Hi skmastaz welcome to the forums.
The site has a forum for DIY Builds that contains several builds by forum members. While most of the builds there might be WHS v1 builds its the detailed thought process of each build which I believe will help guide you with your current build.
The most important thing you should do is determine what you want to do with your new server. If you put alot of thought into it and build it to meet your current and future needs then you will end up with a build to be proud of. Review your storage needs and do not be over concerned with the compliment of SATA ports on the motherboard because you can add SATA controllers to grow your server and this will better help you to chose the best motherboard for your needs.
If one of the things you want to do is to stream online and your server will be doing the transcoding then you may want to look at a Quad Core processor. Here you want to install a processor to be able to handle anything you can throw at it. Now your EX485 may have served you well over the years but it had its limitations and now with a DIY Build you get to determine the components and build around your current and future needs.
viewforum.php?f=22 While you may not be over concerned with the case. The case is just as important as the hardware it will house. When you establish your wants, needs and desires the one thing that will stand out and thats is how much drive capacity you will need and with that the amount of drive bays will become clear. Air flow, cooling noise levels, filtration and such also come into play. You may want drive trays or backplanes or easy access to your hard drives or desire a case which allows for easy cable management and one that allows ample room for servicability. So the case is kind of important because with the right case the build becomes easier and I believe you will want future expandability but all this is determined by what you need today and down the road.
I have built small and large servers and regardless of the build each one considered the current and future needs of the enduser. For the smaller servers I have always installed controllers with eSATA ports that are port multiplier aware so the servers could be expanded if the need ever arrised. Now Damian has a larger server and recently found the need to expand outside the box.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2012/10 ... me-server/The other thing with mentioning is the PSU and here you do not want to install the cheapest PSU but one of good quality and if you can afford a modular PSU then you can also reduce the cable complent in the server but the PSU is your servers best friend so you will want to chose one which can properly supply the power your server will consume when fully populated.
I love doing new builds and often drive myself crazy selecting the components but in the end when done right its always something you can be proud of. With this in mind only you can best determine whats right for your needs or budget. If your budget it tight then it will have a big impact on what you build but even here you can change things down the road to meet your needs but if you can build it once and grow then the up front cost may be higher but lower over time.
So please review the experiences of others who have shared their DIY Builds and who knows maybe some of those builds may help guide you with selecting the components. In the end its your server and I wish you well in your build and I hope the day your first power it up and configure it that its and exciting event.
Have fun and good luck......