theonedub, Soylent Joe thanks for the encouraging words
gumpty, the idea of doing an itx / atom based system has indeed crossed my mind. To me at least, the only up is size, and since there is plenty of room for a full size atx, I figure there are ultimately no savings in the end.
In the end, there is a good chance that the "server system" will see some game use - it is inevitable that someone will want to come by for some side-by-side multiplayer gaming, so keeping upgrade options open for the future I think would be a good idea.
pantherx12, I was thinking about the whole incorporating a workbench idea, and I haven't come up with a neat, stealthed implementation yet. Not sure if I'll pursue it, but oh you've got my brain gears turning, it would be too cool to have something like that!
Cheers everyone, I'll be posting an update either later tonight, or tomorrow morning, and I'm going to be spending a day in the shop this weekend, so there'll be another big update early next week!