What's wrong with mATX?

[Double Trouble]

I'm building a PC for a friend, and I started looking at what nForce2 mobo to buy... I don't see very much written on various websites about the micro ATX boards -- what's wrong with Micro ATX? I mean, if the board has IGP (video included), lan, audio, firewire, usb2 etc all integrated, why would a *non* computer geek such as my friend need anything more than 3 open PCI slots and an open AGP slot (for if he wants to add a real video card)??

I was thinking of putting one WD 80 GB drive in there, a cheap burner, floppy, maybe a DVD, along with Athlon 2800 Barton, 512 mb of memory. Should be a pretty decent system right? Am I missing something? Is there something severely wrong with micro ATX boards that I'm not aware of?

 

[Electric Amish]

Nothing really. Sometimes they don't have an AGP slot (you covered that) and they usually only have 2 RAM slots, but all-in-all, they are very decent for the average user, IMO.

amish

 

[Double Trouble]

All these micro atx cases seem to come with smaller PS's though. I wonder if a good quality 200W PS could handle the setup I described.

Yeah, it's cramped quarters, but for someone who won't be messing with stuff in the case, and won't be adding dual Raptors in RAID mode anytime soon , I don't see what's bad about this. So now I'm curious as to why mATX is so little known, with reviews being very few and far between.....

 

[tapir]

nothing is really wrong with them, but usually they arent any cheaper and there arent as many upgrade options, so most people just stick with standard ATX

 

[DaveSimmons]

FYI a few mATX cases like my Cooler Master ATCS 620 desktop HTPC case do take full-size power supplies.

And why few reviews: most people who used to buy mATX now buy a cube or booksize PC (like the nifty new MSI Hermes P4) instead.

Only really picky people like me build their home theater PC with mATX instead of a cube for the better choice of components

 

[crypticlogin]

I've noticed this too and the only thing I can reason is because mATX has grown this ugly stigma that the form factor is only marketable towards business users. I mean look at the majority of mATX boards: "value" VIA/SiS chipsets, no real adjustable BIOS settings, all-in-one solutions. If I was an IT guy looking to buy systems for employees to do work, I'll pass over an nForce(2) for a VIA if it meant saving 20-50% and less ways for them to screw up.

With that said, I've accepted the fact that my dream mATX board will come months after everyone picks up their ATX version. But don't lose hope just yet: I'm looking forward to the Asus A7N8X-VM that's supposed to come out "soon."

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: tenchim
I've noticed this too and the only thing I can reason is because mATX has grown this ugly stigma that the form factor is only marketable towards business users. I mean look at the majority of mATX boards: "value" VIA/SiS chipsets, no real adjustable BIOS settings, all-in-one solutions. If I was an IT guy looking to buy systems for employees to do work, I'll pass over an nForce(2) for a VIA if it meant saving 20-50% and less ways for them to screw up.

With that said, I've accepted the fact that my dream mATX board will come months after everyone picks up their ATX version. But don't lose hope just yet: I'm looking forward to the Asus A7N8X-VM that's supposed to come out "soon."

More info on A7N8X-VM pleeze!

 

[clumsum]

I like the mATX systems when building for friends or relatives, all they usually want is small, inexpensive and quiet.
The more integrated components, the better for these systems, and the less overall draw on the psu.
Not to mention that the overall system cost is reduced.

When it comes time to upgrade, just replacing the mb and cpu is usually enough for a big improvement on the integrated systems.
I'm not saying that mATX is the last word for someone who has their side cover off on a regular basis and loves tinkering and tweeking hardware on their pc.
I would also like to see that A7N8X-VM!

 

[crypticlogin]

More info on A7N8X-VM pleeze!

Easy enough, just google for "A7N8X-VM" and that's what I'm reading (with a little help from Babelfish.altavista.com for the Chinese pages!). There's only 12 or so hits so it's not heavy reading.

But in summary:
- Kickoff event the week of May 20th
- AGP 8X, nForce2-G (IGP, MCP), official 400 DDR FSB support

the -VM boards usually have most of the features of the base boards but just knowing mATX & nForce2 is one huge step in what I'm looking for.

Edit: wait... nForce2-G!?!?! OOOOOoooo! Gimme that gigabit Ethernet lovin'! :Q

Sorry, the -G is just to denote an IGP and MCP combo. Courtesty of amdboard.com:

-G: IGP + MCP
-GT: IGP + MCP-T
-S: SPP + MCP
-ST: SPP + MCP-T

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: tenchim

More info on A7N8X-VM pleeze!

Easy enough, just google for "A7N8X-VM" and that's what I'm reading (with a little help from Babelfish.altavista.com for the Chinese pages!). There's only 12 or so hits so it's not heavy reading.

But in summary:
- Kickoff event the week of May 20th
- AGP 8X, nForce2-G (IGP, MCP), official 400 DDR FSB support

the -VM boards usually have most of the features of the base boards but just knowing mATX & nForce2 is one huge step in what I'm looking for.

Thank you tenchim! I have a bunch of A7N266-VM's at work and have been waiting for Asus to turn up the heat with an nForce2 variant of it. Rock on!

Edit: wait... nForce2-G!?!?! OOOOOoooo! Gimme that gigabit Ethernet lovin'! :Q

 

[Double Trouble]

Thanks for the interesting info guys, looks I'm gonna have to wait a little to see if the A7N8NX-VM might be in my future.. I think I'm going to try building my first mATX PC. The only thing I'm not sure about right now is the PS in these boxes. I don't know what the 'quality' manufacturers are for mATX power supplies.. maybe the same as 'regular', maybe not?

With a 'regular' ATX case PS, I usually go with an Antec 400 or so, but I gotta check on the mATX's a little further. I hate feeling like an AOL user (ie clueless) when I buy something.

 

[Zepper]

Look for the mobo to have a P4 connector to power the CPU. Those can run with a much smaller PSU. I run mine on a Sparkle 250.
.bh.
:moon:

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: tagej
Thanks for the interesting info guys, looks I'm gonna have to wait a little to see if the A7N8NX-VM might be in my future.. I think I'm going to try building my first mATX PC. The only thing I'm not sure about right now is the PS in these boxes. I don't know what the 'quality' manufacturers are for mATX power supplies.. maybe the same as 'regular', maybe not?

With a 'regular' ATX case PS, I usually go with an Antec 400 or so, but I gotta check on the mATX's a little further. I hate feeling like an AOL user (ie clueless) when I buy something.

Speaking for myself, I use the mATX A7N266-VM's in a mid-tower ATX case (Antec Plus660AMG) so I can get a nice "overkill" PSU that I expect to last for five years of office use, hopefully longer.