Reddit mentions of LG Slim Blu-Ray Combo Drive - SATA CT40N

I went with a small (mini-ITX) case that I find beautiful, a core i3, SSD/HDD combo and a motherboard with built-in wi-fi. You'll have to buy a slim version of the blu-ray player / DVD-CD burner here ($62) and an adapter like this one ($8)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $134.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $84.99 @ Micro Center
Memory | Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $67.96 @ Amazon
Storage | Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $69.93 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $54.98 @ OutletPC
Case | Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case | $44.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply | $28.99 @ NCIX US
Monitor | LG 22M35D 60Hz 22.0" Monitor | $89.99 @ NCIX US
Keyboard | Microsoft 2LF-00001 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse | $19.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $596.81
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 18:38 EST-0500 |

You can get a cheaper build if we go for a regular tower, though. Edit: that would be it, about $60 cheaper (when you include the optical drive in the other build)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $134.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $44.49 @ Newegg
Memory | Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $67.96 @ Amazon
Storage | Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $69.93 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $54.98 @ OutletPC
Case | Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $39.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply | $28.99 @ NCIX US
Optical Drive | LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer | $49.98 @ OutletPC
Monitor | LG 22M35D 60Hz 22.0" Monitor | $89.99 @ NCIX US
Wireless Network Adapter | Rosewill RNX-N150PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter | $11.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Microsoft 2LF-00001 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse | $19.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $613.28
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 18:52 EST-0500 |

This is it and judging by the frequently bought together section it seems I will be needing an adapter.

I see a lot of builds here that either go for cost-effectiveness or power. I could be wrong, but it seems like your primary concern here is form factor with a modicum of power, so that's the angle I'll work with, cost-effectiveness be damned.

A lot of people have different ideas of what "light gaming" means. 2012 games are still relatively new, so I put forth two builds, depending on how much gaming you might want to do. Here's the first one:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor | $64.18 @ Micro Center
Motherboard | ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $64.98 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $36.90 @ Newegg
Storage | PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $99.99 @ Newegg
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card | $99.99 @ Newegg
Case | Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case | $84.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | SeaSonic 300W 80+ Certified SFX Power Supply | $39.99 @ Mwave
Other| Slim Blu-ray drive| $69.99
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $561.01
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-03 16:34 EDT-0400 |

This one uses the new miniITX Raven case that allows you to stick a full-size GPU in despite being a very slim design. I opted for 4 GB because I figured a media PC wouldn't multitask much, but another 4 GB is very simple to add.

PCpartpicker doesn't have slim Blu-ray drives, but I found one on Amazon. They're probably cheaper options if you shop around.

Here's one with less gaming "oomph", and much more pure media PC:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD A10-6700 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor | $148.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | ASRock FM2A78M-ITX+ Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard | $90.38 @ Newegg
Memory | Kingston Fury White Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $45.99 @ Newegg
Storage | PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $99.99 @ Newegg
Other| Slim Blu-ray drive| $69.99
Other| StreamCom F1C Evo Case | $65.00
Other| StreamCom 150 W PSU| $35.00
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $555.34
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-03 16:54 EDT-0400 |

The case is tiny for sure, less than 200mm x 200mm. Very mac-mini like, but the case itself it hard to find. This is the only place I could find it so far. Newegg has some StreamCom stuff but not this particular one.

Windows, of course, would tack on another $100 or so to each PC.

Hope you post pictures if you decide to build one of these beauties!