Question Can I put a Micro-ATX motherboard in a standard ATX case?

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mraroid

mraroid

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Oct 17, 2014
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Just a quick questions....

Generally speaking, can I put a Micro-ATX motherboard in a standard ATX case?

If not, can someone suggest a modestly priced ATX motherboard that can support an Intel CPU that supports Windows 11? This build is not for a gaming computer. My friend just surfs the internet and reads email Nothing fancy.

Thank so much.

mraroid
 
mraroid said:
Just a quick questions....

Generally speaking, can I put a Micro-ATX motherboard in a standard ATX case?

If not, can someone suggest a modestly priced ATX motherboard that can support an Intel CPU that supports Windows 11? This build is not for a gaming computer. My friend just surfs the internet and reads email Nothing fancy.

Thank so much.

mraroid
Click to expand...
What is the budget for this?

Below a certain (variable) level, a system like this may be better as a prebuilt.
 
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I am building this for my friend & I really have no budget in mind. I am doing the work, he is paying for the parts. I said budget because he only surfs the internet, watches YouTube videos (in 1920 X 1080) and sends and receives email. So he does not need anything powerful. I do have one extra Samsung 1TB 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD that I am going to give him if a motherboard can support it. If not, then I will just install a standard 2.5 inch Samsung 1 TB SS drive for him.

His case has no brand name or part # on it. I pulled a ASUS P8768 motherboard out of it. It had a Intel i7 2600 , 3.4 Hz CPU in it. The build was done by a company called South Florida Computer Tech. The only other ID on the case is from South Florida Computer Tech and it says: MABEGO2O. His ATX case has nine standoffs for the full sized ATX motherboard I pulled.

I can take a photo of the case if that would help?

I was looking at an Intel Core i5-8600K Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.3 GHz Unlocked LGA 1151 300 Series 95W CPU for him, but that was just first blush. I think I need to decide if I can save him some money and move from a full sized ATX motherboard and a Micro-ATX motherboard.

So my long winded answer is I have no budget, I am just trying to get my friend into a Windows 11 desktop and save him some money. He is retired like me.

I am using the build tool on the web called PCPartPicker.

Many thanks to all for the help. Any feedback is welcomed.
mraroid
 
punkncat said:
I know there is a better chart than this around but my Google-Fu is lacking right now:

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/tech-talk/wh11_008
Click to expand...
Thank you for that link. Good News! It says:

"Retail motherboards smaller than standard ATX motherboards will always be compatible with cases designed for standard ATX form factor.

Micro-ATX specifies length to be 9.6 inches with width varying from 6.7 to 9.6 inches, it has three less expansion slots than standard ATX. Maximum number of expansion slots is four (4)

Up to eight (8) mounting holes are available. The two holes circled in green are optional positions for motherboard manufacturers to utilize and holes circled in red are usually eliminated if the board size is small to not require them"
***************************************
So, I think I am going to cross my fingers and start looking for a Micro-ATX motherboard.

Suggestions anyone? All other things being equal, if a Micro-ATX motherboard costs more if it supports a PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD, I am fine just installing a standard 2.5 inch Samsung SS drive. I do not know how standard a PCIe 4.0 motherboards are.

I very much appreciate the advice!

mraroid
 
My rec....$500 or below, just buy a prebuilt thing that comes with its own Win 11 license.
Done.

You will get:
Better performance than the stated i5-8600
Full warranty
Valid Windows license that will last years.
Peace of mind that you do not have to be his tech support
 
IMO you should just get new budget parts instead of old intel stuff -
Check this link out - budget PC build - Should be capable of doing YouTube and emails :)
You can always change some parts (better SSD, faster CPU, etc.)
 
USAFRet said:
My rec....$500 or below, just buy a prebuilt thing that comes with its own Win 11 license.
Done.

You will get:
Better performance than the stated i5-8600
Full warranty
Valid Windows license that will last years.
Peace of mind that you do not have to be his tech support
Click to expand...
I really like the free Samsung tool called Samsung Magician. I suspect you know that software much better then I do. I like the fact that I can over provision a Samsung drive. And I like it that Samsung will send the user a pop up when new firmware is released for the drive. I am not at all a computer guy. But in my small circle of friends, I am all they have. The Samsung drives received very good reviews. So, with me not knowing any better, I have defaulted to that brand and always install the Magician software. I don't think I can get that from a store bought desktop.

And my other issue (and please let me know if I am going overboard here) is that a large ATX case (all other things being equal) will stay cooler than the slime line desktop cases I see modern desktop computers in. I feel like the modern small desktop cases will get too hot. I can install all the fans I want in a full sized ATX case and then I do not have to worry about the computer overheating. I give my friends cans of compressed air and directions on how to take the desktop outside once a year and spray all the dust and dirt out of it. But they don't....

My computer ignorance is showing, I am sure. When I do not know what I am doing, I take steps like the above so I don't have to worry so much that my friends will kill the computers. My friends are the kind that can not remember what the name of a task bar is. When they think that the computer is broken and call me, and I ask them if they can boot to the Windows desktop, & they are not quite sure how to answer that question (regardless of how many times I have explained it to them).

I am ready to listen. Please tell me if I am going off the rails with my concerns.

Many thanks,
mraroid
 
mraroid said:
I really like the free Samsung tool called Samsung Magician. I suspect you know that software much better then I do. I like the fact that I can over provision a Samsung drive. And I like it that Samsung will send the user a pop up when new firmware is released for the drive. I am not at all a computer guy. But in my small circle of friends, I am all they have. The Samsung drives received very good reviews. So, with me not knowing any better, I have defaulted to that brand and always install the Magician software. I don't think I can get that from a store bought desktop.
Click to expand...
Absolutely unsure what Samsung Magician has to do with this.

Yes, I have several Sammy drives, and Magician installed. I use it regularly.
It is a good tool, but it doesn't really have anything to do with your actual question.
 
PowerPCFan said:
IMO you should just get new budget parts instead of old intel stuff -
Check this link out - budget PC build - Should be capable of doing YouTube and emails :)
You can always change some parts (better SSD, faster CPU, etc.)
Click to expand...
Wow! What a list! I believe you have done 95% of all the work I am trying to do to select parts!. I will tweak it slightly and I think this will work quite well!

Very much appreciate the help!
mraroid
 
mraroid said:
Wow! What a list! I believe you have done 95% of all the work I am trying to do to select parts!. I will tweak it slightly and I think this will work quite well!

Very much appreciate the help!
mraroid
Click to expand...
No prob! I actually have a list of about 50 PCPartPicker lists that I pre-made in a Google Doc with prices next to the links, so if someone ever mentions a price, I share a link. Good luck!!
 
mraroid said:
Wow! What a list! I believe you have done 95% of all the work I am trying to do to select parts!. I will tweak it slightly and I think this will work quite well!

Very much appreciate the help!
mraroid
Click to expand...
Not a bad build, but....

Now....add in $100 for a valid Win 11 license.
A single 256GB drive is probably TooSmall for a user that is not bent on managing that space all the time.
 
USAFRet said:
Not a bad build, but....

Now....add in $100 for a valid Win 11 license.
A single 256GB drive is probably TooSmall for a user that is not bent on managing that space all the time.
Click to expand...
I don't ever activate windows, thats why I didn't factor that in my link.
And I agree, 256 is getting a bit small in 2023, so 512 is a good upgrade.

Also you can get the "cracked" windows keys for under $15 if you really want to remove that watermark.
 
PowerPCFan said:
I don't ever activate windows, thats why I didn't factor that in my link.
And I agree, 256 is getting a bit small in 2023, so 512 is a good upgrade.
Click to expand...
And for a random non-techie user.....they are absolutely going to wonder about that randomly appearing text at bottom right.

And why I generally recommend a prebuilt thing at the $500 level. It comes with a valid license that would otherwise add $100 to the parts list.
 
USAFRet said:
And for a random non-techie user.....they are absolutely going to wonder about that randomly appearing text at bottom right.

And why I generally recommend a prebuilt thing at the $500 level. It comes with a valid license that would otherwise add $100 to the parts list.
Click to expand...
As a person who hates prebuilt PCs, I would never go for a prebuilt, but I agree that they can be a great value for that price. At this point, I think it's OP's choice.
 
USAFRet said:
Absolutely unsure what Samsung Magician has to do with this.

Yes, I have several Sammy drives, and Magician installed. I use it regularly.
It is a good tool, but it doesn't really have anything to do with your actual question.
Click to expand...
My apologies.... If I understood you correctly, you were directing me to have them buy an off the shelf desktop. I don' think I can buy one with a good Samsung drive in it. I would have to pull whatever drive was installed and install a replacement. Or do you think that is not necessary?

What is your opinion on the smaller slime line cases that desktop computers are in. Do you think they are fine?

Thanks again for all your help.
mraroid
 
mraroid said:
My apologies.... If I understood you correctly, you were directing me to have them buy an off the shelf desktop. I don' think I can buy one with a good Samsung drive in it. I would have to pull whatever drive was installed and install a replacement. Or do you think that is not necessary?

What is your opinion on the smaller slime line cases that desktop computers are in. Do you think they are fine?

Thanks again for all your help.
mraroid
Click to expand...
Samsung drives are good (I have several), but I'd not necessarily exclude something else that did not have a Samsung drive.

As far as mini systems?
I have a Beelink as my HTPC. It is totally fine for the light use that you have indicated.
www.bee-link.com

Beelink | Beelink mini PC-Connect to a wonderful life

www.bee-link.com www.bee-link.com
Choose one.
 
PowerPCFan said:
IMO you should just get new budget parts instead of old intel stuff -
Check this link out - budget PC build - Should be capable of doing YouTube and emails :)
You can always change some parts (better SSD, faster CPU, etc.)
Click to expand...
Hi... So, if I use the CPU in the above link, this will provide video and I do not need to buy a stand alone video card? I found this link to the specs of the above CPU and I get the impression it will provide video:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...12100-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-30-ghz.html

Have I understood this correctly?
Thank you for your help
mraroid
 
mraroid said:
Hi... So, if I use the CPU in the above link, this will provide video and I do not need to buy a stand alone video card? I found this link to the specs of the above CPU and I get the impression it will provide video:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...12100-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-30-ghz.html

Have I understood this correctly?
Thank you for your help
mraroid
Click to expand...
Yes, the 12100 has integrated graphics. The UHD Graphics 730 (integrated in the 12100) is perfect for sending emails, watching YouTube, and internet browsing.

NO GAMING though, I've benchmarked the faster version (UHD 770) and it barely got 60fps at the LOWEST settings.
 
PowerPCFan said:
Yes, the 12100 has integrated graphics. The UHD Graphics 730 (integrated in the 12100) is perfect for sending emails, watching YouTube, and internet browsing.

NO GAMING though, I've benchmarked the faster version (UHD 770) and it barely got 60fps at the LOWEST settings.
Click to expand...
Thank you. The most he might do is watch YouTube videos in 1920X 1080 @ 30 fps. So that CPU should do the job.

mraroid
 
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