If you are building your own PC, you need to choose a good motherboard . It is the central component where most of the components such as RAM and graphics card are installed, and where peripherals like the mouse and keyboard are connected.
Although a motherboard does not directly affect the performance of your system, it determines the type of hardware and the number of different components that can be connected to your system.
In this article, we will discuss the key factor that determines the capacity of a motherboard, namely its size or form factor .
Overview of motherboard form factors
Motherboards are primarily available in two sizes – ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) and Mini-ITX (Information Technology eXtended). While others exist, these are the most common and are more than adequate for everyday use at home or in the office.
Size of the different formats:
- ATX – 12in x 9.6in (305 x 244mm)
- Mini-ITX – 6.7 x 6.7 inches (170 x 170 mm)
Motherboards have PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and RAM slots where you can connect your external components such as your graphics card and RAM sticks.
PCI slots are the ports where you connect your sound cards, graphics card, network cards, disk controllers, etc. The number of PCI slots on your motherboard depends on its size and form factor.
It is particularly important to take this into account, as different computers have unique purposes and finding a motherboard suited to your purpose will save you a lot of money and a lot of hassle when building your PC!
Here is some additional information in video format:
ATX motherboards
ATX motherboards, the older model, are the largest, measuring 305 × 244 mm (12″ × 9.6″). These motherboards require a large ATX case for proper installation.
ATX motherboards can have up to seven PCI slots, allowing you to connect your PC to a large number of external cards, which is useful for extremely heavy workstations.
This model also supports four RAM modules; however, it is important to remember that two 16GB RAM sticks are cheaper than four 8GB RAM sticks.
ATX motherboards also have more USB ports on the front and back. If you need to connect many USB devices, this can be a wise choice.
ATX motherboards also have more SATA ports that allow you to connect data-compatible devices such as hard drives, optical drives, etc.
In addition to SATA ports, high-end ATX motherboards can have up to 3 NVMe M.2 slots, allowing the user to add plenty of high-speed storage.
These motherboards are also the most expensive because they are the largest.
Here are the best ATX models!
Also keep in mind that ATX motherboards typically come with chipsets that can support a greater number of PCIe slots and USB ports. Different chipsets have varying capabilities in terms of the number of PCIe slots and USB ports they can handle.
Good to know: For seasoned gamers, we encourage you to take a close look at the x570 motherboard !
Mini-ITX motherboards
Finally, Mini-ITX motherboards are the smallest type, measuring a standard 6.7 x 6.7 inches (170 x 170 mm). These small motherboards have only one PCI-e slot, which is usually 16 inches.
Although Mini-ITX is the smallest form factor, it is not the cheapest. Compressing components into such a small space can be costly, and most Mini-ITX motherboards already come equipped with Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth.
Mini-ITX motherboards typically have four onboard SATA ports and about four or five USB ports on the rear panel and four on the front. These typical hardware options are sufficient for most standard home PCs.
It should be noted that there are Mini-ITX motherboards with NVMe M.2 slots.
Here are the best MINI ITX models currently available!
Which format should I choose?
So, which one is better? It all comes down to personal preference.
The motherboard you choose is largely determined by the intended use of your PC. ATX motherboards can handle the most PCIe hardware modules, but even professional gamers don't use all of their PCI slots.
Here is a list of typical things you could install on your motherboard:
- Graphics card
- Sound card
- Wi-Fi card
- PCIe card
- Hard drive (SSD or not)
Here are some factors to consider when choosing a motherboard:
How many SSDs or HDDs should you install?
How many PCIe devices will be installed?
How many USB ports do you need?
ATX – High specifications, higher budget, more powerful
With ATX, you can connect many PCIe devices, many SSDs, and many USB devices. It is larger and supports more hardware.
You will also need a full-size case that can accommodate the ATX motherboard. This will increase the budget for both the PC case and the motherboard.
With two PCIe x16 slots, you also have the option of using various graphics card technologies such as Nvidia's SLI and AMD's Crossfire. However, not all ATX motherboards support SLI, so you should first check the specifications on the official website to ensure it fully supports SLI or multi-GPU configurations.
Furthermore, the ATX motherboard makes your machine future-proof, as you can potentially add additional hardware without having to upgrade it. This isn't a huge advantage in terms of flexibility, but it is useful to some extent.
Also keep in mind that some chipsets, like the AMD X570, are only available on ATX motherboards. These chipsets are designed to support a lot of external hardware via PCIe and USB, so it makes sense to put them only on larger motherboards that support more hardware.
Mini-ITX – Mid-range budget, limited specifications
The smallest of the group, Mini-ITX is best suited for a compact PC system that doesn't take up much space. The smallest PC cases can be portable if you need a LAN gaming machine that you frequently need to transport.
However, the card is limited to a single PCIe x16 slot and 2 RAM slots.
You can therefore connect a graphics card to a Mini-ITX motherboard, but nothing else. And for a large amount of RAM, you'll need modules with higher capacity, since you only have two slots.
Mini-ITX is an excellent option if you don't want to play overly demanding games.
These motherboard models will, however, feature an integrated Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth system, which may be of interest if you are looking for a portable PC.
Conclusion
Ultimately, for gaming, an ATX motherboard is the best choice . It's the most versatile and offers the best performance thanks to its numerous ports. If you have a smaller budget, you can always upgrade gradually without worrying about your motherboard becoming obsolete.
