why so many atx motherboards?

[PCMasterGuy]

I just checked anus new motherboard line up for z370 on their site. There are like 50 standard ATX boards, one mITX board, and NOT A SINGLE mATX board.  Why in the hell are ATX boards getting so much TLC? While the smaller form factor users always get treated like second class citizens??? Especially mATX users? Is there even still not a decent mATX board for Ryzen out there for example?

 

I don't see why ATX is so popular, especially now that it doesn't make any sense to have any more to use more than one GPU due to lack of support for multiple GPU setup, and the fact that modern games don't make much of a difference whether you use a 1080ti for example in SLI or not... You still get about the same performance, so why do you need like 6 PCIe slots to begin with?

 

When do you think we can expect to see a mATX z370 board from Asus? Will there be one at all?

[Lurick]

I didn't realize anus made motherboards, is that the customer service division for Asus?

 

ATX is still the most popular form factor, I'm sure in a few weeks we'll see more small form factor boards  

[PCMasterGuy]

lol what?

[PCMasterGuy]

oh I get, it damn spell checker  maybe an apt name though if I don't see an mATX board from them soon, haha.

[Oshino Shinobu]

ATX is still the most common and practical form factor, so most boards are ATX because why would you make a board that only a few people are going to buy? 

 

SLI still makes a pretty big difference and support is still very much there. More than 2 way is pretty much gone now, but 2 way still makes sense for 4K and 1440p 144Hz. Also, GPUs aren't the only things that use PCIe slots. 

 

IMO, mATX is kind of a useless form factor. It's not that much smaller than ATX, so really small cases aren't a thing for mATX and you lose a load of potential expansion that's available on ATX. I'd ideally like to see mATX fade out and it become mainly ATX and mITX. As far as I can see, mATX is in a weird middle ground that inherits the drawbacks of both form factors. 

[TahoeDust]

mATX is a pointless and dying form factor.  

[AresKrieger]

5 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

weird middle ground that inherits the drawbacks of both form factors. 

It doesn't seem to have the drawbacks of the mITX boards as I can get all the features I want on a mATX board as who the hell needs 4 full slots anymore, SLI and Xfire only support two now anyway and prior to this and more than 2 way generally sucked

[dizmo]

Simple, it's the most popular size. Considering all we have is the Z line up, there should be tons of other motherboards coming out in Q1. I'm currently waiting on the B or H series, most likely B if there's one that offers decent memory speeds.

The CPU's launched yesterday. It's kind of foolish to think the whole line of motherboards would be ready

I do feel your pain though.

 

5 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

-snip-

IMO, mATX is kind of a useless form factor. It's not that much smaller than ATX, so really small cases aren't a thing for mATX and you lose a load of potential expansion that's available on ATX. I'd ideally like to see mATX fade out and it become mainly ATX and mITX. As far as I can see, mATX is in a weird middle ground that inherits the drawbacks of both form factors. 

There are quite a few cases that are very compact, and fit mATX boards. For example the Bullet line from Caselabs. The mATX case isn't much bigger than the ITX case, but is loooads smaller than the ATX case. You also get an extra expansion slot, which is always nice.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

It doesn't seem to have the drawbacks of the mITX boards as I can get all the features I want on a mATX board as who the hell needs 4 full slots anymore, SLI and Xfire only support two now anyway and prior to this and more than 2 way generally sucked

1. Video card
2. Video card
3. Sound card
4. Network card

[TVwazhere]

15 minutes ago, PCMasterGuy said:

Why in the hell are ATX boards getting so much TLC??

Because there's so many more ATX form factor cases than there are mATX cases...

[AresKrieger]

Just now, dizmo said:

1. Video card
2. Video card
3. Sound card
4. Network card

A sound card and network card do not take an 8x or 16x slot, you can get matx boards that would allow for it though who the hell needs a sound card nowadays anyway its not like in the past where the on board audio was generally trash.

[PCMasterGuy]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

Because there's so many more ATX form factor cases than there are mATX cases...

Exactly my point. Where are the mATX cases???

1 minute ago, AresKrieger said:

A sound card and network card do not take an 8x or 16x slot, you can get matx boards that would allow for it though who the hell needs a sound card nowadays anyway its not like in the past where the on board audio was generally trash.

Agreed. Also you can get a DAC if you think mobo audio is so bad. (which it is not).

[TahoeDust]

The real reason is simple.  They don't build many of them, because they can't sell many of them.  

[PCMasterGuy]

I get that, I just don't get why everyone think they need full ATX, when I'm pretty sure mot people don't even take full advantage of it...

[Phate.exe]

15 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

IMO, mATX is kind of a useless form factor. It's not that much smaller than ATX, so really small cases aren't a thing for mATX

Inwin 301 disagrees with you.

 

Although my new case project is about the same size and fits a full-ATX mobo, so yeah.

[Himommies]

11 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Sound card

pretty much useless

[AresKrieger]

4 minutes ago, PCMasterGuy said:

I get that, I just don't get why everyone think they need full ATX, when I'm pretty sure mot people don't even take full advantage of it...

It's funny the last 3 computers me or my friends built ended up getting mATX boards/cases granted this wasn't for Kaby or Coffee lake but still I think mATX is often a better buy so long as you dont have a niche use case and need space as a result.

[Damascus]

30 minutes ago, PCMasterGuy said:

NOT A SINGLE mATX board

[PCMasterGuy]

oh... but how long until we get to see it though? a month? six months? who knows...

[Oshino Shinobu]

8 minutes ago, Phate.exe said:

Inwin 301 disagrees with you.

 

Although my new case project is about the same size and fits a full-ATX mobo, so yeah.

It's certainly smaller, but I personally don't see the benefit of that. I haven't come across a situation where the difference in size between a "small" ATX case and a "small" mATX case has been a must have or have any big benefit to me. I have come across situations where mITX has big benefits as it can be tiny and it's very easy to move around, even with one hand or in a backpack in some cases. 

 

All subjective of course, but that's kind of the point of this thread. 

[dizmo]

14 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

A sound card and network card do not take an 8x or 16x slot, you can get matx boards that would allow for it though who the hell needs a sound card nowadays anyway its not like in the past where the on board audio was generally trash.

Would it fit between two graphics cards on an mATX board? I always thought there was inadequate room.

Eh, some people prefer them. It was simply making a point. Could easily replace that with capture card, RAID card, etc.

4 minutes ago, Himommies said:

pretty much useless

Debatable. I actually prefer the sound from my Xonar vs the sound from the Realtek onboard set up.

[Himommies]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Debatable. I actually prefer the sound from my Xonar vs the sound from the Realtek onboard set up.

I mean like there's no real situation where a soundcard is useful because external dacs/amps are better

[PCMasterGuy]

Hey, mITX users also have like ONE high end mobo to choose from, from the different manufacturers.

[dizmo]

Just now, Himommies said:

I mean like there's no real situation where a soundcard is useful because external dacs/amps are better

Well yeah, there's always higher end gear like that. I'd prefer not to have the clutter. Plus they're generally a lot more expensive.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, PCMasterGuy said:

Hey, mITX users also have like ONE high end mobo to choose from, from the different manufacturers.

On a platform that's been out for a day? You don't say

There's also 2 from ASRock.