Ars Technica has published a guide to Small Form Factor PCs.  While the main usage for that footprint still lies in home built HTPCs, it has matured to the point where it can make an attractive and powerful system.  Now that most of the major features come built into the motherboard, and you can buy smaller video cards that are every bit as powerful as the larger versions, you really can consider SFFs for gaming and other computer tasks.
“Small Form Factor (SFF) represents the latest footprint for computers, one that allows them to be small enough to disappear from the desk, or the exact opposite: often considered attractive enough in their brushed-aluminum and anodized-black finishes with bright blue LEDs to be a showpiece of status.

One theme that kept coming to the forefront in our discussions of the hows and whys of SFF systems was that of sexiness. With their brushed aluminum, sleek black, or pearl white exteriors, SFF boxes have a certain visual appeal that other cases lack. So for some, the choice of an SFF system can be just as much about aesthetics as it is performance. With the multitude of SFF choices available, there is seldom any need to sacrifice performance for a look”

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