Very newbie - Questions about core and md hardware recommendations

Hello,
I've been reading the forum, reading the wiki and watching the video and want to order a core and an md to build myself. I do not live in the USA. The core will sit in a closet and will have 2 network connections as recommended. There will be NAS with several gig of itunes library MP3 and Apple lossless ripped music. The md will be in the living room connected to a 1080p lcd (samsung) and a receiver as yet not purchased. I'll worry about controlling lighting etc. later. The md will be used to play music and videos that have been ripped to avi files as well as show DirecTV programming from the satellite box. I haven't been able to figure out what satellite box I have but the model number is DXD406RD. A google search leads me to believe it's made by Thomson but I'm not at all sure.

Given the above, I'm assuming the core could have an inexpensive video card and that I should spend the money for a higher end nvidia card in the md. Is this a correct assumption?

Should the Directv box be connected to the core or the md?

I haven't chosen a motherboard but have access to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and I would probably like to put the same motherboard in both the core and md. The case needs to be very quiet and I'd appreciate any thoughts folks may have on that subject.

Thanks!