When looking for a potential motherboard to power a new PC build, factors like build quality, aesthetics, and value are often at the top of the list for buyers. Most people just glance over the form factor and size specifications without giving it a second thought. However,when working with a small form factor (SFF) case, size suddenly becomes a top priority.
Micro ATX, shortened to mATX, was designed for this exact purpose. With a slight premium, these boards perform shoulder-to-shoulder with standard ATX motherboards and even surpass them in certain regards.
It doesn’t matter if you’relooking for a budgetready-to-use mATX motherboard or a premium high-end one, I’ve got something for you on this list.
Best mATX Motherboards Overview
Explaining Micro ATX and what makes it different
If you aren’t sure what Micro ATX is, don’t worry- I’m here to help.
To understand Micro ATX, you’ll first want to understand ATX, which it is based on.
ATX is the standard motherboard form factor. The most important difference between ATX and Micro ATX is size, but you’ll also see some other differences, too, especially in terms of expansion.
Essentially, Micro ATX offers less storage and graphics expansion options. However, if you aren’t running extensive RAID setups or multi-GPU configurations, you’re unlikely to actually encounter an issue here.
Small Package, Big Value: Top 5 Features to Prioritize
Although most mATX motherboards available today aresufficient for general use cases and gaming, if you want the highest amount of value, there are some features you need to look out for.
Motherboard manufacturers often either subtract or downgrade these features sneakily to make up for the smaller form factor. However, if you’re mindful of these, you may end up buying a motherboard that fits your requirements perfectly.
You might already be knowledgeable about general motherboard buying tips, but these are the features that you need to specifically pay attention to when buying an mATX motherboard. So, let’s discuss them in-depth:
Sufficient RAM Capacity
When looking for an mATX board, you’ll notice that some of them only feature two DIMM slots while the mid to high-end ones offer four slots. How many you really need, of course, depends on your use case.
