What to look for when replacing motherboard micro atx with an atx!

[Bradley Lind]

Hello there,
I am new to this site, and signed up as it seems there are many experts here who may be able to help me.
This morning I awoke to find my PC's motherboard has fried, most likely due to a power surge, a common occurance from where I am living.(Not showing on the screen and doesn't perform the bleep test when I remove all ram from the computer).

The motherboard I was using is the following one here:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intelsocket1155/h61chipsetmicroatx/h61m-p31w8.html

In having a broken motherboard, I have thought that I might want to upgrade from my old motherboard which is a micro ATX to a standard ATX board.

What exactly are the benefits of changing from a MATX to an ATX board?

I understand that the motherboard may not fit in my case anymore, however I am planning to buy a new case at the same time as replacing the motherboard.

What are the factors I will have to look into to make sure that my new motherboard is compatible with my current setup?


Also I might add, I am a university student, and have a relatively low budget, so price can be an issue.

 

[kfarris]

I would highly recommend you watch this video very helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_t7sZs8XBs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1d9UJIRJe4 (part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgsxg43mgMU (part 2)
Also, invest in a surge protector to prevent future surges from possibly killing your PC...

XL-ATX is basically an extra large ATX motherboard which means you would need a case that fits a XL-ATX motherboard if you get a big one.

Basically the benefits of an ATX MOBO (motherboard) is that it has more features can OC better in a lot of cases and offers more expandability for the future.
Such as Dual graphics or PCI-e for wifi cards or more USB ports and fan headers. Much more IO ports and add on capabilities. Umm ATX offers just a lot more in general really and unless you are a tech savvy fellow such as myself you probably just might stick with a micro ATX motherboard.

The average budget consumer usually gets a ATX motherboard just so they can have future upgrade capabilities or because it offers more features.
It really all depends on what you need it to do. And what you want it to do later down the road.
So if you want a motherboard that supports 64gig of ram then ya I would suggest an ATX board. Especially if you program a lot or do video editing or app development etc..

Just so many factors come in to play tuff to chose but easy if you know what you are looking for in a motherboard.



Update 1
I would recommend Asrock motherboards I use them on all most all of my builds or MSI either are great. Asus i hear horror stories from so I personally avoid them but I haven't tried them so I cannot say.. Also, if you get a newer power supply make sure it is at least 80+ bronze certified I see people fry systems all the time because they cheap out on a power supply...

I can recommend and compare some motherboards for you if you wish. I just need to know what CPU you wish to use and how much ram you need or want it to support. And if you plan on doing crossfire or sli with graphics cards. I can also recommend some nice looking cases if you wish to go with your motherboard.