Mini ITX | MicroATX | ATX - Which motherboards have the most power?

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Jacob_107

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I'm planning to build my first Mini PC build for studying and also for some light gaming such as CSGO, Rust. As this is my first build I planning to upgrade later on and add a solid gpu when I will be able to afford it. My current parts list for now: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/rYrxsJ

My question is, which motherboard sizes (Mini ITX or MicroATX,..) have the most power? I'm looking for a good quality Mini ITX mb with Wifi built inside such as the one in my parts list. I would like to also ask you for your opinion o what do you think about the motherboard and if you know about any other mb even MicroATX with built in Wifi which are better or even cheaper please suggest it in the comments down bellow. Thank you for your help. :)
 
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Rogue Leader
Mini ITX, mATX, and ATX are simply size and form factors, none of them have "more power" than any other.

Starting from the smallest MiniITX usually only has a single GPU slot (so you can't add anything else) and 2 memory DIMM slots. Most are not good for overclocking as their power phases are smaller due to the size so they can't deliver as much juice to the processor for heavy overclocking. And you wouldn't want to anyway as most good MiniITX cases have limited airflow and space for big air coolers or liquid radiators. MiniITX boards can many times have a lot more features like built in WiFi since their small form factor dictates adding things like this is impossible. Also these can feel cramped, and sometimes lack things that take...
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Can't say one is really more powerful than the other because they both have trade-offs. If you want to SLI or CrossFire in the future, you'll need to get a mATX board. However most mATX boards don't have built in WiFi like many mITX boards. mITX cases often run smaller than mATX cases. However mATX can also sometimes hold more RAM. Like I said, trade-offs. You have to decide which set of perks you would like and realize what you're giving up.
 
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I would like to ask what do you mean by SLI or CrossFire? As you can see in my parts list I got 2x 8gb ram sticks which should be enought for me. But the one odd thing is that I don't have ethernet cable available so I will be able to use Wifi only. Should I go for mb with built in wifi or just buy a cheap wifi adapter. I heard that wifi usb adapters are not so reliable that is why I should prefer going with built in wifi, but I'm not an expert that is why I would like to ask you for help when choosing the right motherboard for my build. Please check out the part list link above. Thanks for a quick reply.
 
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As I said before I'm not planning to do any Pro gaming so even if I will be able to afford a solid gpu I will only need one of them so Mini ITX mb will be fine, I think. I will post the link to the mb down bellow so you are able to check it out and se if the adapter that is already included will be enought or whould I go for the one above?

ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/x2mxFT/asrock-motherboard-h110mitxac
Official ASRock website link: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H110M-ITXac/
 
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Mini ITX, mATX, and ATX are simply size and form factors, none of them have "more power" than any other.

Starting from the smallest MiniITX usually only has a single GPU slot (so you can't add anything else) and 2 memory DIMM slots. Most are not good for overclocking as their power phases are smaller due to the size so they can't deliver as much juice to the processor for heavy overclocking. And you wouldn't want to anyway as most good MiniITX cases have limited airflow and space for big air coolers or liquid radiators. MiniITX boards can many times have a lot more features like built in WiFi since their small form factor dictates adding things like this is impossible. Also these can feel cramped, and sometimes lack things that take up space like M.2 slots and a lot of SATA ports.

mATX is just a smaller form of ATX, its nearly identical except it only has 4 slots which allows it to fit in a short tower case or some other smaller cases. mATX will have at least 2 GPU slots so you can run SLI or Crossfire (a dual GPU setup) and 2 additional slots. It will have 4 memory DIMM slots as well for memory upgradability. They will also have M.2 slots, plenty of SATA ports, etc. These less commonly have things like WiFi built in since they have the room for a WiFi card. Usually they have a more robust power phase as well so there are plenty of boards that will support even heavy overclocking. Sometimes the space between the processor and memory is a little cramped and so larger air coolers will not fit with all the memory slots filled.

ATX boards generally don't have things like WiFi, what they do have is as many as 8 slots including 4-5 GPU slots to do things like quad SLI or Crossfire. They may have more than 1 M.2 Slot, lots of SATA ports and other headers as well. At a minimum 4 memory DIMM slots that usually have room to fit big air coolers with no compromises and require a full tower case.

It all comes down to the features you want, and how big you want the computer to be.
 
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As now I'm more comfortable with the difference between those boards I would probably choose a Mini ITX board as this will be my first build and I will only use it for studying and light gaming such as CSGO, Rust, etc. so I wouldn't need 2 or more gpu slots and as I said before I'm only able to use Wifi which Mini ITX do include.

I would like to ask you for your personal opinion about this Mini ITX board:

  • ■ ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/x2mxFT/asrock-mothe...
    ■ Official ASRock website link: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H110M-ITXac/
 
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Alrighty, the skinny on everything - ITX vs mATX.

To be simple about it - it boils down to expandability. ITX is very limited in regards to options due to smaller real estate. It's pretty tiny, and space is at a premium. mATX has much more space (96 sq inches) vs ITX (44 sq inches, or less than half) and between the rear IO panel, the CPU block, and the RAM block, there isn't much room left. Meanwhile, with twice the available space, you have a lot more room. LOTS.

In general, things that you can have with a mATX that you can't have with ITX:

1) more RAM. Most ITX boards come with only two slots. Not a problem these days as you can get larger DIMMs to make up for it, and most computers are just fine with 16GB (2x8GB). But, should you want to go bigger down the road, you're limited.

2) more storage. Most ITX boards only have 2-4 SATA ports. But, with a limited build if you wind up with only 2x SATA, that leaves you with a boot drive, maybe an optical drive or a large bulk storage drive. Meanwhile, most mATX boards have the full complement of 6x SATA ports. Again, you have more options and expandability down the road.

3) PCIe/PCI expansion. ITX has exactly one PCIe x16 slot. Allows for one graphics card. mATX meanwhile has provisions for 4 slots (mix of x16/x8/x1 or PCI legacy). Again, it gives you options - if you decide to add a secondary graphics card, or more storage, or video capture, or anything - then you have a choice. While these days SLI is being depreciated by nVidia (with good reason) - with an ITX board you only have one slot for one video card. Period. (just as a frame of reference, I have a secondary nic, twin 960s, raid card, and I still have three more slots on my full ATX board).

4) M.2 drive support. Many newer boards are coming with M.2 slots for the small SSD drives. Some ITX do. Makes a build a little easier.

5) WIFI. Many mITX boards come with built in WIFI via built in to the board, or on a mini-PCIe slot. Because ITX has limited space they provide for this option, most mATX boards do not, and getting WIFI is either a USB dongle or use one of your expansion slots. Regardless, it would cost extra which is offset by the slightly higher cost of ITX boards making it a wash.

6) overclocking options. Usually because of the limited space, there's less room for a robust power delivery system on an ITX board. In addition, because they're put into (usually much) smaller cases, they don't have the volume for handling excess heat. On an mATX build, they're put into slightly bigger cases, more room for airflow, and more board space for better power delivery, so they have more OC headroom.

So - all in all, mATX gives you more options to upgrade in the future, but if you plan your build appropriately there's no reason why an ITX build wouldn't be just as good. If even think you might want to expand in the future (build in additional storage, perhaps go with a secondary video card, etc) then go with mATX. If this is a dedicated build and you don't plan upgrades, then build a tiny ITX build and get a decent little card (GTX 1060 or GTX 1070, or a RX 460/470).

Let us know how it goes.
 
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Thank you both for helping me. My story is that, I would like to upgrade from my AMD A8 laptop to a Mini ITX/mATX build which would give me much better performance when playing games. I would like to use this build for studying and also some gaming such as CSGO as a hobby. It is a multiplayer, fps game which requires more power but it is nothing to do with heavy gaming. I would like to use something with good quality which would least long and also something with a quiet low budget as this is my first build. I'm not planning to do any upgrades to make it PRO gaming pc so I personally think a Mini Itx board would suit well. My budget is also low as I'm only a student. I'm able to spend £800 including the gpu. The prices in the UK went also up and now I'm a bit confused with all this stuff. I was also thinking if I really need a desktop or if I should by £800 (gaming) laptop or should I just save my money for something else. Also the new iPhone 7 should come out in September but I would rather prefer a Mini build. What do you think about this situation? Should I go for my first build?
 
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Exactly that is why I would rather go for a Mini build such as this: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/rYrxsJ
This part list doesn't include a gpu yet but I was looking forward to upgrade later on. I think I should go for the motherboard I got at in the parts list. Or if you could suggest anything better for reasonable price than I would go for it because I would like to fully use my build for about 5 years and than maybe upgrade or rebuild something new. But as this is my first build I need to buy the whole setup including the monitor, mouse, keybr, speakers, os etc etc. In the future it would be much easier to upgrade. What do you think? Do you think my build could least long or should I save and earn more money for a better build? I'm only a student so I don't really have much sources where I can earn my money from. I think for me as a student a Mini build would be fine. But there is one more thing that confuses me. I'm not sure about the case. First I chose the Thermaltake Core V1 but I though that it might be a bit too small so I found another case called Phanteks Enthoo which is a mid tower case but it has one disadvantage that it doesn't support mATX. Do you know about any other cheap and nice cases? Thanks a lot.
 
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I made a small change to put the motherboard I suggested, its really a small amount more money

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£181.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H170I-PRO Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£113.33 @ More Computers)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£51.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.48 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case (£59.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£69.92 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£99.99)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 21.5" 60Hz Monitor (£89.98 @ Amazon UK)
Other: Logitech Wireless Combo MK345 Keyboard and Mouse Set (£24.85)
Total: £737.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 14:31 BST+0100

And a much better board.

The case you selected is what you want if you're going MiniITX. Coolermaster also makes a nice little case called the Elite 110 for a Mini ITX build. Overall you made some great choices, especially the PSU, I have that in my server, its excellent.
 
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Thank you so much for all that help. Some other people helped me as well when putting this build together and I have no idea about PSUs so I hope it will suit me well after I buy it. This will be probably my top build for now I also hope that this motherboard will give me all I want. Now all I need are the parts. Thank you again.
 
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Bit more for your money if you go matx.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£181.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£62.49 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£51.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.48 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Element Gaming HYPERION MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£38.49 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Antec 550W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£99.99)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter (£12.98 @ Novatech)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 21.5" 60Hz Monitor (£89.98 @ Amazon UK)
Other: Logitech Wireless Combo MK345 Keyboard and Mouse Set (£24.85)
Total: £718.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 15:17 BST+0100
 
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