After reading the article on the main page, I am actually intrigue of building my next PC with a slightly smaller case than the Antec 300. I had experience with shuttle box cases which are quite bad. Too small, too cramped, too hot and quite shocking hardware failure. Then reading the latest bit-tech article, and the new Alienware X51 makes me think that maybe its not that bad now. What are good SFF cases which can house something like the Asus Rampage IV which is smaller than the Antec 300? The 300 is a good case, but I just think that I'm wasting all that empty space, though I have placed all 5 case fans in it. So far I've read about the Lian Li PC-Q25 and the Thermaltake Armor A30 though the thermaltake armor is more about bling whcich is the last thing I want. It seems quite a promising case though aside from the lighted case fans. Any other case sugestions suggestions
Uh, a big SFF case is sort of an oxymoron. I'd go with a Silverstone Fortress FT03 for SFF power. It takes a mATX mobo, it's teeny tiny (length and depth, not height, height is as big as a full size case), and it cools great while being very quiet.
Take a look at the Lian Li V351 or V354 if you liked the looks of the Shuttle but thought it was too small.
Not even close to useless. I can build a rig that's more powerful than my current desktop in a Lian-Li PC-Q11, a case that's only slightly larger than a shoebox. And it would probably cost about the same as my current desktop too. Now if you're talking about SUPER SMALL form factor, like Pico-ITX, then I might have to agree with you. I've got a VIA EPIA P820 (1.2ghz single core, 2gb RAM, Via VX855 IGP, can barely play Half-Life at 1080p). And that thing is SLOOOOW. But it has the same footprint as a 2.5" hard drive, so I could put it in a can of mints if I wanted to. So it works great as a diagnostic computer, or a mobile HTPC. So it actually isn't useless, it's just useless for power users. Everything is about specialization. You can have power but you get heat, you can have small but you loose power, etc.
Silverstone TJ08-E is quite large for an mATX case. Will fit 4 - 5 HDD's and cooling in it is pretty decent too.
Lian Li PC A04 is pretty small as far as m-ATX cases go, and Fractal do some decent m-ATX cases like the arc and define mini. All three have decent cooling with the right setup and can hold 7 or 8 HDDs.