What should I look for when getting a mother board for my project? What will work best with linux and leave some room to grow with time.

What if I get a SATA II Raid card that is about $100. Since every one says that hard drives can't reach speeds of 6G/s, SATA II should work well, correct?

You like any builder has to face facts. You want and maybe need an enterprise level device at soho prices.

I don't think you need some a massive device. I'd be more inclined to look at htpc web fourums for what others are building. I personally tried a small atom and it was almost enough for a single tv use. I went to an A6 and am pretty happy for a single use. I use a network TV receiver and it does take a toll on the system at mpeg2. A normal home server would use a more compact file I'd think. One hour shows record at about 7-8G. So you need to think what is the file size you are using. A common rip of a dvd is only 1G or so.

1 members found this post helpful.

can you recommend a good dvd ripping software? I would still like to keep the quality and have surround sound with the file?

If by 'grow with time' you mean 'upgradeable later', dont get FM1. Its already dead in some ways.

Get an AMD AM3+ or Intel LGA 1155 system.

You wont find any 8 port SATA cards for $100. You might find some fairly low end 4 port SATA hardware RAID cards at that price level.

At least some of the 4 port RAID cards at that price level will be PCI, which is going to limit your max transfer rate (PCI max speed is 133MB/sec, and some single HDD can get to those speeds)

1 members found this post helpful.

Handbrake may be legal in your country. I use a dvd-fab in wine and it works great.

You will find that you don't need to rip at the highest settings. The "standard" settings work fine. I doubt you would see any difference. If so move quality up slightly until you are satisfied.

1 members found this post helpful.

Do you think it is worth spending $150 on dvd-fab or would handbreak work just as good?

In a linux system handbrake is going to run better than anything in WINE (IMO).

Handbrake is not the only linux native video converter either. Some other popular video converters for linux are FFmpeg and MEncoder.

1 members found this post helpful.

What do you think will work the best on linux
Handbreak
FFmpeg
MEncoder

I feel it only proper to tell you that handbrake is not legal in all countries. That is why I said commercial legal apps work. I have used both and I think the dvd-fab was faster by enough to notice. It also made files I didn't need like caption files and I forgot the other one. I saw it on sale. It was like $39. Dunno, price could have gone up? See this one. It has a trial too. http://www.dvdfab.com/dvd-ripper.htm

I don't get any money out of that, other companies software might work. I can tell you this worked perfectly. I use a usb flash with opensuse with wine. Just install dvdfab and rip away. I have a spare system at work where maybe I borrow sometimes.

1 members found this post helpful.

Its personal preference.

If you're wondering this because you want to use your computer as a DVR, I'd have a look at mythTV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythTV

Never been tested in court AFAIK. Until it is tested, about all you can say is 'I think it may be illegal'.

2 members found this post helpful.

Just trying to comply with LQ rules.

1 members found this post helpful.

I was looking through Newegg to find an intel motherboard and apply what I have learned in this thread. I do have an other question though.

What is an onboard video chipset? Do I have to have one if I am not going to get a graphics card?

The configuration mentioned by you is also a good one.
Just try to have the maximum RAM and good support of RAID. It will be helpful in all aspects.

Thanks
Wall stickers

The onboard is kind of plus and minus deal. You don't need it if you are going to get an add in card. In some instances the onboard and the add in can be used together. Not sure if linux can yet or to what extent if it can.

An onboard sometimes causes some issues. Kind of rare but you hear and see some issues when the onboard and bios don't seem to let drivers work correctly. I have an old dell server that is a stinker like that.

1 members found this post helpful.

My big plan is to not even have a gui installed. If I end up having to install a gui it will be very minimal. My question is, do I have to have integrated graphics if I am not getting a graphics card?

Also an other question is can you raid across diffrent sata ports. Such as 4 SATA II and 1 SATA III?