Need advice on first build

Going to be ~12 drives  but I want the option to expand to 20.

I plan to run Plex server with a lot of large 1080p files. Most of the time the server would only be streaming one of these but I would like the ability to stream two and maybe three if possible.

I also plan on running some additional add-ons (if available) SABnzbd, Sick Beard, CouchPotato, FTP server, a torrent app, etc but I have to look at what is available. The Plex demand is the biggest concern as none of these seem all that demanding.

This was the build I was considering

Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Unbeatable Gaming Case http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100

ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795

AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103961

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model  http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104173

If this acceptable?

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I also have three general questions.

1) Is it better to have just a server and run all your apps on a separate machine?

2) Is there any benefit to having a 6GB controller?

3) There seems to be conflicting information on the ability to use 3TB drives.  Can you use them and get full use of the space?

1) Is it better to have just a server and run all your apps on a separate machine?

Personal opinion - run them together, fewer machines, less power, etc. The caveat is, if all the apps will run on the server.

2) Is there any benefit to having a 6GB controller?

6Gb is nice for the SSD cache, and sort of a future thing. I would not pay extra for it.

3) There seems to be conflicting information on the ability to use 3TB drives.  Can you use them and get full use of the space?

unRAID v5 supports 3Tb and 4TB drives. unRAID 4.x does not.

The conflict is probably two fold.

A) that unRAID v5 is not a final release product yet.

B) even on unRAID v5, the controller can stop you from 3TB, etc. Verify your controller supports 3TB.

If you are going to spend that kind of money on a CPU, mind as well spend on a supermicro mobo, and Xenon CPU.

Read this prototype builds by Greenleaf Tech:

http://greenleaf-technology.com/blogs/prototypes/index.php

I don't know much about modern CPUs so I just looked at benchmark ratings and price and kept going until the jump in price to get to the next level was higher than I deemed worth it.

I thought the processor might be overkill but I am currently running Plex server on a Windows 7 machine with a Q6600 and I am getting buffering issues with 1080p if the file also has DTS sound. Since I want to have the ability to stream multiple files I figured I'd need a processor with at least 2x the rating of the Q6600.

Serving up media files, 1080p or not, should take very little CPU power on a Q6600.  If Plex is doing some transcoding for your file to play properly on the player, then you could have significant CPU usage.  You might want to look into any options that avoid transcoding where possible.

Plex is doing transcoding. I have an LG tv and it can accept files without transcoding but not DTS sound. With DTS sound Plex should just transcode the sound not the video but for some reason it tried to do both and thus the buffering issues. I could just convert all the files to AC3 and then they get served with no transcoding but if for $100 more I can just buy a CPU that makes that unnecessary then I will.

Gotcha, I was not sure what type of player you were using; I try and avoid transcoding wherever possible.

Looking it all over it seems a bit out of balance: cheapo MB with a beefy and pricey CPU. Will you have enough PCIe x8 slots to put your SATA controllers for evt. a 20 drive build? Like said earlier you might consider a Supermicro motherboard with, not neccessarily, a XEON processor.