Types of Motherboards

There isn’t wide range of motherboard sizes available but in this article, we will discuss about the available options and when to use suitable size.
Motherboards are described using form factor called Advanced Technology eXTENDED (ATX) and this form factor is invented by INTEL company and it has been industry standard for years now. ATX not only describes motherboard layout but also lays specification for power supply and PC cabinets and different connectors for compatibility purposes. Now, let’s discuss about different sizes available in main stream desktop computer segment. There are three main types of sizes :

1. Standard ATX
2. Micro ATX
3. eXtended ATX 

These are explained as following below.

1. Standard ATX – This motherboard comes in 305*244mm (length*breadth) dimensions, these dimensions can vary with different manufacturer. This motherboard offers more expansion slots, up to four slots for RAM, Two or sometimes more than two PCIe slots for dual graphics cards and more USB and other ports for connectivity, also its size gives space in between components for airflow to keep heat in control. This size of motherboard is used by those who want more expansion slots and different connecting ports and deal with heavy workloads. This motherboard will only fit in cases which support full ATX or Extended ATX motherboards.
   
2. Micro ATX – This motherboards come in 244*244 mm (length*breadth) dimensions (these dimensions can vary with different manufacturer.). This Motherboard has less ports and slots as compared to Standard ATX board. This type of motherboard is more suitable for those who don’t want to much connectivity and later upgrades like adding more ram and additional GPU or Graphics card and adding PCI cards. This board can fit any case which has enough room 244*244 mm of space and can also be fit in bigger cases which accept Standard ATX and eXTENDED ATX motherboards.
   
3. eXtended ATX – This motherboard is 344*330 mm dimensions (these dimensions can vary with different manufacturer). This motherboard is designed for both dual CPU and single configuration and has up to 8 ram slots and has more PCIe and PCI slots for adding PCI cards for different purposes. It is used for workstations and servers. Some EATX motherboards are also designed for desktop computing, and there is ample space for cooling and attaching peripherals.
   Now a day’s the technology is getting advanced and you can find all those extra slots and power that you get in Standard ATX board in micro ATX board.