[mtesta1985]

Hey guys, I've been researching a HTPC for a while. I'm about to start ordering parts so I figured I'd get a green light for from you guys first. I'm thinking about combining my HTPC and NAS in one. Where I'm installing the PC, noise is not really a problem and its a open space for cooling. The PC's only purpose is streaming movies and file storage it will not be gaming at all. However I have some large 1080p (15-20gb) mkv files and blu-ray iso's that it needs to be able to stream.


Motherboard
Intel Motherboard - ATX, Socket LGA1150, Intel H87 Express Chipset BOXDH87MC
This board supports raid 5 and has a hdmi port

CPU
Intel® Core I3 4130
Seems powerful to handle the video processing and idles at 35w

Case
NmediaPC 6000 case. I like the full size ATX and lots of room for drive storage

Memory
8gb probably g.skill or patriot ram

HDD
Drive for the OS (Win 7)- Kingston Digital 60GB SSDNow
Storage drives- 4x3TB WD red in a RAID 5

Powersupply
Ultra LSP Series V2 550-Watt Power Supply

Do you guys think the I3 can handle the video streaming without alone or should I pickup a video card?
I have a 7.1 surround sound setup, nothing fancy but still nice. Should I use a external audio card?
I plan on picking up a Ceton infiniTV 4 pci card. My cable company does support the tv cards. Any suggestions or comments on the card?
The optional display for the NmediaPC case, I saw there little support from xmbc, should I even bother with the display?

Thanks alot for the help

[CaptainPsycho]

Do you guys think the I3 can handle the video streaming without alone or should I pickup a video card?
I have a 7.1 surround sound setup, nothing fancy but still nice. Should I use a external audio card?

No extra video card needed.
No extra sound card needed.

[DrDaxxy]

If you have an AV receiver to play your sound to via S/PDIF, there's no reason to get a dedicated sound card, as there's zero difference in sound quality between digital outputs, and extra driver features are pretty gimmicky.
If, however, you want to connect your speakers directly to your HTPC's analogue audio outputs, you will need a dedicated sound card as your motherboard only has five ports

Also, you don't need 550W for four drives and a low power i3. I've been recommended 300-400W for eight drives and a BD writer