It Will use the following components
AMD Geode GX 533 -- the CPU. Decently priced and works well and is x86
The chip has an on-board VGA controller. this saves us a lot of time. Will post update on graphics soon
For connectivity we will have an Ethernet port. This means we will need to add a rtl8139d to the board. I will add a plug in addnn for a wifi device. wifi is handy where there is no permanent table setup.
For the data storage we will use compact flash.It can be connected to ide buses which means it will be no hassle to do the interfacing to a hard drive if necessary. We will probably have two ide channels onboard
Then We have the ram. We will be using standard laptop ram,SO-DIMS. It is not much more expensive than ordinary ddr, and since our device uses shared ram, it is necessary to use ddr.
I found my audio IC i am going to use the AD74111 its is cheap and mono, full duplex. they use the ac97 codec. Our CPU's south bridge has built in CMOS with the AC97 chip.
I have decided to use the 4 usb ports on the device. We will then add two serial ports if possible.
Here is the first Block diagram.in DIA format or block diagram(png)for the PDF version
