3 Slot "MATX" motherboard in Ncase M1

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CrazyRob

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So I ran across this board when upgrading a Cyber Power PC purchased from Fry's. It is an MSI B85M-P33. According to MSI it is a Micro ATX board, but prior to it I'd never seen/heard of a 3 slot micro board before. Other than the fact that the M1 does not have the bottom two standoffs, it appears to be a perfect fit. Something like this might be an option for those wanting to run a discrete sound card as well as a 2 slot gpu.
wsur2o.jpg

jff8eh.jpg

Looks like Gigabyte also makes a board in this form factor : GA-B85M-D2V
 
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CrazyRob said:
According to MSI it is a Micro ATX board, but prior to it I'd never seen/heard of a 3 slot micro board before. Other than the fact that the M1 does not have the bottom two standoffs, it appears to be a perfect fit. Something like this might be an option for those wanting to run a discrete sound card as well as a 2 slot gpu.
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Why not get an ASUS ROG Maximus VI Gene or something for audio?

And wouldn't every mATX board be "perfect fit" too?
 
There are a handful of these 'in-between' boards floating around. It was brought up in the main thread whether these would fit or not; I speculated that they probably would, but it'd be very tight. Good to see some real-world verification.

Basically these are budget-oriented microATX boards targeted at system builders and the like who just need a basic motherboard. They're categorized as mATX, but in reality they're somewhere between that and smaller form factors, like mini-ITX. FlexATX as defined is actually a little larger than this board, and is hardly used in any case. For reference:

microATX: 244mm x 244mm
FlexATX 229mm x 191mm
This MSI "mATX" board: 226mm x 173mm

Since the MSI board barely squeezes in, it should come as no surprise that anything larger won't fit at all - which means actual full Flex/microATX boards are out of the question. Here's OP's pic showing the relative size of a regular mATX board by comparison:

aFxU7Px.jpg


As I've explained elsewhere, the factor limiting mATX support in the M1 is primarily the depth of the board (74mm deeper vs. ITX, interfering with the PSU), rather than simply the "one more slot" so many have called for.
 
Nice, this seems like a valid option for anyone needing an extra NIC or a specific sound card.

I bought the Asrock Z87E-ITX because it has a good onboard sound option with a good headphone amp that has really amazed me quality wise.
 
I had speculated that these boards might fit in the Ncase thread a while back but I went the mITX route. Thanks for finally confirming fitment. To be honest I havent overclocked my i7 yet so I may look at one of these to fiddle with.

Edit: the Gigabyte DS3H wont fit, its too wide. just look where the screw holes are on the board.
 
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SithSolo1 said:
I had speculated that these boards might fit in the Ncase thread a while back but I went the mITX route. Thanks for finally confirming fitment. To be honest I havent overclocked my i7 yet so I may look at one of these to fiddle with.

Edit: the Gigabyte DS3H wont fit, its too wide. just look where the screw holes are on the board.
Click to expand...

Whoops, you're right. I'll edit the first post. Thanks!
 
I had similar ideas when trying to get a matx in my sg05, wanted 2 pcie slots but none of these smaller matx offers that
 
Might build a system around one of the boards above, I woudnt mind skimping on the board, but still utilizing a great cpu and video card.
 
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I've been waiting for boards like these that fit the ncase. Time to buy both and throw in a gpu and sound card!
 
Unless it's a really really good sound card you want to install, I suggest you look at the Asrock Z87E-ITX which has a good (really, no kidding) Realtek ALC1150 chipset and a good headphone amp for the frontpanel audio. Also the better Z87 mainboards like the Asus ROG Impact have a good solution.

It's only a viable solution if you are looking at high-end speakers (most "computer" speakers will not do) and are willing to buy a +100$ sound card.
 
Sorry for necro'ing this thread, but I hope this is relevant. I came across two 4-DIMM 3-slot Z97 boards:

QFTXJ8el.png
gYtp1Hgl.jpg

ASRock Z97 Anniversary: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97M Anniversary/
Gigabyte Z97M-DS3H: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4964

I have yet to find the dimensions for the ASRock board, but it appears to be the same exact size as the Gigabyte board, which is spec'd at 193mm x 226mm. The 193mm width rules out the SFX bracket, but switching to the ATX bracket should yield at least 20mm, if not more.

Component selection on both boards leaves quite a bit to be desired, but there aren't many options for 3 PCIe slots, 4 DIMM slots, and OC support (no matter how mild) in the M1.

Thoughts?
 
Personally for me the Realtek NIC is a definite no-no, and the low-spec sound cards are an issue too. While you can use PCIe cards or USB solutions for this, I think these need to be considered properly.

Recently I posted about a new FlexATX board, which would fit with an SFX PSU:

Phuncz said:
A while back, some people were discussing mATX boards that fit the Ncase M1, basically because there are FlexATX boards (mITX but with 3 PCIe slots) and wrongly named mATX.

Gigabyte was so nice to grace us with a G1 Gaming series H81 chipset board:

88c.jpg


An Intel NIC and a Realtek ALC892 sound chip with decent sound-caps apparently. Although the ALC1150 would have been prefered, this board might offer options for people seeking to add a TV tuner or a dedicated sound card.

Link: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5177#ov

It's still very basic with just two rear USB 3.0 ports (no 3.0 front header) and the bare minimum of ports.
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While only an H81 chipset (no OC'ing, limited USB 3.0 ports) and has only 2 RAM slots, it has an Intel NIC and a still decent sound chip.
 
The H81 chipset, from many manufacturers (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI) appeared in 2H 2013.
They appear to be targeting the Gaming, Budget/Value and HP s5000 Slimline retro-fit markets.
http://www.pcper.com/category/tags/h81

Asus notes these as their H81 desktop / HTPC boards are largely for entry/value builds,
with the B85 being the next step up in features.

3-slot motherboards from ASUS are in the sizes:
9.2 inch x 7.6 inch ( 233 mm x 193 mm ) OR
8.9 inch x 6.9 inch ( 226 mm x 175 mm )
====
B85M-G R2.0
9.2 inch x 7.6 inch ( 233 mm x 193 mm )
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B85MG_R20/
No mini PCIe slot for WiFi mini-card, but a COM1 (serial) and LPT1 (parallel) header
====
H81M-A
8.9 inch x 6.9 inch ( 226 mm x 175 mm )
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/H81MA/overview/
Largely the H81M-Plus, with one less slot and a few changes on back panel I/O.
====
 
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Asus also has a series of 3-slot Flex ATX / microATX motherboards with AMD processors.
Some of these will not fit the NCASE M1 with the SFX power supply.

Asus A88XM-E
CPU: AMD Socket FM2+ Athlon™/A- Series Processors
Chipset: AMD A88X (Bolton D4)
226mm x 188mm (8.9 inch x 7.4 inch)
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/A88XME/

Asus A78M-E
CPU: AMD Socket FM2+ Athlon™/A- Series Processors
Chipset: AMD A78 (Bolton D3)
226mm x 188mm (8.9 inch x 7.4 inch)
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/A78ME/

Asus A78M-A
CPU: AMD Socket FM2+ Athlon™/A- Series Processors
Chipset: AMD A78 (Bolton D3)
236mm x 208mm (9.3 inch x 8.2 inch)
 
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Kinda neat - Haven't seen much FlexATX since S370 boards, back in the day.

Convenient - All the usefulness and most of the size of ITX, but with that handy-dandy extra slot for sound, USB 3.0, etc.
 
Just wanted to post a build I'm working on with 3 slot mATX using a GA-B75M-D2V. This board measures 1 mm larger (226 mm x 174 mm) than Necere has stated as max with the Ncase m1 and I just wanted to report that it works great with the SFX bracket. Definitely a tight fit though! Had to remove the bracket to get the motherboard in and then placed it back in once the board was set.

I chose this board because I wanted a cheap board, wanted to use my old sandy bridge chip, needed the front USB 3.0 ports, and wanted 3 PCIE slots (GPU, wireless card, and a TV tuner). For the wifi I'm actually going to use a PCIE extender to get access from under the GPU and then I'll route the antennas through circular holes in the back since they won't be needed for liquid cooling.

Also, doing this with a V3, and the extra standoffs work great. This is such an incredible case, definitely the best small form factor build I have ever had the pleasure of building in.

IZixVl4l.jpg
 
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Unless Shuttle switches to standard ATX/ITX mounting holes, the modding would involve dremeling away some mobo standoffs >_<
 
Phuncz said:
Recently I posted about a new FlexATX board

(...)

While only an H81 chipset (no OC'ing, limited USB 3.0 ports) and has only 2 RAM slots, it has an Intel NIC and a still decent sound chip.
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Once you have an Intel NIC and a decent sound chip, what would you need an extra PCI-E-slot for? :p
 
babadook said:
Once you have an Intel NIC and a decent sound chip, what would you need an extra PCI-E-slot for? :p
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Professional audio interfaces, TV-Tuners, PCIe SSDs, internal capture cards, there is a lot of stuff you can use this for.
 
I have to say, those shuttle boards have a very interesting form factor. DTX I think?
 
Proprietary. They don't have the set of mounting holes right above the first expansion slot and therefore won't fit in cases with non-removable stand-offs. A standard DTX board would fit in the M1 if you find another place for the PSU.
 
Aibohphobia said:
Actually DTX was an attempt to standardize the Shuttle form factor, never took off though.
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Well the standard exists, but mDTX would be much more desirable anyway :D We'll have to wait a long time for that to come. I think there was some ASRock board that was mDTX a few weeks ago.

vipz said:
Proprietary. They don't have the set of mounting holes right above the first expansion slot and therefore won't fit in cases with non-removable stand-offs. A standard DTX board would fit in the M1 if you find another place for the PSU.
Click to expand...

Ah yeah, I noticed that. Normal DTX would probably line up with ATX mounting holes.
 
 
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jb1 said:
Would these DTX boards work with the standoffs?
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Yes, of course. All ATX-derived motherboard form factors share common mounting holes. Mini-DTX is just mini-ITX with an extra inch or so added to the width of the board to accommodate a second expansion slot. It still uses the same four mounting holes.

Technically these boards don't conform exactly to AMD's (now defunct) Mini-DTX form factor, which is slightly larger (203x170mm), but for all practical purposes they are the same. You'll note they are referred to as microATX by the manufacturers; I just call them mDTX due to the similarity, and for convenience.
 
According to ASUS web site, the H81M-P was released in late October 2014.
It does have an internal USB 3.0 header as well as supporting 4 USB 2.0 ports (internal header), a COM1 and LPT1 port !

gb
 
Blk said:
Asus H81M-P would be a option too.
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Yes, though because of its slightly larger dimensions (190x177mm) it won't fit in the M1 with the SFX bracket, where the maximum board size is 226x174mm. You'd have to use the ATX bracket with the board, with either an ATX PSU or SFX with adapter plate.
 
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