PC Motherboard Sizes Explained! - Tech Shorts - Part 2.
Without them we wouldn't be able to use most of the technology that we take for granted everyday.
The humble motherboard is something that goes unseen in everyday tech but is essential to make it work. Connecting all the other components from displays, audio, graphics, power and a whole slew of other components, the motherboard is well named. Just think mother ship from independence day for your tech.
In a PC the motherboard has evolved from a smashing of wires, resistors and transistors, into the sleek and very versatile boards we see today. With so many form factors in PC's, the motherboard has had to adapt to fit them and they all each have there own unique sizing.
- Here is a quick breakdown of the Sizes and what they mean.
| Size | Name |
|---|---|
| XL-ATX | Extra Large Advanced Technology Extended |
| eATX | Extended Advanced Technology Extended |
| ATX | Advanced Technology Extended |
| mATX | Micro Advanced Technology Extended |
| mITX | Mini Information Technology Extended |
| nITX | Nano Information Technology Extended |
| ETX | Embedded Technology Extended |
But the 3 major and most commonly used sizes are ATX, mATX and Mini ITX. These are found in a wide range of PC's from high end workstations down to the small Point of Sale computers you can find in many shops to Home Theatre PC's. They range from the amount of features they have, the type of CPU they accept, how much RAM they can hold and a whole whack of other stuff too. The ATX form factor was initially developped by Intel, but the ITX form factor was developed by Via Technology. As time moved on, and more features were added and or replaced, the sizes adapted to suit the workload or what the motherboard was intended for.
In the PC world bigger is always better as you can generally fit more features and more performance out of a larger form factor like an ATX. But then again, if all you want is a computer to run a word processing app, you only need a small one.
ATX.
- ATX boards are typically 244mm wide and 305mm tall. They have 7 expansion slots on average, and that is why most ATX cases have seven removable expansion covers on the rear of the case. But some boards may only have 4 or 5 expansion slots, but they still take up the same amount of space as 7. Some gaming specific motherboards tend to do this as some mid to high end Graphics cards take up 2 and in some instances, 3 slots.
They also typically have a 24pin power socket and an 8 pin CPU power socket to plug your power supply into. Some boards may feature only a 4 pin CPU power socket or an 8 pin plus 4 pin or dual 8 pin sockets, depending on the brand and what it is used for.
They almost always have a minimum of 4 RAM slots for dual channel memory, and some high end boards have up to 8 RAM slots for quad channel memory.
Because of the ATX size, they tend to have support for more Storage connectors and more headers for front panels on cases like USB 2, 3, and 3.1, audio jacks, and in some high end boards, RGB.
Micro ATX.
- Micro ATX boards are the slightly smaller alternative to ATX for those that want a smaller form factor. They are typically 244mm x 244mm. These boards usually have all the same features that you would find on there ATX counterparts, but with some exceptions. Because of the smaller size, they only have 4 expansion slots and have no support for multi GPU setups like Nvidia's SLI or AMD's Crossfire. They can only typically support 2 or 4 RAM slots, though some very high end boards can accommodate 8 for quad channel, but these are only for the super high end CPU's like AMD's Threadripper or Intel's i9 Extreme chips.
The front panel support remains almost identical, but storage connections do suffer by having no more than 4-6 drive connections.
Again due to its size, the power connectors will differ by only requiring a single 4 pin or single 8 pin CPU power connector, but the 24 pin remains the same.
Typically, because these boards are aimed at people who want a smaller and more mobile form factor, some of these boards can also feature built in Wi-Fi along side a standard j45 Ethernet cabled connection to the internet.
Mini ITX.
- These boards are designed to be as compact as possible while retaining many of the features found on there bigger brothers. They are 170mm x 170mm. In recent years, they have gone from small power quiet computing, to high end mobile gaming boards that can perform as well as an ATX board.
These boards are restricted down to only having one expansion slot which is usually used for a singular graphics card unless it is used for something other than gaming, in most cases, these use the onboard graphics and use an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) which has the graphics chip built into the CPU. This is ideal for those that want or need a compact system and don't require graphically intensive workloads.
They only have a maximum of 2 RAM slots and are dual channel only. They feature the same power connections as the micro ATX boards, many have Wi-Fi connectivity but have fewer front panel support and only up to 4 storage expansion sockets in most cases.
But the good news is that they still accept the same high end CPU's that the ATX boards do, but not the enthusiast level chips.
As you can probably guess by now, eATX and XL boards usually have more connectivity across the board. Like more storage, more front panel support, more RAM slots and in some cases, mainly on server boards, have up to 4 CPU sockets to run up to a quad CPU arrangement. More expansion slots for running up to 8 dual expansion slot GPU's for deep learning. They will have a whole host of other features like multiple networking connectivity, more sensors for temperature control, more fan headers, among other things.
Smaller boards like the nano ITX and ETX have much less. They are almost always on board graphics only, with only a select few having the option to choose your own CPU as many have it soldered direct to the PCB. Some may have expandable RAM slots but use SoDimm memory which are primarily used in laptops and notebooks. And the other connectors are typically only bare minimum. The advantage is that these are a lot more mobile and they take up less valuable workspace as they are found in many offices and used in many stores as a POS (point of sale) computer.
When I comes to compatibility, it is easy. What is bigger will not fit in anything smaller and what is smaller will fit in anything bigger. For example... An ATX board will fit into an ATX case, but it wont fit in an ITX one, and an ITX board will fit in an ITX case and an mATX case, and an ATX case.
But as with most technology, PC motherboards are evolving with each new generation. While these are the standards we have today, in 10 years time, they may change entirely or remain as they are.
If you want more details or have any questions, then please get in touch by joining our Discord Channel. We are always happy to help you out.
Thanks for reading.
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dear @techmojo,you are right.The importance of everything in your discussion is immense. At present, almost all modern equipment is used almost all of these things.Your post is really so creative sir.
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