MATX motherboards are not good?

[IDoXx_]

Is it true that micro atx motherboards are not good (because they are low voltage)?

 

[TechyInAZ]

Form factor doesn't mean a motherboard is better or worse. Voltage wise, it all depends on how many mosfets, VRMs, and capacitors are on the board.

 

[Albionm00n]

Greetings!

In short, no. mATX mobos are great if they are what you need. They are every bit as capable with the exception that some features are removed to make them smaller (not as many PCIe slots, sometimes reduced number of RAM slots, etc...), but they are not lower powered, they are simply scaled down versions of an ATX format board. Heck, folk are building amazing enthusiast grade machines with mITX! In this case size only matters if you need the added features of a full size board.

Hope this helps!

 

[TheAK Cube]

Is it true that micro atx motherboards are not good (because they are low voltage)?

Micro ATX boards are more or less a scaled down version of ATX motherboards. However there are some differences

Advantages

• 
  - They generally cost lesser than ATX motherboards
  - Aesthetics (Personal Preference)
  - Take up lesser space
  - For the average user, they have all the requirements

Disadvantages

• 
  - Aesthetics (Personal Preference)
  - They generally have lesser expansion slots (2 RAM Slots, 1 GPU Slot, lesser number of chassis fan connectors, USB Ports, etc)
  - They have smaller heat-sinks
  - They generally have lesser power phases

Impact on you,
For the average user you do not go over 32GB of RAM... Even 16GB is not a standard yet. And however so, RAM modules are now available as 16GB Sticks which can be used with a micro-ATX motherboard to give you 32GB of RAM. Again, most people do not require more than a single GPU. Most chassis don't have over 2 chassis fans, and most micro-ATX motherboards have more than 2 chassis fan connectors (or you could always buy an adapter). The fact that they have lesser power phases nowadays has little to no impact due to the increasing efficiencies of CPU's these days. Also, do note that (aesthetics) micro-ATX motherboards look odd in an ATX case. But that is the main reason for micro-ATX motherboards, they take up lesser space.

So final answer?
It is mostly just a matter of size and cost. Unless you're a hardcore builder who needs 128GB of RAM, 5 chassis fans, 4 Titan Xp's in Quad SLI... There's not much of a need for ATX motherboards. In the end it really boils down to your budget and personal preference. I would still buy an ATX motherboard if my budget allows me to do so, just because of future proofing and the fact that I would like to get a bigger case with say an acrylic panel just to show off my build. 😉

 

[Bo Lee]

I think it really depends on the processor. If you have a processor family that is fairly high voltage and a big heat generator, then MATX probably won't work very well. I recently ran into that problem with an FX-8350. I got a killer deal on it, but my Asus board just couldn't handle it like it needed, even though Asus said it would. It barely met the requirements and the least little thing would throw it over. I ended up having to get a full ATX board to find something that would handle it. Before that I had a FX-6300 in it and worked great though. Like I said, it is really determined by the processor.

As for budget, I found an Asrock ATX board that was only about five dollars difference in cost than the MATX boards. So the cost isn't that much different unless you also need to get a case. But even those you can find around 30 bucks pretty easily. Long story short, I got the FX8350, a new motherboard and case for a bit less than what I could normally get the CPU by itself for. So for me it was worth getting it all. I had recently upgraded my video card, so now I really have a new computer. I have had my previous setup for three years and was going to build another one after the first of the year anyway, so no big deal. Just ended up doing it 1/2 year ahead of schedule.

As for the heat sinks, the Asus board I had offered no heat sinks for the VRM, so that created a huge problem when playing next gen games, so that is something to consider. Higher end gaming, the heat sinks are more important than ever! Also, because my Asus board couldn't really max out the CPU, it was throttling everything and my RAM wasn't being used to full potential. Now it is with the newer board.