ATX vs m-ATX for Intel P55 (Socket 1156)

[Porcelina]

So I am in the process of assembling the components for my first gaming pc build. I am a novice when it comes to actually building and working around cases. So I have been taking suggestions on motherboard/processor pairings. From that advice I have come to the conclusion that what will fit me best would be an 'Intel LGA1156 (P55 Chipset) - SATA 6Gb/s' motherboard to go with an Intel i5 750/60 processor.

Now, I have been suggested to pick up an m-ATX motherboard. However, looking at pure specs the Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard [90-MIBBN0-G0EAY00Z] looks very solid. However, it is not a micro version. I do want Crossfire/SLI support, and the m-ATX version does not support that.

I am going for a mid-tower case. Possibly Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black. Or a similar case, I would have liked the non-Lite version or a Lancool Dragon-Lord, but both are out of stock and time is somewhat of the essence. Will having a non m-ATX motherboard have any unforeseen consequences as far as room or build goes?

In general, what are the things to pay the most attention to when choosing your motherboard version? I gather that choosing Asus vs. Gigabyte goes into a lot of personal experience and subjectivity, but apart from that, in that range, are there any compelling reasons to choose one over the other?

 

[Marvin]

Only go for MATX if the case requires it (or it does everything you need it to do for less), otherwise go for ATX, which will have more options.

Or, go for MATX if you need a specific slot spacing that's unavailable on ATX (like me, I needed my GPU in the first PCI-E slot, rather than the 2nd as with many ATX boards).

In your case, I'd go ATX.