"Small Enough" Form-Factor PC
UPDATED 2005Oct26, 2005Sep29
- Engineer-level Integration
Unknown to most users, in the last few years, the semiconductor industry has gone through an explosion of commodity peripheral logic (e.g., ports, audio, network, drive, etc... interfaces) whereby it is getting easier for engineers to take a logic core and add various peripheral components to it into a single chip at a much lower price point (in volume designs, as always). As such, more and more PC mainboards are coming with more and more peripherals on-mainboard, if not inside the chip(sets) themselves, at a sub-$100 price point.
- Newer Interconnects Now Balance Integrated Value Versus Performance
New, dedicated device peripherial busses like PCI-Express (PCIe), as well as logic directly connected on the system interconnect (like AMD HyperTransport) have also helped with performance and reduced I/O device contention -- all while brining cost down at the same time. Today, thanx largely to PCIe, many desktop PCs now have more I/O throughput on even the non-video slots and integrated peripherals than server mainboards did just a few years back. So the need for expansion in a desktop solution is relatively limited for nominal desktop uses.
[ SIDE NOTE: Admittedly, there is still a darth of quality PCIe storage and other controllers. They seem to be limited to PCIe x1 and x4 NIC (although excellent, server-quality PCIe x4 NICs do exist) and cheap ATA/SATA PCIe x1 controllers. The lack of PCIe x4 and x8 products (which still work well in PCIe x1 slots), especially higher-end storage and audio controllers, is currently hampering both server and workstation adoption of PCIe other than for video. But newer ICs should be changing that in the next 6-9 months. ]
- Intel Sheer Volume Commodity Pricing at Major Tier-1 PC OEMs
Probably the hallmark vendor of integration in mass volume is Intel, with its newer FlexATX form-factor that is the staple of PC major tier-1 OEMs who have 0 of their own R&D and leave everything to Intel and Microsoft subsidy. Users get a fairly small case design with integrated graphics, networking, I/O ports and a few expansion slots at an extremely affordable price from Dell, Gateway 2000 and many others short of Tier-1 OEMs who are also R&D Powerhouses like HP and IBM (who has even shed their PC division now).
[ SIDE NOTE: Intel has also introduced a new form-factor to replace both FlexATX OEM and MicroATX at the assembler/whitebox in BTX that better addresses cooling with mid-front intake fan and and mainboard orientation flip that does not trap heat under the AGP/PCI/PCIe PCB like current ATX design do. But this has failed to catch on as it is more for non-gaming/expansion designs, doesn't do dual-processor, AMD is sticking with ATX and some whitebox products have flipped the ATX mainboard orientation on their own. ]
- Not-So-Commodity: Proprietary Small Form-Factor (SFF) PC for Enthusiasts
More known to users is the fact that there has been a number of vendors introducing Small Form-Factor (SFF) PC systems. From ViA there is the ITX form-factor (~6" x 6") mainboard, built around its low-power C3 processors (same lineage as the AMD/Cyrix/NS Geode). And from some mainboard vendors, there have been their own SFF solutions with their own, proprietary mainboard design. In every case, these systems are not cheap, although some "bare bone" designs help defray costs as they are spread over many, additional components included (for $300-500). Then again people are typically not buying them for cheap, but for portability, so there's no reason for some not to "cash in" on the market.
- The Growing Whitebox SFF Solutions Pool
Of course, other manufacturers outside of the mainboard vendors were taking note too. Antec, like their Aira product, is just one of many PC enclosure/accessory vendors now offering their own enclosure and power supply solutions. But instead of offering a proprietary form-factor in a mainboard, they often take the standard MicroATX (~9.6"x9.6") form-factor. MicroATX is basically ATX with "3 slots chopped off", reducing the size by almost 3" in length, and typically keeping the depth of the mainboard to 9.6" (and typically less). This gives enthusiasts more of a "choice" in mainboard solution, almost to the same expansion as a full ATX, while still delivering a fairly small form-factor -- especially with a MicroATX power supply or an even smaller, proprietary one.
- Power and Cooling Still Far Too Neglected In SFF
Unfortunately, most FlexATX, proprietary SFF and even most MicroATX form-factor solutions still neglect the issues of power and cooling for general purpose use. Now this is typically by design in ViA's ITX for its low-power C3 products, and most FlexATX solutions are low-cost Intel OEM products with on-board video sucking up little juice other than the P4 processor. But more and more SFF products in the tier-2/whitebox market are being marketed to the "LAN Party" crowd of gamers and enthusiasts who use some of the latest processors and video cards that need lots of juice and lots of cooling.
Although a few proprietary SFF products are shipping 80mm, 92mm and even 120mm fans, they typically use a proprietary power supply form-factor that is meager and non-upgradable. And looking at the MicroATX form-factor, it was designed to be a thin desktop or mini-tower. The result is that most MicroATX power supplies are typically not of any great power (although I have found and used a 460W MicroATX 24-pin+4-pin PS, although it's very long and probably too long for some cases). and have only 40mm or 60mm fan options.
- The Holy Grail? MicroATX mainboard plus standard ATX power supply?
Which brings me to the new crop of "Small Enough" enclosures that might be ideally suited not only for the performance/enthusiast self-assembling PC user, but possibly everyone who wants a tier-2/whitebox product half the size of some ATX products today. Such products are the Chenming 118 series (affordable), its Aspire X-QPack brother (also affordable) or a new OEM design being sported by SilverStone in its SG01 (very expensive, unfortunately) and likely other vendors to come (typically 1/2 the price of SilverStone).
The typical design calls for a "deep cube" that is around 10-11" x 8-9" and about 14-15" deep. The front dimensions are clearly much "taller" than a desktop or "wider" than a mini-tower FlexATX or MicroATX, and it's height is clearly just as "wide" as ATX tower. But at only 10-11", it is clearly almost a cube and much, much less than the typical 15-17" "height" of a ATX, and most ATX depths are also 20"+ in depth! Given the size and weight, especially in an aluminum material (~10lbs.), a built-in handle is often included for easy porting. But that's just the beginning. The "efficiency" of the design is clear when the system is looked at internally.
- Chemning/Aspire v. SilverStone: Power and Cooling
Instead of putting the power supply "next to" one side of the board, it is put above either the CPU area (8" high versions) or the slot area of the MicroATX (9" high versions). And best of all, it's a FULL ATX power supply -- meaning power is never an issue and almost every option is available (except for maybe a really deep ATX PS on 14" deep models). Whatever you can get in an ATX size power supply is now fully usable on your board, allowing the latest CPUs and video cards being used while delivering adequate power
Chenming 118 series (11" x 9" x 14") with 120mm exhaust fan and split +12V 300W 24-pin+P4 ATX 2.0 power supply for under $80.
Aspire X-QPack series (11" x 9" x 14") with 120mm exhaust fan and legacy 420W 20-pin+P4 ATX 1.0 power supply for around $80.
SilverStone SG01 series (10" x 8" x 15") with 80mm exhaust, 60mm internal for HDs and no power supply (expensive, but OEM models at half-price should come out soon).
The other area then has a large outtake fan, even 120mm in some models (like the Chenming/Aspire). Ironically enough, with a bigger fan, the less spindle is required to move the same airflow, and the sound can be 30db and much lower than most SFF. Especially considering between the PS' fan(s) and the outtake fan, it's adequate enough for cooling even today's highest-end CPUs and video cards (possibly even SLI).
UPDATE (2005Oct26): AnandTech (full AnandTech article on the SilverStone SG01B) on the cooling and sound of the Chemning 118 / Aspire X-Qpack design versus the SilverStone SG01:
- Chemning/Aspire v. SilverStone: Expansion
Next comes what I call the "Good Enough for 95%+" expansion. There are typically two (2) exposed 5.25" drive bays. Since they sit at the front and top of the 8-9" height case, this leaves a good 4.5" for any clearance of the CPU fansink and other mainboard components. The 5.25" drives are never in front of the four (4) slot area (the left 3-4" facing the case from the front, hence why bays will either be centered or right-offset), and that is typically open (for up to 8-10"+ long cards). If the case is a 9" height, there might be one (1) 3.5" drive bay exposed as well. For internal storage, two (2) 3.5 drives are typical, either side mounted in the front, with inlet holes that pull air over them (and directly back to outtake fan behind), or maybe a sideways mounted component area that makes access easier, possibly with their own fan.
This gives you an optical drive and other 5.25" bay option (removable drive, audio/multi-function, etc...), and up to 2 hard drives for redundant or striped (performance) storage, as well as just enough I/O expansion slots for just about any combination (possibly even SLI video in the future?) given today's on-board peripherals. With a large exhaust fan and full ATX power supply with its additional fan(s) and well-placed intake slits (in a small volume case, an important note), that's plenty of power and cooling option for even the most serious of gamers. It's a heck of a lot more portable and practical than the typical 7-10 bay ATX case that people go to by default, and are left with a lot of empty space (and 2-3x weight, even when using alumnium).
Standard Components, Full Size, No Compromise! AnandTech puts in a full size ATI Radeon XT series video card which fits under the full size ATX power supply in the Chenming/Aspire design, but the 14" depth doesn't cramp the full size 5.25" optical drive either.
Commodity breeds cost effectiveness, and for the tier-2/whitebox assembler/consumer, this might be "The Holy Grail" for PCs -- from desktops to LAN Parties to, and I know I'm going to get slaughtered for even suggesting it, "SOHO servers" or "small, application-specific servers" (be it using 2 internal drives mirrored, or even a 3-bay, 5.25" x 2U internal enclosure). The 10-11" x 8-9" x 14-15" MicroATX+ATX-PS "box" form-factor can and should be the "killer enclosure" that everyone should be embracing IMHO.
- Missing-In-Action: The "Powerful" MicroATX Mainboards?
UPDATE (2005Sep29): See new nVidia C51 (GeForce 61x0 / nForce 4x0) designed for MicroATX
Which begs the question, where are the powerful MicroATX mainboards? To date, I have one of the very few nForce4 Standard mainboards from Foxconn. It would be nice to see some nForce4 Ultra and maybe even an SLI product (2 PCIe16, 1 PCIe1 and 1 PCI is definitely doable) in a MicroATX. I guess the problem is that until these form-factors catch on, and I believe they will, mainboard manufacturers don't see a market given the typical non-enthusiast/gamer deployment of MicroATX where power and cooling are limiting factors.
Foxconn nForce4 series MicroATX, one of the few "Power" MicroATX solutions bringing the latest in PCIe x16 and Socket-939 Athlon 64/FX/X2 power with all other peripherals built-in (4xSATA, 2xATA, 10xUSB2.0, 1xIEEE1394, 5.1 Audio) to the new "Small Enough" Form-Factor PC at less than $80.
Frankly, I think the sooner people embrace this "Small Enough" form-factor, the more everyone will be happy. The expansion is typical and "just right" for 90%+ of consumers, the cooling and airflow is perfectly adequate and efficient (especially with a slower spindling 120mm at ~30db) and there is no compromise when you can always put in a full ATX power supply. Especially when the Chenming 118 with a split +12V rail 300W (for newer, 24-pin+P4) ATX2.0 and the Aspire X-QPack with an older 420W ATX1.0 power supply (for older, 20-pin+P4 MicroATX mainboards) run only about $80 and no more costly than a similar ATX with similar quality power supplies.
The Chenming 118 and its standard 300W ATX2.0 powers my nForce4 with an Athlon64, 100W+ sucking GeForce 6800GT, two hard drives, a floppy+card reader and an all format DVD recorder/rewriter. The X-QPack and its standard 420W ATX1.0 powers my wife's Asus ViA KM400 with an Athlon XP2600+ (Model 6 which sucks more power than my Athlon64), also a GeForce 6800GT (AGP), two hard drives, a floppy+card reader and also an all format DVD recorder/rewriter.
Mitsumi FA404 series (1.44MB floppy + 8-in-1 USB2.0 card reader) fits in the Chemning/Aspire's exposed 3.5x1" bay for only about $20.
The units weight less than 20lbs. fully loaded and are easily portable via their plastic front-handle. Unless I need something with dual-processor, I don't see any reason to assemble anything but these "Small Enough" Form-Factor designs, although I would like more choice in mainboards. Hopefully popularity will dictate this change.
- Engineer-level Integration
Unknown to most users, in the last few years, the semiconductor industry has gone through an explosion of commodity peripheral logic (e.g., ports, audio, network, drive, etc... interfaces) whereby it is getting easier for engineers to take a logic core and add various peripheral components to it into a single chip at a much lower price point (in volume designs, as always). As such, more and more PC mainboards are coming with more and more peripherals on-mainboard, if not inside the chip(sets) themselves, at a sub-$100 price point.
- Newer Interconnects Now Balance Integrated Value Versus Performance
New, dedicated device peripherial busses like PCI-Express (PCIe), as well as logic directly connected on the system interconnect (like AMD HyperTransport) have also helped with performance and reduced I/O device contention -- all while brining cost down at the same time. Today, thanx largely to PCIe, many desktop PCs now have more I/O throughput on even the non-video slots and integrated peripherals than server mainboards did just a few years back. So the need for expansion in a desktop solution is relatively limited for nominal desktop uses.
[ SIDE NOTE: Admittedly, there is still a darth of quality PCIe storage and other controllers. They seem to be limited to PCIe x1 and x4 NIC (although excellent, server-quality PCIe x4 NICs do exist) and cheap ATA/SATA PCIe x1 controllers. The lack of PCIe x4 and x8 products (which still work well in PCIe x1 slots), especially higher-end storage and audio controllers, is currently hampering both server and workstation adoption of PCIe other than for video. But newer ICs should be changing that in the next 6-9 months. ]
- Intel Sheer Volume Commodity Pricing at Major Tier-1 PC OEMs
Probably the hallmark vendor of integration in mass volume is Intel, with its newer FlexATX form-factor that is the staple of PC major tier-1 OEMs who have 0 of their own R&D and leave everything to Intel and Microsoft subsidy. Users get a fairly small case design with integrated graphics, networking, I/O ports and a few expansion slots at an extremely affordable price from Dell, Gateway 2000 and many others short of Tier-1 OEMs who are also R&D Powerhouses like HP and IBM (who has even shed their PC division now).
[ SIDE NOTE: Intel has also introduced a new form-factor to replace both FlexATX OEM and MicroATX at the assembler/whitebox in BTX that better addresses cooling with mid-front intake fan and and mainboard orientation flip that does not trap heat under the AGP/PCI/PCIe PCB like current ATX design do. But this has failed to catch on as it is more for non-gaming/expansion designs, doesn't do dual-processor, AMD is sticking with ATX and some whitebox products have flipped the ATX mainboard orientation on their own. ]
- Not-So-Commodity: Proprietary Small Form-Factor (SFF) PC for Enthusiasts
More known to users is the fact that there has been a number of vendors introducing Small Form-Factor (SFF) PC systems. From ViA there is the ITX form-factor (~6" x 6") mainboard, built around its low-power C3 processors (same lineage as the AMD/Cyrix/NS Geode). And from some mainboard vendors, there have been their own SFF solutions with their own, proprietary mainboard design. In every case, these systems are not cheap, although some "bare bone" designs help defray costs as they are spread over many, additional components included (for $300-500). Then again people are typically not buying them for cheap, but for portability, so there's no reason for some not to "cash in" on the market.
- The Growing Whitebox SFF Solutions Pool
Of course, other manufacturers outside of the mainboard vendors were taking note too. Antec, like their Aira product, is just one of many PC enclosure/accessory vendors now offering their own enclosure and power supply solutions. But instead of offering a proprietary form-factor in a mainboard, they often take the standard MicroATX (~9.6"x9.6") form-factor. MicroATX is basically ATX with "3 slots chopped off", reducing the size by almost 3" in length, and typically keeping the depth of the mainboard to 9.6" (and typically less). This gives enthusiasts more of a "choice" in mainboard solution, almost to the same expansion as a full ATX, while still delivering a fairly small form-factor -- especially with a MicroATX power supply or an even smaller, proprietary one.
- Power and Cooling Still Far Too Neglected In SFF
Unfortunately, most FlexATX, proprietary SFF and even most MicroATX form-factor solutions still neglect the issues of power and cooling for general purpose use. Now this is typically by design in ViA's ITX for its low-power C3 products, and most FlexATX solutions are low-cost Intel OEM products with on-board video sucking up little juice other than the P4 processor. But more and more SFF products in the tier-2/whitebox market are being marketed to the "LAN Party" crowd of gamers and enthusiasts who use some of the latest processors and video cards that need lots of juice and lots of cooling.
Although a few proprietary SFF products are shipping 80mm, 92mm and even 120mm fans, they typically use a proprietary power supply form-factor that is meager and non-upgradable. And looking at the MicroATX form-factor, it was designed to be a thin desktop or mini-tower. The result is that most MicroATX power supplies are typically not of any great power (although I have found and used a 460W MicroATX 24-pin+4-pin PS, although it's very long and probably too long for some cases). and have only 40mm or 60mm fan options.
- The Holy Grail? MicroATX mainboard plus standard ATX power supply?
Which brings me to the new crop of "Small Enough" enclosures that might be ideally suited not only for the performance/enthusiast self-assembling PC user, but possibly everyone who wants a tier-2/whitebox product half the size of some ATX products today. Such products are the Chenming 118 series (affordable), its Aspire X-QPack brother (also affordable) or a new OEM design being sported by SilverStone in its SG01 (very expensive, unfortunately) and likely other vendors to come (typically 1/2 the price of SilverStone).
The typical design calls for a "deep cube" that is around 10-11" x 8-9" and about 14-15" deep. The front dimensions are clearly much "taller" than a desktop or "wider" than a mini-tower FlexATX or MicroATX, and it's height is clearly just as "wide" as ATX tower. But at only 10-11", it is clearly almost a cube and much, much less than the typical 15-17" "height" of a ATX, and most ATX depths are also 20"+ in depth! Given the size and weight, especially in an aluminum material (~10lbs.), a built-in handle is often included for easy porting. But that's just the beginning. The "efficiency" of the design is clear when the system is looked at internally.
- Chemning/Aspire v. SilverStone: Power and Cooling
Instead of putting the power supply "next to" one side of the board, it is put above either the CPU area (8" high versions) or the slot area of the MicroATX (9" high versions). And best of all, it's a FULL ATX power supply -- meaning power is never an issue and almost every option is available (except for maybe a really deep ATX PS on 14" deep models). Whatever you can get in an ATX size power supply is now fully usable on your board, allowing the latest CPUs and video cards being used while delivering adequate power
Chenming 118 series (11" x 9" x 14") with 120mm exhaust fan and split +12V 300W 24-pin+P4 ATX 2.0 power supply for under $80.
Aspire X-QPack series (11" x 9" x 14") with 120mm exhaust fan and legacy 420W 20-pin+P4 ATX 1.0 power supply for around $80.
SilverStone SG01 series (10" x 8" x 15") with 80mm exhaust, 60mm internal for HDs and no power supply (expensive, but OEM models at half-price should come out soon).
The other area then has a large outtake fan, even 120mm in some models (like the Chenming/Aspire). Ironically enough, with a bigger fan, the less spindle is required to move the same airflow, and the sound can be 30db and much lower than most SFF. Especially considering between the PS' fan(s) and the outtake fan, it's adequate enough for cooling even today's highest-end CPUs and video cards (possibly even SLI).
UPDATE (2005Oct26): AnandTech (full AnandTech article on the SilverStone SG01B) on the cooling and sound of the Chemning 118 / Aspire X-Qpack design versus the SilverStone SG01:
| Component Temperatures | ||
| SG01 | X-QPack | |
| Exhaust Air | 33.7 C | 28.3 C |
| CPU | 34 / 47 C | 32 / 44 C |
| GPU | 53 / 69 C | 49 / 64 C |
| HDD | 29 C | 30 C |
| Northbridge | 36 C | 34 C |
| Power Supply | 32 C | 32 C |
- Chemning/Aspire v. SilverStone: Expansion
Next comes what I call the "Good Enough for 95%+" expansion. There are typically two (2) exposed 5.25" drive bays. Since they sit at the front and top of the 8-9" height case, this leaves a good 4.5" for any clearance of the CPU fansink and other mainboard components. The 5.25" drives are never in front of the four (4) slot area (the left 3-4" facing the case from the front, hence why bays will either be centered or right-offset), and that is typically open (for up to 8-10"+ long cards). If the case is a 9" height, there might be one (1) 3.5" drive bay exposed as well. For internal storage, two (2) 3.5 drives are typical, either side mounted in the front, with inlet holes that pull air over them (and directly back to outtake fan behind), or maybe a sideways mounted component area that makes access easier, possibly with their own fan.
This gives you an optical drive and other 5.25" bay option (removable drive, audio/multi-function, etc...), and up to 2 hard drives for redundant or striped (performance) storage, as well as just enough I/O expansion slots for just about any combination (possibly even SLI video in the future?) given today's on-board peripherals. With a large exhaust fan and full ATX power supply with its additional fan(s) and well-placed intake slits (in a small volume case, an important note), that's plenty of power and cooling option for even the most serious of gamers. It's a heck of a lot more portable and practical than the typical 7-10 bay ATX case that people go to by default, and are left with a lot of empty space (and 2-3x weight, even when using alumnium).
Standard Components, Full Size, No Compromise! AnandTech puts in a full size ATI Radeon XT series video card which fits under the full size ATX power supply in the Chenming/Aspire design, but the 14" depth doesn't cramp the full size 5.25" optical drive either.
Commodity breeds cost effectiveness, and for the tier-2/whitebox assembler/consumer, this might be "The Holy Grail" for PCs -- from desktops to LAN Parties to, and I know I'm going to get slaughtered for even suggesting it, "SOHO servers" or "small, application-specific servers" (be it using 2 internal drives mirrored, or even a 3-bay, 5.25" x 2U internal enclosure). The 10-11" x 8-9" x 14-15" MicroATX+ATX-PS "box" form-factor can and should be the "killer enclosure" that everyone should be embracing IMHO.
- Missing-In-Action: The "Powerful" MicroATX Mainboards?
UPDATE (2005Sep29): See new nVidia C51 (GeForce 61x0 / nForce 4x0) designed for MicroATX
Which begs the question, where are the powerful MicroATX mainboards? To date, I have one of the very few nForce4 Standard mainboards from Foxconn. It would be nice to see some nForce4 Ultra and maybe even an SLI product (2 PCIe16, 1 PCIe1 and 1 PCI is definitely doable) in a MicroATX. I guess the problem is that until these form-factors catch on, and I believe they will, mainboard manufacturers don't see a market given the typical non-enthusiast/gamer deployment of MicroATX where power and cooling are limiting factors.
Foxconn nForce4 series MicroATX, one of the few "Power" MicroATX solutions bringing the latest in PCIe x16 and Socket-939 Athlon 64/FX/X2 power with all other peripherals built-in (4xSATA, 2xATA, 10xUSB2.0, 1xIEEE1394, 5.1 Audio) to the new "Small Enough" Form-Factor PC at less than $80.
Frankly, I think the sooner people embrace this "Small Enough" form-factor, the more everyone will be happy. The expansion is typical and "just right" for 90%+ of consumers, the cooling and airflow is perfectly adequate and efficient (especially with a slower spindling 120mm at ~30db) and there is no compromise when you can always put in a full ATX power supply. Especially when the Chenming 118 with a split +12V rail 300W (for newer, 24-pin+P4) ATX2.0 and the Aspire X-QPack with an older 420W ATX1.0 power supply (for older, 20-pin+P4 MicroATX mainboards) run only about $80 and no more costly than a similar ATX with similar quality power supplies.
The Chenming 118 and its standard 300W ATX2.0 powers my nForce4 with an Athlon64, 100W+ sucking GeForce 6800GT, two hard drives, a floppy+card reader and an all format DVD recorder/rewriter. The X-QPack and its standard 420W ATX1.0 powers my wife's Asus ViA KM400 with an Athlon XP2600+ (Model 6 which sucks more power than my Athlon64), also a GeForce 6800GT (AGP), two hard drives, a floppy+card reader and also an all format DVD recorder/rewriter.
Mitsumi FA404 series (1.44MB floppy + 8-in-1 USB2.0 card reader) fits in the Chemning/Aspire's exposed 3.5x1" bay for only about $20.
The units weight less than 20lbs. fully loaded and are easily portable via their plastic front-handle. Unless I need something with dual-processor, I don't see any reason to assemble anything but these "Small Enough" Form-Factor designs, although I would like more choice in mainboards. Hopefully popularity will dictate this change.
4 comments:
A picture is worth a thousand words--got any?
I've long been a fan of SFF units, like the Compaq Deskpro EN SFF line. Those are nice, solid little corporate systems that run forever, draw very little power, and use common components so the drivers are never hard to find. Decent onboard video, 10/100, sound, and a couple PCI slots. I'm about to turn a PIII/800 ($85 on eBay almost a year ago) into a standard-def MythTV box.
So updated with pictures.
The great thing about these new form-factors is that they use _both_ a _standard_ MicroATX mainboard and a _full_ ATX power supply. With a MicroATX mainboard and today's on-board peripherals, 4 slots is enough, combined with the 2+2 5.25+3.5" drive options (sometimes +1 3.5" external). And with a full ATX power supply and 80-120mm exhaust fan with a good airflow approach, you are no longer limited to low-power designs either.
Thanks for the update & pics. You forgot my favorite, though:
http://www.apple.com/macmini/ :-)
Seriously, though, some of these look pretty nice. I like the Chenming and SilverStone cases, and that floppy+media reader is sweet.
It's been quite a while since I built a system. What would the average cost be to put one of these together? Not the fastest possible gaming setup, not the cheapest each-piece-from-a-different-site system, just... something in the middle. Don't bother yourself with any searches, just a couple numbers off the top of your head would be fine.
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