I need a larger ATX motherbord. But which one?

dlresponse · 27 Oct 2022 at 18:01

My system is 2 years old and quite modest by today's standards

I'm running a Radeon RX 5600 XT, trusty old ryzen 5 3600, Creative Labs soundblasterX AE plus and 32gb DDR4 3200 ram. My board, however, is awful. It is so small the GPU and the soundcard are blocking SATA ports and other ports. I need a bigger motherboard which suits the modesty of the rest of my parts.

I don't need a blistering DDR5 PCIE 6 capable board or what have you, I just need something modest to accomodate my parts .

What would be a good choice please?

pastymuncher · 27 Oct 2022 at 19:21

What is your current board? The reason I ask is because if it's a ATX board so that we can compare the layout to other boards although it sounds like you could have a m-ATX board which brings another question up. Can your case take a full size ATX board? How much do you want to spend? I am guessing a good B450/B550 board will be recommended for you although it's going to take a bit of shopping around as they seem to be mostly out of stock on here probably due to the ridiculous pricing of the new 600 series boards.

eddiew · 27 Oct 2022 at 22:16

dlresponse said:
I just need something modest to accomodate my parts

Ooo er missus :cry:

But more seriously, there is of course EATX if you want a really phat motherboard with acres of space. But check your case first! Many were made for ATX and don't accommodate anything girthier.

The question I'd have is whether you actually need a bigger board, or just a better one with sensible sockets. For example, my SATA ports are technically behind the gpu; but they're rotated 90 degrees so there's no difficulty in getting cables to them because they come out of the board and dive straight through a hole in the back plate.

What do you actually have right now?

Quixote · 29 Oct 2022 at 23:50

I think he's talking about one of the budget, stipped down 'somewhat less than atx, but still atx spec' boards.
I've had a few of them myself. They're slimmer & tend to chop some stuff off.
I agree with pastymucher, we need to know what your current board is & what ports you need/ have a problem with right now.

dlresponse · 26 Nov 2022 at 22:18

pastymuncher said:
What is your current board? The reason I ask is because if it's a ATX board so that we can compare the layout to other boards although it sounds like you could have a m-ATX board which brings another question up. Can your case take a full size ATX board? How much do you want to spend? I am guessing a good B450/B550 board will be recommended for you although it's going to take a bit of shopping around as they seem to be mostly out of stock on here probably due to the ridiculous pricing of the new 600 series boards.

The motherboard is tiny. Ridiculously small. Especially now I have a soundcard and a GPU. I have bought a bigger case

dlresponse · 26 Nov 2022 at 22:21

Quixote said:
I think he's talking about one of the budget, stipped down 'somewhat less than atx, but still atx spec' boards.
I've had a few of them myself. They're slimmer & tend to chop some stuff off.
I agree with pastymucher, we need to know what your current board is & what ports you need/ have a problem with right now.

It is a gigabyte 450m DS3H. I need a board that will accomodate my gpu and soundblaster without blocking critical USB panel ports and SATA ports

Quartz · 26 Nov 2022 at 22:33

dlresponse said:
It is a gigabyte 450m DS3H.

Isn't that a mATX board? How many SATA ports do you use?

The go-to B450 ATX board is the MSI Tomahawk.

LePhuronn · 30 Nov 2022 at 14:43

Are you talking about this one?

B450M DS3H (rev. 1.x) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

What exactly is being blocked and by what? I've just had a look at both versions of that board and nothing looks like it'd be blocked. The GPU in the top slot doesn't cover any SATA ports and the sound card is single slot width so it won't cover the USB headers underneath the bottom slot.

I'd hazard a guess and say you've installed the sound card in the middle 1x slot which forced you to install the graphics card in the bottom slot. If so, change it so the graphics card is in the top slot where it's supposed to be and put the sound card in the bottom slot. No need to buy a different board then.

Otherwise, instead of buying a new board, just get some Silverstone CP11 ultra low profile SATA cables. They're designed specifically to install where big graphics cards cover SATA ports.