[JoelOFH]

I'm looking for a new PC for the living room.

After some surfing of the internet, I have stumbled upon the ASRock boxes. I really like the looks/size of the boxes, but don't know much more.

What I need:
- Windows 7 (I understand this needs to be purchased separately)
- XBMC installed on HDD (that runs fairly snappy)
- Ability to play 1080P MKV (uncompressed) files from USB HDD (or Drobo, if I decide to purchase one later).
- Fast enough to run emulators (SNES, NES, N64, and MAME).
- Ability to stream Netflix/Hulu/AETV without issue.

I don't think this is too demanding, but I don't know for sure.

Perhaps somebody can recommend me a ASRock (or comparable) model from Newegg or Amazon?

Any special considerations I must give?

Thank you, all!

[bmcclure937]

What is your budget? ASRock offers and nice array of products on their line... and can surely fit your needs.

Have you also considered a custom build? I do not have much experience with ROMs, but I do not think they require much CPU power (at least beyond what is required for Flash video like Netflix and Hulu).

[poofyhairguy]

The only thing on you list of needs that requires way more power than the rest is Hulu. Thanks to the crap that is Silverlight, it eats CPU cycles.

If you can do without Hulu, this plus a SSD and some RAM is everything you want:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856158016