MicroATX vs ATX MOBo

[noob]

Hi guys
I need clarification on whats the difference in microATX and ATX MOBO's in market ?

Apart from form factor what else is different ?

which one should a gamer choose ?

[pimpom]

The fundamental difference between a microATX board and a full ATX board is only in the form factor, i.e., physical size.

An ATX board, being larger, has more space and usually has more expansion slots. Earlier, an ATX board used to have 5 or 6 PCI slots and a uATX 3 PCI slots. These days, it's usually 2 PCI slots for the uATX and 4 for the ATX, but these are not fixed standards.

Since a uATX has fewer expansion slots, manufacturers usually include a lot of onboard features such as graphics (IGP), network interface, sound, IEEE1394 (Firewire), etc. Some do not have a graphics card slot (AGP/PCI-E). A full ATX board, having more slots, may not have some of these onboard devices. But again, there is no fixed standard as to what is included on either board.

There is no fundamental reason why you should choose one or the other for gaming. Choose one that has the features you need.

[ico]

yup, its only the form factor. Nothing else.

[Sam]

also if the cabby isn't tall, ATX will touch the PSU (if bottom placed) or leave very little clearance at the bottom. so check your cabby's height if going for ATX.

[Death_Knight]

Yes feature wise they are almost same. But I like ATX because of their array of expansion slots. An extra PCI card on a mATX board chokes the free air supply to the Graphx card cooler, but no such problem in ATX since you can maintain a large gap between them.
PCI cards one may need still today: extra LAN port, internal TV tuner, sound card... so on & so forth.

[noob]

but dont you all think that it might have issues with air-flow and GPU placement ?

[rajan1311]

^why do you think that way? maybe for multi GPU setup, the slots could be closer, else no difference...