Linix distros for a mini-ITX server

I'm going to build a mini-ITX file server using linux with part of my tax refund, so I'm busy trying to figure out which distro to use. So far the list is RedHat 8/9, Suse Linux 9.something, Debian, Mandrake 9.1 or 10.0 (not out yet), or Gentoo.

Yesterday, I was leaning towards Mandrake 9.1. I have the 3 CDs downloaded, but looking around I'm not sure that Samba 3.x (for file serving) is included in the 9.1 distro that I have. Plus, 9.1 is 6-10 months old (Aug 2003?), so support and updates would be drying up sooner then a newer release. I'd consider 10.0, but the ISOs aren't released yet, and there's also some questions that I have about support.

Suse I can't get ISOs for... not familiar with the Red Hat line, Debian is a maybe.

So right now, I'm seriously considering going hardcore and using Gentoo. I'm not really interested in the sound/video capabilities of the ME6000 EPIA board as this is going to be a headless file server. I'm also trying to find a linux distro to use for a file server at work (although with beefier hardware), so I need to start somewhere. At least with Gentoo I have a reference wiki about installing Gentoo on a EPIA board.

Now I just need to plow through all of the Gentoo articles on SlashDot. (Usually, if you read at level 2 or 3 you can get a good overview of what techies think about a particular product.)

The EPIA box is going to cost around $500. I went with the ME6000 board (fanless), 512MB DDR266 of memory, and the Morex Venus 668 Black case (from logicsupply.com) for $340. Add a black floppy and DVD drive and a 160GB 5400rpm drive for another $160. Should be a dead-quiet little file server. I'll probably add another 160GB drive in a few weeks once I get the system up and running. Plus, it'll give me a linux box to install PostgreSQL on so I can evaluate moving away from MySQL.