PC World: "At 4.6 by 4.4 by 1.5 inches—about the size of a very small box of chocolates—the NUC contains a Core i3 processor and two SODIMM memory slots, and can be upgraded with both a Wi-Fi card and mSATA SSD internally. I was most intrigued by Intel's DC3217BY model, which includes an HDMI as a video connector and a Thunderbolt port for storage.
Hmmm. HDMI. And a Thunderbolt port. The feature set made me think this particular NUC would be an ideal platform for building a compact media streaming box—or even a full-fledged home theater PC.
Home theater PCs are often massive beasts, shipped in cases the same size as beefy A/V receivers. Those are great if you want massive amounts of storage, or want to build in a high-end 3D card for PC gaming from your couch. But to me the diminutive NUC seemed like an ideal platform for streaming video from the Internet or local server storage. And if you wanted to, I thought, you could connect a hard drive to that Thunderbolt port, enabling the NUC to act as a light-duty DVR."
The Mini ITX form factor is the smallest possible one that can be used to build a PC.
There are a plethora of these cases on the market, some of which are curiously pretty big. There are also exceptionally small variants of these cases which will be discussed in depth here.
TechNutz: I have written a few guides outlining components to build both HTPCs and Gaming PCs. One gap I have found is a solution that joins the two in the living room. This is a project where an off the shelf gaming HTPC could cost you a lot of money and the choices available are almost non-existent. Building your own gaming HTPC is a great DIY project that can save you a lot of money. This gaming HTPC build will surpass the latest and greatest consoles in graphics performance while also functioning as an excellent media center. The best method for playing games on the big screen that I have used is Steam’s “Big Picture” mode coupled with a wireless Xbox 360 controller. As always this build can be tweaked to your individual tastes and I will offer up some options to make the basic build more complete. So without further ado, let’s get to the features and considerations of building a gaming HTPC.
Maximum PC: One of the reasons traditional PCs will be around for a long while to come is because they're capable of doing so many different things, and doing them well. Just take a look at CyberPowerPC's new Zeus HTPC line, a "sleek new series of Windows-based home theater PCs that can double as your primary desktop." According to CyberPowerPC, you can game, record television, watch Blu-rays, and more all from a thin micro-ATX chassis that fits neatly into your AV rack.
