I think PC "enthusiasts" are clearly more likely to want a big case, leaving room for water, etc.... People who, like me, sometimes care more about tinkering with hardware than actually just using the PC.
I would say that people who are most interested in gaming and general use, and not becoming PC hobbyists in general, should probably be encouraged more to make the switch to smaller form factor machines. You don't have to sacrifice anything to do so these days.
Maybe the basic default mid-high end build we suggest to people here should be a mATX build in a Node804 or an Air 240 instead of the R4/UD3H sort of combo....??? I would be proud to rock the following:
PCPartPicker part list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PFvCMp
Price breakdown by merchant:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PFvCMp/by_merchant/
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($355.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1257.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-18 10:35 EDT-0400