Build a small yet dazzling entertainment PC

Most SFF cases have room for one optical drive, one 3.5-inch drive, and one hard drive. Our goal was to build a PC geared toward entertainment, but if you're more interested in fragging, look for a case that has a motherboard with an AGP slot and enough space for a full-size graphics card. We opted for the AOpen XC Cube AV kit. Though most SFF cases are of the MicroATX variety, AOpen considers the tiny XC Cube an ultrasmall form factor, which requires a smaller motherboard. This attractive black cube has front-mounted USB and FireWire ports and room for one PCI slot and a media-card reader. AOpen even includes a TV tuner card. You'll also find room for a full-size AGP card, but we chose to stick with the motherboard's built-in graphics, which was fine for our entertainment needs.

If you plan to attend a lot of LAN parties, look for a case with a carrying handle on top.