Reddit mentions of Apex 2T35523 MI-008 Chassis

A word of advice, if you want a HTPC with a bit of GPU power you're much better off going with an AMD APU. This won't perform quite as well, but it is more than enough for HD media and a bit of gaming. It will also draw less power and be cheaper.

Hence I suggest this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD A8-3870K 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $109.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | ASRock A75M-ITX Mini ITX FM1 Motherboard | $89.99 @ Newegg
Memory | Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $46.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $119.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $119.99 @ Newegg
Storage | OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $109.99 @ Newegg
Case | Thermaltake VL52021N2U Mini ITX Desktop Case w/200W Power Supply | $42.38 @ Microcenter
| | Total
| Prices include shipping and discounts when available. | $639.32
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-24 10:10 EDT-0400 |

That would run merrily using that 200w PSU, and would likely run off the 160w Pico PSU - although I would be wary since the PSU calculator says it recommends 180w.

EDIT: On second thoughts, after reading some reviews of that case and PSU bundle, they reckon the PSU overheats when you try and draw over 100w which my proposed system would at full load, so I therefore recommend this which can supposedly output 196w on the 12v rail, which is much healthier. Reviews are better, too.

I am here for some ITX input.

Standard Cases - All with full size expansion card support.

Cheap ($40) ITX case w/250w PSU

• Only single-slot expansion, full height.
  
  Much less cheap ($100) ITX case w/300w PSU
  
  
• Model with 450w PSU available
  
  Premium ($145) ITX case w/450w PSU
  
  
• I have this one, and my only gripe is heat. At this size, though, it's hard to blame it on the specific case. Power supply happily supports my i3 and 560 Ti 448, but as the case's only outtake fan, it gets quite warm. Rated for 24/7 use, though.
  
  Different Cases - Non-standard designs.
  
  Verticle standing ($100) ITX case w/o PSU
  
  
• I think it's beautiful.
  
  Upside-down-motherboard ($100) ITX/mATX case w/o PSU
  
  
• This would probably be used in whatever my next build ends up being. It's also available with a predominantly plastic front, with an aluminum "accent".
  
  These were all cases I considered in my recent mITX build, which is why I have shared them here. The product pages go through basic features, but these are the cases I recommend for small gaming. Silverstone seems to make good stuff in this category.

I just completed my HTPC build last week and it would meet your requirements.
The total cost would only be about $250 (excluding OS).
Below are the components I purchased (does not include HDD/SSD or OS)

• $100 ASRock itx Mobo/AMD CPU combo
  
  
• $40 Apex MI-008 itx case w/ 250w power supply
  
  
• $14 Antec Tricool 120mm fan (it's a tight fit & may not be necessary, but my htpc is in a cabinet)
  
  
• $24 Kingston 4gb RAM module
  
  
• $12 Syba IR Receiver
  
  I'm running Windows 7 Media center and XBMC.
  I plan on integrating a cable card/tuner in the near future.

I have one of these with an HTPC in it. When I was researching, I saw some reviews on Newegg for it where people were complaining about defective front panel USB ports. One guy even realized the ports were just upside down, but still complained they wouldn't RMA it because of this.

The manufacturer's response was a pretty simple "Theres no standard for USB port placement, this is not a defect."

You don't what size / shape you are looking for, but I wasn't looking for a traditional component sized case (since my case is hidden in a narrow cabinet), and have been very happy with this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BCXF4HI/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks like the Silver model is no longer available, but the black and white ones are (they weren't an option when I got mine).

In particular I like the fact that this case will take a full size graphics card, a full size PSU, and two regular HDD's along with a couple of SSDs.

While it's not for an HTPC, I also have a Home Server in this case:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001H0BA24/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's a much smaller case, but might work.

I built an Atom system recently around an Intel D510MO, and was considering going with a picoPSU for it. In reading reveiws, it scored very high for efficiency, although the this exact problem was brought up. I don't remember if it was the picoPSU or a "normal" 300W+ power supply that had the problem, but at the low wattage draw of Atom boards efficiency wasn't as good.

Thinking about it, I think it was the picoPSU...it's not 80Plus certified because at low wattage draw it's efficiency isn't good enough, but other benefits outweigh the additional couple watts it needs (fanless, low heat output, small size, etc).

I only didn't get one because a mini-ITX case WITH power supply was $40 shipped at amazon (pic), plus I got it next day with $4 prime overnight shipping, whereas a picoPSU started about that price, I'd still need a case, and it would have taken a couple days longer to arrive.

I have a 1st gen Dell OptiPlex I3-550/CentOS/Plex server that does a good job. I am just leery about the mobile processor segment. Why use a "U" when they could have used a "T"? I think they cut a corner here for the same price point. Why not use a i3-3220T? After all, we are plugged into a power source. I know the OP is looking for an out of the box solution, and this is close if you don't mind sticking in some ram and an HDD. But if you are going to go that far, I think we can do better.

Intel Core i3-3220T

ASUS P8H77-I

MI-008 Tower with 250W ITX

But I am also a fan of Shuttle PC.

Shuttle XH61V Slim

Throw in the i3-3220T, RAM, HDD, and you have a really nice setup.

There are a lot of options. But for a complete system, it is hard to beat a laptop. Same CPU and everything is included at the same price point (after purchasing the RAM and mSATA HDD) including the OS.

Asus - 11.6" Windows 8 Touch-Screen Laptop

http://www.amazon.com/MI-008-Tower-Black-Chassis-Supply/dp/B001H0BA24/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

that is the case =( maybe I gotta remove the psu first

Oh. Well then I don't understand. It sounds like you want something larger than a normal Mini-ITX case, except in one dimension. Most Mini-ITX cases I've dealt with are usually 12x8x3 or 12x8x8. So when you said you were wanting to go 4-5 inches shorter in each dimension, the N200 seemed about right.

9x9x9 reminds me of the old Cobalt Qube, which was slightly smaller. I used to have one of these, it was slick but ultimately impractical as a server.

I have the MI-008 running currently, it's 11.8 x 8.7 x 5.1. Only one of those dimensions is larger than what you're looking at.

The M350 claims to be the industrie's smallest mini-itx, it's at 7.5x8.2x2.5. It's kind of geared towards people that want to slap a pc on the back of a monitor.