Compared to an original Xbox 360 (used as a well-known size reference), the ASRock M8 is noticeably larger, but not by a too much of a margin. Given that the ASRock M8 is housing a fully-fledged gaming system, the increased size (in comparison to an original Xbox 360) is a compromise that many PC gamers will be happy to make, especially those who regularly attend LAN events.
Compared to full-tower (NZXT Phantom 630, left) and micro-ATX (Corsair Obsidian 350D, centre) cases the ASRock M8 is noticeably more compact.
While there are some net-top systems that are smaller than the M8, they don’t offer anywhere near the level of performance capability that ASRock’s machine does.