB-S card do you have? How you do find the software?

It's not a 'generic' generic, it's a generic in it's a coolermaster, seasonic or some other non distinctive PSU, the other one in it at the minute seems quite noisy or it might just be the system that is using it currently

I have a compro S350 card, was about £25 and picks up BBC HD, can't comment on the supplied software as I use Windows 7 Media Centre
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/compro-v ... pture-card