RAID Reliability?

I have been pondering and planning a low power box to run as a NAS for mine and my girlfriend's computers for the past couple weeks now. I've had questions though as to the reliability of software vs. hardware vs. onboard motherboard RAID setups.

Ideally I'd like to set up a RAID 5 or 0+1 array of 750GB disks for video storage and some additional logging, so it'll be on 24/7 under most circumstances which is why I want to keep the power to a minimum. I've heard some horror stories about how much RAID controllers can fail, and it honestly has me a bit spooked about even wanting to do this.

I know running a software Linux RAID setup would give me the safety of not having to worry about hardware failing as much, but I'm a beginner in Linux matters. It also raises the problem of CPU time being eaten up with the processor I choose.

If I run hardware from a controller card or an onboard controller, when it allows me to set up a Windows 2000 box and use it as a simple filesharing NAS, but the fear of hardware failure bothers me.

At the moment I am pondering:
JetWay VIA C7 motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813153072

It's hard to decide on a SATA card though, as I don't know which ones have really proven to be good. It'd have to be PCI if I get that motherboard. I just don't want to spend a ton of money on a card. At the very very highest I may spend $150, but $100-$120 would be my realistic limit for the card.

Would the VIA C7 be fast enough to handle doing software RAID 5 or 0+1? I apologize for the number of questions. I've just gotten a bit overloaded with the research I've been doing.