In recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of case forms that are available on the market andthis is driven by the end user trends. Going back a few years, HTPC and small form factor (SFF) cases were rarely seen and those that did exist on the market were expensive in comparison to the mainstream options. As time has gone on and we come forward to where we are today, the market has become more diluted with the different shapes, sizes and styles of cases - ranging from the m-ATX options which pack as much as they can into as little space as possible right upto the E-ATX cases that have enough room to fit hypothetically more than one system into.

In the more recent years and with the digital age now more mainstream than ever, personal computers are used more and more for home entertainment centres. This has in itself opened up a whole new new sector to the HTPC market, in the past a HTPC was typically a low power machine that played video content with out any real demand placed on the system. The modern HTPC however demands more with the streamlining of high definition content. No longer will a budget all in one board with onboard graphics cut the mustard. Discrete graphics are being called for and this poses a problem with a majority of HTPC designs that can only occupy low profile expansion cards.



Link: eTeknix.com