whats missing from a micro atx?

OpenToSuggestions · 8 Dec 2007 at 23:31

I was (and still am) considerng the new shuttle, which looks good but cant have any pci/pcie cards if I have a dual slot gfx card, and also is limited to a max of 3 hard drives, so I have been looking at m atx motherboards and cases.

What exactly is missing off a matx compared to a normal atx?
obviously there are less pci slots and no sli, but is anything else missing?
do they still overclock?

thanks

mrthingyx · 8 Dec 2007 at 23:50

They're pretty much as fully featured as their over-weight brethren.

However, normally they won't overclock nearly as well, mainly due to the restrictions on such boards. The first one that looked good was that one from Abit (Fatal!ty thingy), but that seems to kill computers quite regalarly, judging by the number of threads on various forums...

It's basically due to cost restrictions: fitting zillion phase voltage regulators and power circuitry is more expensive than regular requirements, and MATX boards are typically built to a budget...

Other than that - and that's quite a bit thing... also what's stopping me from going MATX - they're pretty similar.

EDIT: Amusingly enough, I'm using a Soltek Qbic SFF system at the moment (even though it's Socket A), purely because the overclocking options on this board border on the ridiculous: they're actually better than the NF7-S I had back in the day (which was considered one of the best ATX boards for hte Athlon XP). The only problem being cooling... which is easier in a big case.

Tute · 9 Dec 2007 at 00:30

The F-I90HD wasn't that great a board overall - it was just the first microATX board to give any kind of overclocking.

Now though, it's been superceded by the far better and more stable Gigabyte G33M-DS2R, and the Asus P5K-VM. Both boards, with the right cooling, will get you well into the 400-500FSB range.

There is SLi if you're happy with Socket 939. No Crossfire yet though.

And you'll lose a couple of slots, normally either PCI or PCIe x1.

mrthingyx · 9 Dec 2007 at 10:04

Tute said:
There is SLi if you're happy with Socket 939. No Crossfire yet though.

Best of luck finding one of those... I can't remember one being sold in this country by any shop. It was almost as if they built it specifically for an American OEM to show that they could do small and fast as well as the Shuttle SN26P.

kennethsross · 9 Dec 2007 at 16:19

mglover070588 said:
What exactly is missing off a matx compared to a normal atx?
obviously there are less pci slots and no sli, but is anything else missing?

yes, a couple of inches! but those inches will normally have carried a couple of extra PCI slots. Apart from that, you'll find most of the same stuff. Maybe more likely to find onboard graphics in a mATX format.

Asus P5E-VM ( http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-257-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326 ) seems to be one of the best equipped mATX boards around just now.

FiRez · 10 Dec 2007 at 01:42

kennethsross said:
yes, a couple of inches! but those inches will normally have carried a couple of extra PCI slots. Apart from that, you'll find most of the same stuff. Maybe more likely to find onboard graphics in a mATX format.

Asus P5E-VM ( http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-257-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326 ) seems to be one of the best equipped mATX boards around just now.

Yeah I have the Asus P5E-VM in my htpc and its awesome, expensive yes, but its the best mATX mobo I've ever used.

Tute · 10 Dec 2007 at 01:50

mrthingyx said:
Best of luck finding one of those... I can't remember one being sold in this country by any shop. It was almost as if they built it specifically for an American OEM to show that they could do small and fast as well as the Shuttle SN26P.

I did see one in a competitor shop a while back - but nowadays they're like rocking horse doo-doo.

They're not really worth it anyway - better off with a Core 2 board and a good single card like the 8800GT.