ATX vs. Micro ATX?

T

Tony Rotten

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 23, 2008
Messages
98
If all I want is a new tower PC, is there any special consideration for a full ATX vs Micro ATX mobo that I should be concerned about?

I will be having the new PC built to spec by one "boutique" PC builder.

Thanks.
 
mATX lets you use a smaller, more compact box at the cost of PCI(e) lanes. mATX limits you to a max of 4 PCI(e) rails, whereas ATX permits 7 or 8...OTOH most people at most only have one GPU, and a WiFi card, and only maybe an audio board. With LGA1155/2011 and the loss of the northbridge chip and the space it ate up on the motherboard, there's still room for other "stuff" on motherboard.
 
Nothing wrong with mATX. Takes up less room in your case which aids air flow and cable management a little, theyre usually a little cheaper and you're usually only giving up 1 PCIE slot so its not that big a deal.
 
I've been looking into mATX boards a lot lately, another thing I noticed is that mATX seems to have fewer inputs to plug case/chassis fans into it.

Just something to consider if you want to have more control over your case fans unless you're planning to get a separate fan controller unit anyway.
 
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