Cheap Old server render box/nas

[shadowcalen1]

I am thinking of puting together a repetitively inexpensive PC based on linus' 8 core under 150 video to serve as a render box as well as a nas. However, I have no experience setting up a server, or just setting up anything networked based in general, so I have a few questions.

A-What kind of software/ OS would I require to run this? I was thinking some form of linux, but I have no clue as to what version I would use.

B-Would it be possible to run a firewall on the machine at the same time (like run it in a virtual box?) if I was to use a isolated network card, I know that having the firewall running at the same machine as the nas kinda defeats the purpose. Also, as this is a  fairly high power consumption machine, is this even paractical or am I better off trying to find a lower power solution for this? (I get old machines from the dump and fix them up, I have a load of core 2 quads and a few duos, would these be better suited)

The parts I have chosen are

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Supermicro-X7DCA-L-YI001-Server-Motherboard-LGA771-Socket-/331786404274?hash=item4d4002c1b2:g:VUIAAOSw0e9U1AW3

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Matched-pair-of-Intel-Xeon-X5460-3-16-GHz-Quad-Core-SLANP-Processor-w-Grease-/222118069638?hash=item33b744c586:g:0bwAAOSwu4BVxZYu

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Hynix-8GB-2x4GB-2Rx4-PC2-5300P-DDR2-667-240pin-ECC-Memory-Registered-REG-DIMM-/351605829635?hash=item51dd573003:g:hysAAOSwk1JWcP1W x2

 

As for the rest of the components, I have a 450 watt PSU which I hope will be enough, and as I have access to a large amount of scrap, I might try making some form of custom water cooling loop for the CPUs. This will probably end up being mounted on a piece of wood. If I can get a decent PSU on the cheep I will probably dual boot it with windows (or just run it in a virtual box) and put a 380x I got for 200 cad for a sudo gaming rig (its currently going into a 9400 with 8gb ddr3).

 

Any opinion on this disaster waiting to happen would be appreciated.

[TheRandomness]

Don't spend so much on the CPUs. 

[shadowcalen1]

15 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

Don't spend so much on the CPUs. 

The only CPUs that were cheaper and clocked above 2.6 that I could find E5462 were for 50$, I think the 10 dollars justify the preform gains, though I might swap just for the 80 watt power savings.

[TheRandomness]

4 minutes ago, shadowcalen1 said:

The only CPUs that were cheaper and clocked above 2.6 that I could find E5462 were for 50$, I think the 10 dollars justify the preform gains, though I might swap just for the 80 watt power savings.

For a NAS you don't need powerful CPUs, and the fact that you're getting two of them justifies the performance difference. 

[shadowcalen1]

8 hours ago, TheRandomness said:

For a NAS you don't need powerful CPUs, and the fact that you're getting two of them justifies the performance difference. 

This is primarily a render box, with nas as secondary.