List of Mini-DTX motherboards

[cbn]

For anyone that hasn't heard of Mini-DTX (which is very likely since retailers like Newegg and Amazon list the form factor as Micro-ATX) it is basically the Mini-ITX form factor with two PCI expansion slots instead of one. This changes the dimensions of the board from 6.7" x 6.7" to 6.7" x 8.0" (or less). The good thing is that because the board is basically just an extended Mini-ITX it will fit into any enclosure that can handle a Mini-ITX motherboard and a conventionally placed dual slot video card. An example of such a case would be the Silverstone Sugo SG05 or the Coolermaster Elite 110.

So why would a person want a Mini-DTX motherboard rather than a Mini-ITX board? One reason is cost as they tend to be cheaper than Mini-ITX. The other reason, of course, is the extra PCI expansion slot. The downside on the boards I have seen with PCIe x 16 in the outermost position as shown below is that if installed in a dual slot Mini-ITX case only a single slot video card could be used:

 

[cbn]

LGA 1155:

ECS H61H2-MV, $29.99 plus $1.99 shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135343&ignorebbr=1

BIOSTAR H61MGV3, $49.99 free shipping (or $37.19 free shipping for quantities 2 or greater)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138386&ignorebbr=1

LGA 1150:

ECS H81H3-M4 (V1.0A), $34.99 plus $2.99 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135360&ignorebbr=1

BIOSTAR H81MHV3, $39.99 plus $0.99 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138407&ignorebbr=1

LGA 1151:

BIOSTAR H110MHV3, $56.99 plus $2.99 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138425&ignorebbr=1

Socket AM1:

BIOSTAR AM1MH, $31.99 plus $2.99 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138400

P.S. There was one ASRock LGA 1150 board ( ASRock H81M-DG4) that I couldn't find measurements for so I didn't include it. (edit: See close visual comparison to another board of known dimensions in post #23) There were also two ASRock LGA 1151 boards (ASRock H110M-DGS, ASRock B150M-HDS) that looked at first glance like they were Mini-DTX, but had measurements 7.52" x 7.40" (which is too large in one dimension).

 

[Blue_Max]

I don't get why they didn't swap the PCIe16 slot so it could be used in ITX cases with dual-slot cards. They'd have sold like hotcakes! *sigh*

 

[Bryf50]

I don't get why they didn't swap the PCIe16 slot so it could be used in ITX cases with dual-slot cards. They'd have sold like hotcakes! *sigh*

What would the point of that be? You'd be covering the PCIEx1 slot making it no better than mini-itx.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I don't get why they didn't swap the PCIe16 slot so it could be used in ITX cases with dual-slot cards. They'd have sold like hotcakes! *sigh*

Because that would cover the x1 slot and defeat the purpose of the two expansion slots?

You'll also notice they're all low-end chipsets. Not really enthusiast-targeted.

A motherboard like this is probably intended to be combined with a multi-port NIC (x1) and a RAID card (x4/x8) as a NAS, or a sound card (x1) and a lower-end single slot GPU (x16) as an HTPC.

A case with room for one of these boards with a double-wide GPU cooler would basically be one slot short of a uATX tower anyway.

 

[zir_blazer]

Wasn't DTX the Form Factor specification developed by AMD during 2007, which was DoA since there was not even a single Motherboard or Case released for it? You mean 9 years later we're starting to get products that uses it?

What's next? Intel releasing Tejas?

 

[Blue_Max]

I think it's goofy... classified as mATX for a reason. But, yeah... as far as cheap solutions go, it's not terrible. You can still use two slots and they're using less material than your standard mATX board -- AND they can still charge a premium for the ITX design.

Glad there are some very small mATX cases these days, even with full-height cards.

 

[cbn]

A motherboard like this is probably intended to be combined with a multi-port NIC (x1) and a RAID card (x4/x8) as a NAS, or a sound card (x1) and a lower-end single slot GPU (x16) as an HTPC.

Also the PCIe x 1 slot can be used for a TV tuner card such as the following:

http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_quadhd.html

http://hauppauge.com/site/products/prods_hvr_internal.html

Then stream the content to other devices in the house (or out of the house) via ethernet or wireless using the following app:

http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_extend.html

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think it's goofy... classified as mATX for a reason. But, yeah... as far as cheap solutions go, it's not terrible. You can still use two slots and they're using less material than your standard mATX board -- AND they can still charge a premium for the ITX design.

Glad there are some very small mATX cases these days, even with full-height cards.

Would like some links or pictures of examples of "small" mATX cases that can fit these DTX mobos. I've used several of the listed mobos in some builds, but I was basically forced to put them into normal mATX towers, like the Rosewill FBM-02.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Would like some links or pictures of examples of "small" mATX cases that can fit these DTX mobos. I've used several of the listed mobos in some builds, but I was basically forced to put them into normal mATX towers, like the Rosewill FBM-02.

Do a Google search for "slim uATX case". You're limited to half-height cards.

I'd also consider the Sugo SG09 small. (It's about as small as you can get and fit a uATX motherboard in it.)

 

[ReignQuake]

This is a very interesting form factor for me, Assuming the GPU is happy and not too fat. That extra PCIe slot is begging for a sound card.

 

[cbn]

Some LGA 1151 Mini-DTX boards on the ECS website that haven't shown up on Newegg yet:

ECS H110M4-C21 (V1.0)

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...oryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=228&LanID=0

ECS H110M4-C23 (V1.0)

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...oryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=228&LanID=0

ECS H110M4-C2H (V1.0)

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...oryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=228&LanID=0

All boards support DDR4 and have PCIe x 16 in the outer position with a PCIe x 1 in the inner position. The C21 only has VGA for display output, while the C23 and C2H add 2 HDMI 1.4a and 1 HDMI 1.4a respectively. Otherwise they appear to be the same in specification.

 

[cbn]

LGA 1151:

BIOSTAR H110MGV3 Ver. 7.x

(This board like the BIOSTAR H110MHV3 from post #2 has DIMM slots for DDR3L. The only difference appears to be the lack of HDMI on the back panel)

http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=831

 

[cbn]

Do a Google search for "slim uATX case". You're limited to half-height cards.

Slim Mini-DTX cases also exist. Here is one I found:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=653&area=en

(7 liters, uses SFX PSU)

Pretty interesting in that it has the two 80mm fan mounts. Maybe two super slow 80mm fans coupled to this passive heatsink? Then if placed in the vertical position using the two supplied feet (see second picture) let the hot air rise right of the case. Or maybe (with a 35W CPU?) run without the 80mm case fans and just let convection take care of the heat removal? (This coupled to a SFX PSU capable of semi-fanless operation)

 

[cbn]

A review of the Artic Alpine passive 11 cooler I mentioned in the above post here.

P.S. It is 69mm tall and the Silverstone ML09 enclosure can handle a 70mm cooler with the multipurpose bracket empty. So it should fit.

 

[ElFenix]

Would like some links or pictures of examples of "small" mATX cases that can fit these DTX mobos. I've used several of the listed mobos in some builds, but I was basically forced to put them into normal mATX towers, like the Rosewill FBM-02.

Shouldn't they fit in your typical 2 slot "mini-ITX" case?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Shouldn't they fit in your typical 2 slot "mini-ITX" case?

Yes, they should, but cost was a factor too. I picked up three of the FBM-02 cases for $22 ea., without PSU.

I haven't found any good two-slot ITX/DTX cases that are also cheap, with or without PSU.

BTW, what's up with those budget Skylake / 1151 mobos, that are VGA-only? Considering that SKL's iGPU doesn't even (officially) support VGA-out.

Is it still cheaper to use an HDMI-to-VGA conversion chip on the mobo, than to pay the HDMI licensing fee for producing a mobo with an HDMI output?

 

[cbn]

I haven't found any good two-slot ITX/DTX cases that are also cheap, with or without PSU.

I saw you recommend the Winisis WT-02 case (which comes with TFX PSU) in this post.

Looking at the internal layout it appears to have room for Mini-DTX, but they blocked off the second expansion slot.

In fact, looking at the specs at the Winsis website here, it does list two form factors for the motherboard (170mm x 170mm and 170mm x 190mm).

MOTHERBOARD FORM FACTOR：
Mini-ITX 17x17cm & 17x19cm

Maybe someone should call them and ask for a version with that second slot made available? (It would fit every Mini-DTX board I have listed in this thread with the exception of the ECS H61H2-MV (LGA 1155) which is spec'd at 17x19.5cm (EDIT) and BIOSTAR AM1MH (Socket AM1 board) which is 170mm x 191mm)

 

[VirtualLarry]

LGA 1155:
ECS H61H2-MV, $29.99 plus $1.99 shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135343&ignorebbr=1

I saw you recommend the Winisis WT-02 case (which comes with TFX PSU) in this post.
Looking at the internal layout it appears to have room for Mini-DTX, but they blocked off the second expansion slot.
In fact, looking at the specs at the Winsis website here, it does list two form factors for the motherboard (170mm x 170mm and 170mm x 190mm).

Maybe someone should call them and ask for a version with that second slot made available? (It would fit every Mini-DTX board I have listed in this thread with the exception of the ECS H61H2-MV (LGA 1155) which is spec'd at 17x19.5cm)

Interesting. That's the exact mobo I tried in one of those cases, and it didn't fit. (Was a few mm too wide.) So I guess I mentally wrote-off that case as being suitable for DTX mobos. If the other ones will fit, then I'll re-visit that decision.

Edit: Well, took me a few hours, had some issues with the Winsis case. (PSU +5V may be failing?)

LGA 1150:
ECS H81H3-M4 (V1.0A), $34.99 plus $2.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135360&ignorebbr=1

That mobo DOES WORK in that case. I'm happy with it now. It sure acted weird a few times though. Installed Win7 64-bit. Installed Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon 64-bit. Then, at the GRUB menu, when I selected Win7, suddenly the USB devices would shut off, and even unplugging them and plugging them back in didn't work. I fiddled with the BIOS, and seemingly got it fixed, but it seemed like the problem was random. Also, powering on, sometimes it does a double-post, for some reason. Thought that we got rid of that during the C2D days. Guess not?

 

[cbn]

That mobo DOES WORK in that case.

Very happy to hear that worked out!

The Mini-DTX standard is officially 170mm x 203mm (Mini-ITX is 170mm x 170mm) but the ECS and Biostar LGA 1150 and LGA 1151 boards plus the Biostar LGA 1155 listed in this thread are 170mm x 190mm so they should fit.

P.S. The Biostar AM1 board I listed in this thread is actually 170mm x 191mm....so that one plus the ECS 1155 (170mm x 195mm) would be out of spec for that Winisis WT-02 enclosure.

 

[cbn]

Another 170mm x 190mm board:

ECS B85H3-M9 (V1.0), LGA 1150:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135395R (open box listing)

 

[cbn]

Regarding the price difference between Mini-DTX and Mini-ITX, If we compare the following motherboards:

1.) ECS H81H3-M4 (V1.0A), $34.99 plus $2.99 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135360&ignorebbr=1

2.) ECS H81H3-I/HDMI (V1.0), $44.99 free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=ECS_Motherboard-_-13-135-374-_-Product

Both are LGA 1150 with H81 chipset. The features on both boards are the same, the only exception being the ECS H81H3-M4 (V1.0A) has PCIe x16 and PCIe x1 and the ECS H81H3-I/HDMI (V1.0) with PCIe x16 and Mini-PCIe. Price difference (including shipping): $7 lower for Mini-DTX.

 

[cbn]

P.S. There was one ASRock LGA 1150 board ( ASRock H81M-DG4) that I couldn't find measurements for so I didn't include it.

Comparing the picture of the ASRock H81M-DG4:

to ECS H81H3-M4 (V1.0A) which measures 170mm x 190mm:

It does look like the standoff holes are the same distance to the outer edges on both boards. So I'm thinking the ASRock H81M-DG4 very likely measures 170mm x 190mm.

 

[Blue_Max]

Would like some links or pictures of examples of "small" mATX cases that can fit these DTX mobos. I've used several of the listed mobos in some builds, but I was basically forced to put them into normal mATX towers, like the Rosewill FBM-02.

This one's my all-time favorite, the InWin BK623 (and series)
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX29094

By far THEee smallest mATX case I've found that's still full-height! The only downside is the DTX power supply you'd need to replace for high-end video cards. If you're careful with picking parts, the 300W power supply included is actually very good.

I seem to recall a few ITX cases out there used a 3-slot design so you could still squeeze a 2-slot card into it... some even take standard power supplies (so long as they're not extra long!)

 

[Sheep221]

Everything that is between mini ITX and full ATX is micro ATX, filters on amazon and newegg and probably many other stores are correctly written. I know these kind of boards although I only hear term DTX for a second time now(both times on these forum).