Well, I haven't built one but I've been following it for quite some time. I know kingoffighters built one so his advice is worth more but I'll try.
If you're going to go all out and make a real HTPC machine, then you'll need the proper case. Get a case with enough room for additional HDD and you may want to run RAID with it or an external for backup. Nothing worse than having your HDD bite the dust and not having a backup.
Then you're going to want to go the full mile for an HD-compatible video/capture card. I'm not sure if cable capture cards are out or gimped but look into it. If you're going to be ripping stuff off of the television to save it, you're going to want this. Get one that is HDPC-compatible and with a DVI AND HDMI outs.
For optical drives, since it seems Blu-Ray may be winning the HD wars you'll probably want that. Honestly, you can rough it out and wait for a clearcut winner and more dependable technology. You don't want a $1,000 drive that may crap out on you.
Proc and mobo don't really matter too much, but if you're going to be running RAID make sure your board can handle it. Go for something quiet so it doesn't kill the theater experience when running. If you want to upgrade your board you can get cheapo Socket 939 boards.
Seagate for harddrives, no contest. They have a 5-year warranty and 750GB HDD. I predict we'll see full TB HDDs by the end of this year if you want to wait for them. But with prices on these drives already going down to $260 it won't be too long until they'll become affordable.
DO NOT SKIMP ON YOUR SOUNDCARD! I can't stress it enough, especially if you're going to connect a sound system to your HTPC. I forget the name of the card but it's about $100 with 5.1 or 7.1 Sound and TrueHD. You're going to want that no question.
There's a Windows program that works very well with HTPCs and isn't as much as a pain in the balls as Linux is. Once I find the mag I was reading about it in I'll post it here. Windows Media Center edition blows. It'll automatically delete some shows you capture so that option is out the window.
I hope that helps.
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