Are mini PCs the wave of the future?

Give us a full tower PC loaded to the top with high-end hardware any day of the week, though we'll concede there are viable applications for small form factor (SFF) mini PCs that are tiny enough to hold comfortably in your hand. Intel made us a believer with its Next Unit of Computing (NUC), a surprisingly powerful pint-sized PC, and now Stealth has announced a potent and portable system of its own.

A new 17-inch FangBook gaming laptop is one of three products CyberPower PC has on tap for CES.

It's always a welcome sight to spy boutique system builders hanging around the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Yes, we fully expect a full slate of tablets and gadgets to debut this week, but as far as CyberPower PC is concerned, now is the perfect time to unveil a trio of enthusiast products, including a new notebook, small factor factor (SFF) gaming PC, and a redesigned liquid cooling system (LCS).

Boutique system builder Digital Storm today unveiled Bolt, a small form factor (SFF) PC billed as the slimmest custom designed gaming computer ever built. Bolt is the latest attempt to port PC gaming to the living room with smaller size systems that have a comparable footprint to that of an Xbox 360 console, which pair nicely with Steam's new Big Picture Mode. The Bolt measures just 3.6 inches wide, 13.3 inches high, and 13.4 inches deep. That's just slightly more portly than the Xbox 360 Slim, which measures 3 inches (W) by 10.6 inches (H) by 10.4 inches (D).

If you're a sports fan, you can't help but feel sorry for people living in Cleveland who watched in disgust as LeBron James took his talents to South Beach a year ago (and then delight when he choked in the NBA Finals), and haven't witnessed a hometown professional championship since 1964. Bummer. But hey, they still have AVADirect, a boutique system builder located in the outskirts of Cleveland, and while it'll never bring home a sports title, it has won other awards, including our own Kick Ass award just a few months months ago for a custom gaming PC. Perhaps looking to tackle a new challenge, AVADirect and its team of builders have starting putting together compact gaming and small form factor (SFF) systems based on Intel's X79 chipset.