Why so much MicroATX?

D

doh

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I know this is Hardforum and all but why so much Micro ATX? Is anyone else out there building smaller form factor machines, such as Mini ITX (or smaller)?

I don't game much these days (Just Eve Online on my MacBook Pro) and so only take interest in servers and clusters (eyeing Intel's D945GCLF2 for a lost-cost cluster board).
 
There's a number of reasons... people aren't needing SLI or multiple expansion cards as much anymore, so the mATX boards are sufficient, and once you eliminate SLI, the motherboards often drop in price $100 or more, which makes them a lot more affordable. mATX used to be limited in features and overclocking options, but lately that's changed a lot...
 
Cuz I don't need another apartment building in my apartment. I like my stuff discrete, not blaring out like some LED loaded Skyscraper.
 
I plan on getting a 1ghz pico-itx board in the near future when I have the spare change for a "toy", and I'd really like to get my hands on one of the seemingly-as-of-yet-unreleased mobile-itx boards from Via.

I think the abundance of micro-atx is the fact that once you get smaller you start gettings more and larger restrictions. The tiny stuff tends to fall into specialty uses.
 
A lot of you are misinterpreting the OP's question.

The OP was asking why more people aren't building tiny mini-itx type setups, as opposed to micro-atx.

OP i take it you're researching the topic for more info?
 
OniExpress said:
I think the abundance of micro-atx is the fact that once you get smaller you start gettings more and larger restrictions. The tiny stuff tends to fall into specialty uses.
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That's the best answer I could think of myself. From the threads that I've read here, I believe that many users still want the power and the upgradability of a full desktop ATX system, along with most of the major features (like RAID and CF/SLI) that comes with one.

While it's possible to get most of the same features from an ITX-based platform, you often have to pay extra -- and/or use a work-around -- for the privilege.
 
ITX is simply not "mature" enough to use as an enthusiast platform - you can't stick an ATX PSU into a mini-ITX case, you can't cool any overclock, there's a lack of cases for the platform. Too restrictive, can't do shit on them.

And... there's the eeebox and dell mini pc that fit the bill of a tiny PC much more nicely than a self-built that you just can't build yourself.
 
tiraides said:
Uh, what do you mean (by that last part)?
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Seconded.

The small commercial stuff can easily be outdone by people that know what they are doing. It's just more of the "specialty" nature; just as how there are a percentage of computer users that will tune a rig from scratch, there are others that will cobble the smaller bits together. The things that people design with Gumstix, let alone the larger Pico boards where you can still function in the same realm as the larger brothers...

Just because it's a smaller percentage doesn't mean it's not done, or that the mass-production items can't be competed against.
 
This isn't Engineering101 or Casedesign101, geez, why don't you make a thread titled "Why not more custom-molded PCs". Way to take a comment and blow it up. If you have to custom-make your own chassis, well shit, you just answered the OP's "Why the hell not more smaller-than-mATX builds".

@ tiraides, you can't build a eeebox/dell mini pc with the same size, same sleek design cuz well... there are no cases for it. Why would I want to build another eeebox when one of those cost less than $300? And I'm referring to the OP's comment where he hints that he doesn't use his system for much anymore, and people who just want a basic tiny pc have a much better solution in prebuilts.
 
lack of decent case up to now, and even the Sugo05 has a rubbish exhaust fan in the PSU.
 
miniITX are impractical for a normal enthusiast build. For one, there are no affordable boards that have a native PCI-E x16 slot. Most are either mobile sockets or extremely slow embedded solutions. Then there is the power problem – even if the other components would work, the PSUs that would fit that form factor would be insufficient. Then there is the problem with lack of expansion slots and that most GPUs are dual slot.

So ya, there are about a hundred different reasons miniITX isn’t popular. microATX may even become obsolete, with the way power requirements are trending.
 
i too would prefer something smaller than micro-atx.

atx: 305x244mm
microatx: 244x244mm

thats hardly a big savings.
 
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