New build and case question

Hello everyone!  So I'm in the market for a new gaming computer, and am considering Digital Storm.  My budget is very strictly $1800 for a system including tax/shipping.  (It's actually $2000, but I've already found the monitor I want (1920x1080) elsewhere for $200 shipped with no tax, and I don't need a keyboard or mouse).  I'm not in California and as I understand shipping for this site is $65, so my budget is $1735.

The computer will be almost entirely for gaming, and other general purpose activities.  I have two questions though, and then I'll post my proposed build.  I did read the building guide post.

1) I care very much about the outside appearance of the machine as my whole set up is very sleak looking.  I see universal recommendation of the HAF 922, 932 and X, and perhaps it looks different in person, but from the site it looks like a fairly ugly case in my opinion.  I might get it anyway if someone can explain why it's so highly suggested despite the large number of cases available on this site.

2) You might be wondering why I only am intending a GTX 460 if this is a total gaming machine.  Well, it seems to me that right now that is a price/performance juggernaut, and I hear its very efficient and quiet.  Additionally, right now my main games are Starcraft 2 and soon Civilization 5 and it's my impression that the 460 GTX is sufficient to provide 60 frames on max detail at 1920x1080 which is what I'll be gaming at.  I fully intend in 12 months to 18 months when the card potentially becomes a tad long in the tooth to upgrade to a new $400 card or so.

Ticket Number: 436459
Total Price with Instant Savings: $1,732.00

Direct Load URL: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=436459

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series  (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (40GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: X-25V Edition) (Extreme Performance)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Heh, I said I'm NOT in Cali :)

When you say cases "under the 922" what do you mean?  You mean cases cheaper than the 922?

Also yeah, I would like to see if I can somehow eek out a 470, but the "only $80 more" puts me over my hard cap on budget.  I'd be able to do it if I took out the SSD and just went for a single 500gb hard drive...wonder if it's worth it.  I feel like upgrading my video card down the road will be easier than adding in a primary SSD drive that holds my OS.

Originally posted by !ender_ oh sorry, skimmed that lol   yes i meant under the 922 pricewise, basically the 300 and 400 CM series mid towers   i agree that adding a SSD later would be more of a hassle, but if you tell me gaming only, i get tunnel vision, and only smooth fps matters, all else must be sacrificed for it. if you are on such a specific budget, you could consider a 1156 build, can be a great way to shave off the extra couple bucks, as an example, if you gave me 1735 and said you wanted to game your heart out, id give you this http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadsaved.asp?id=436501 and $3

Oh wow you can fit a gtx 480 into my budget with that build, nice!  I'll definitely consider that one :)  Thanks.

hell yea you can i didnt answer your other point about the SSD but basically yes, switching to a new SSD as your main drive would be a bit of a hassle but nothing too drastic if you have some tech exp. basically you put all your saved stuff on dvds, wipe your drive, install both and install windows on the new one, then put anything that relys on a lot of read/write on your ssd and everything else on your backup drive