First home build for HTPC with light gaming

Hello all,

I think I've gathered enough information to ask the question correctly. I've pasted in the appropriate protocol and I'll augment it with some detail.

Approximate Purchase Date: inside a month

Budget Range: not sure -- this is probably an inexpensive project so I want good parts that shouldn't need to wildly exceed the need

System Usage from Most to Least Important: watching movies from a NAS (must play MPEG-4 DRM through itunes), light gaming*, ripping DVDs, room to add tuner in case,

Parts Not Required: optical drive, media storage, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Amazon but not particular

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: none but am used to Windows 7

Overclocking: doubt it

SLI or Crossfire: doubt it even more

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 40" HDTV

Additional Comments: already have a Blu-Ray player, Qnap TS-119P II NAS with 2T Seagate drive, 3T external backup, iPad and ATV3

Other observations:

• 
  

should have WiFi for remote keyboard and possibly mirroring the iPad, although the device will be hardwired to the ethernet.

• 
  

Thinking of an nVidia GT 640 or GTX 650 video card so the motherboard doesn't need to carry that job.

• 
  

The case size is not critical. It doesn't need to be squeezed into a small box at the expense of efficient cooling. Low and wide is better than thin and tall. I may want to add a tuner recording card as some point so there should be a couple expansion slots.

• 
  

The monitor for this will be a 40" HD(not smart)TV. It has 4 HDMI ports which should be plenty. USB 3.0 would be nice since the external storage devices have that.

I don't expect to need to expand this much, if any, so there isn't much reason to overbuild it. That said, I'd like the parts to be durable. The exception I'd make to that statement is if the acceptable part now will not be supported much longer technologically. Any recommendations on a small remote keyboard/trackball (especially with IR) would be appreciated.

As soon as I can I'll put up a parts list to rummage through. I'd like not to get a power supply that is 4mm taller than will fit in the case or parts that have blood feuds with M4V-protected media. Thoughts on how to legitimately purchase the operating software wisely are also appreciated.

Thanks for looking and best wishes on your builds, sh