Question Micro ATX worth it?

[stethnorun]

How much smaller is micro-ATX than standard, especially as it relates to cases? I've only ever built mid-towers and I'm about to buy parts for a PC to connect to the living room TV. If possible, I want it to take up as little space as possible, but if the size difference isn't huge, I'll probably just make another mid-tower. Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[Deleted member 2960559]

M-ATX will have 4 expansion slots vs, the 7 on a full atx motherboard.
How many do you plan to use?
For most of us, that is exactly one for a graphics card.
For that, you could use a ITX motherboard with only one pcie x16 slot.

ATX - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The size case you need may be determined by how many drives you need to install or the size of the graphics card.
What is your planned list of parts?

 

[turtletarget111]

The first PC I built was Micro ATX and I regretted it. I like to tinker with my machines and have as much expandability as possible. I don't mind having a larger machine as a tradeoff. That being said, Micro ATX boards have come a long way, and many of them have a lot more expandability than they used to such as multiple NVME slots, four memory slots, proper USB 3.0 and USB C headers and more. You wouldn't be giving up much going with Micro ATX, provided you won't be loading the system up with storage devices or anything crazy. If you're after a simple machine for your living room, the smaller size board will serve you just fine. Although, if you only need one NVME slot and one 16x for a video card, you could shrink all the way down to Mini ITX if you want the smallest footprint possible. It really depends what you're after in terms of the tradeoffs you are willing to make for size. Hope this helped, take care.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Agreed. Case size is going to be determined by the number and size of components you need to install as well as the intended usage. While you could drop down to a Mini-ITX form-factor, if the intended usage is heavy gaming, you're probably going to want a larger case for better cooling and larger components.

However, if you're just looking for some type of media player / small gamer, then I'd recommend a Micro-ATX or even a Mini-ITX motherboard/case combo.

-Wolf sends

 

[Lafong]

Micro ATX boards are fine for many use cases...................BUT...............you may be frustrated by the case choices.

I switched from standard ATX to micro about 7 years ago in an attempt to reduce my overall PC dimensions and weight. I found that there were very few case choices that were not nearly as large as would be needed for a standard ATX board...mid-towers. Nearly everything I looked at was at least 16 inches in both height and depth, excluding a few "cube" type cases that were eliminated due to too many compromises in design.

I eventually found a suitable Lian Li A04, which is 15 tall; 18 deep, and 7 3/4 wide. I don't think it is still available.

You may be able to find something suitable among current cases, but I'd certainly make the case choice a priority and decide on it before going any farther.

 

[punkncat]

How much smaller is micro-ATX than standard, especially as it relates to cases? I've only ever built mid-towers and I'm about to buy parts for a PC to connect to the living room TV. If possible, I want it to take up as little space as possible, but if the size difference isn't huge, I'll probably just make another mid-tower. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Take a look at some of the Silverstone HTPC cases. Airflow is not always ideal, but they go well into the "entertainment center".

The biggest draw for M-ATX is price. You will find ATX and M-ITX are typically more expensive for similar level/features. The biggest issue you will run into with small form cases are temperatures, particularly with powerful builds.

 

[kira-faye]

The only real benefit of mATX is cost. The boards are typically cheapest, then full size ATX, then ITX. If you want a small machine you build ITX. If you want full featured you go ATX. If you're $60 short on your budget you go mATX. It's the bargain basement of PC building.

 

[dwd999]

I use this case for my TV watching computer; you can use any size motherboard you want:

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/computer-chassis/GD09/

 

[stethnorun]

The only real benefit of mATX is cost. The boards are typically cheapest, then full size ATX, then ITX. If you want a small machine you build ITX. If you want full featured you go ATX. If you're $60 short on your budget you go mATX. It's the bargain basement of PC building.

Okay interesting. So really it's between ITX and ATX. Thanks.

 

[stethnorun]

Yeah sorry I should have been more specific: I just want a PC mostly for browser watching (YouTube, Netflix, etc) and for very light gaming (Jackbox, maybe some easy-to-run adventure/narrative games). I do want to put a graphics card in it but not a huge one (just something to take the burden off the CPU).

 

[Lafong]

Yeah sorry I should have been more specific: I just want a PC mostly for browser watching (YouTube, Netflix, etc) and for very light gaming (Jackbox, maybe some easy-to-run adventure/narrative games). I do want to put a graphics card in it but not a huge one (just something to take the burden off the CPU).

Shop for ALL motherboards that are compatible with your chosen CPU.

Omit those that don't have features you MUST have....type of monitor connections; number and type of M.2 drive ports; USB connections; etc.

Further sorting would depend largely on budget and pre-conceived notions. You may have some allegiance to Brand X or Internet source of info Y.

Offhand, I don't see anything in your requirements list that would strongly point to ATX. But that may not pacify you at all.

Are you considering mATX because of price or because it might lead to a smaller footprint on your desk?

You need some luck regardless. You can have a bad experience regardless of how many hours you spent researching. Entirely possible you'll discover things AFTER you build that you couldn't have been expected to know beforehand.

I wouldn't get caught up in over-analysis.

 

[stethnorun]

Really just concerned with footprint. Like, if I have to put a mid-tower somewhere near the TV, fine. But if I can squeeze it into the entertainment unit somehow, that's better.

 

[Lafong]

Really just concerned with footprint. Like, if I have to put a mid-tower somewhere near the TV, fine. But if I can squeeze it into the entertainment unit somehow, that's better.

That implies that the case is the first decision point.

I assume you have measured the available space.

Might be 2, 20, or 200 available cases that will fit in that space.

How do you sort out the ones that won't fit.....it's difficult without taking a lot of time and looking at each manufacturer's web site for each possible choice.

Amazon sorting is beyond pathetic. You can search for "13600K" and be shown toothpaste.

Newegg has generally excellent sorting, but I'm not at all sure they include dimensions.

The few cases that are shorter may in fact be considerable deeper, with the overall size in cubic inches still as much as an ordinary mid-tower.

Maybe depth is not an issue, but height is?

If you are the type that would frequently want to open the case for whatever reason, that might be a factor. You can tolerate certain deficiencies in case design if you only have to deal with them once....during the first assembly. Those defects may be intolerable if you want to get inside the case 3 or 4 times a year.

For a tower, case width below 8 inches will likely start to impinge on the cooler height. My case is 7 3/4 inches wide and I can't use a cooler taller than about 140 mm (5.5 inches).