microAtx motherboards: Does size mater?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Machine Messiah
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Machine Messiah

I have a pc with a microAtx motherboard I want to replace (size is 227mm
x 244mm x 1.6t, Florida-TG/TGA ). I was going to order an Asus P4S800-mx
when I noticed its dimensions are 24.5cm x 24.5cm. Not going to work,
right? There is no extra space in the case.
My brain is toasted from shopping for motherboards all day. Anybody wanna
do the math?
TIA
 
I have a pc with a microAtx motherboard I want to replace (size is 227mm
x 244mm x 1.6t, Florida-TG/TGA ). I was going to order an Asus P4S800-mx
when I noticed its dimensions are 24.5cm x 24.5cm. Not going to work,
right? There is no extra space in the case.
My brain is toasted from shopping for motherboards all day. Anybody wanna
do the math?
TIA
Click to expand...
Your present board, at 244mm tall, is standard height for a mATX board.
At 227mm wide, it's about 10mm shy of the 3rd (from left to right)
vertical column of mounting studs (or just threaded holes in the case
motherboard tray when the studs aren't installed). The replacement board
you mention, being 24.5cm, uses that 3rd column of studs. All but the
most proprietary of OEM systems should have that 3rd column of studs, but
they may be partially or completely hidden behind the drive bays.

You'll have to check your case and see if you have that extra 18mm.
Looking at the design of the proposed replacement board,
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=13-131-476-04.JPG ,
there's nothing that will stick up particularly high on the right edge of
the board, but you may need about 1" of clearance to allow plugging in the
floppy cable, else plug it in prior to mounting the board in the case if
that's possible. The front panel header (switches and LEDs) is also on
the right edge of the board but it's more likely you have room for those
as that's below the usual placement of the 5.25" bays.

Also note that this board requires an ATX12V power supply, with the 4-pin
12V motherboard connector. If your system is more than a couple years old
(give or take) it may not have an appropriate power supply.

If you find that this board is too wide, you might look at the board
pictures at newegg.com as their collection is an easy way to quickly
narrow down your choices based on whether any given mATX board has that
3rd vertical column of mounting studs or not... ALL boards that are 24.5mm
wide must have that third row, while any board of a lesser width, like
your present motherboard, won't use that 3rd column of studs (won't have
the holes on the board for them, but be aware that I'm speaking of the
larger screw holes, not the tiny holes sometimes used to insert plastic
standoffs on edges... the screw holes "almost" always have a silver solder
ring around them while the plastic standoff holes that aren't meant for
metal mounting studs, do not).
 
On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 02:37:12 GMT, Machine Messiah
snip
Your present board, at 244mm tall, is standard height for a mATX board.
At 227mm wide, it's about 10mm shy of the 3rd (from left to right)
vertical column of mounting studs (or just threaded holes in the case
motherboard tray when the studs aren't installed). The replacement board
you mention, being 24.5cm, uses that 3rd column of studs. All but the
most proprietary of OEM systems should have that 3rd column of studs, but
they may be partially or completely hidden behind the drive bays.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the studs are there.
snip
You'll have to check your case and see if you have that extra 18mm.
Looking at the design of the proposed replacement board,
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=13-131-476-04.JPG ,
there's nothing that will stick up particularly high on the right edge of
the board, but you may need about 1" of clearance to allow plugging in the
floppy cable, else plug it in prior to mounting the board in the case if
that's possible. The front panel header (switches and LEDs) is also on
the right edge of the board but it's more likely you have room for those
as that's below the usual placement of the 5.25" bays.
Click to expand...
snip.
I've been doing all my shopping at newegg.com. Someone there mentioned
it's easier to get the floppy and cd-rom plugged into the board if you do
it before you mount the board to the case.

snip
Also note that this board requires an ATX12V power supply, with the 4-pin
12V motherboard connector. If your system is more than a couple years old
(give or take) it may not have an appropriate power supply.
Click to expand...
Snip

thanks for pointing this out, it's going to be a problem.
The pc I'm trying to upgrade is an old emachine and they have odd sized
power supplies with only 3 screws. The one I have in there now is like
this one but without the p4 connector:
http://www.softwareandstuff.com/h_acc_spi180emsuply.html
At 180 watts, I don't think that's powerfull enough.
I am having trouble figuring out how much power I need for this board
because of the onboard audio/video/lan. The folks in the emachine
upgraders forum pointed me to this
site:http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
but it doesn't seem to consider the onboard features either.
I'm suprised I can't find minimum power-supply specs at the Asus site for
their boards.
I found this one:
http://www.affordablesurplus.com/emachines_power_supply.asp#SPECIFICATION
S
but I'm thinking I need 250 to 300 watts.
Any ideas or should I go for a non P4 board?
 
Snip

thanks for pointing this out, it's going to be a problem.
The pc I'm trying to upgrade is an old emachine and they have odd sized
power supplies with only 3 screws.
Click to expand...

It's a standard mATX, but there are mATX that mount on the shorter face,
and those that mount on the longer face... yours mounts on the longer
face, mATX-L (but most places don't mention the "L", you have to look at
the picture or manufacturer's product page).


The one I have in there now is like
this one but without the p4 connector:
http://www.softwareandstuff.com/h_acc_spi180emsuply.html
At 180 watts, I don't think that's powerfull enough.
Click to expand...

Frankly, I'd just replace the case, buying one that includes a decent
name-brand 300-350W power supply. One problem with those eMachine
systems' tiny power supplies is that they were a weak link to begin with,
often fail powering the original components, let alone newer, more power
hungry parts.
I am having trouble figuring out how much power I need for this board
because of the onboard audio/video/lan. The folks in the emachine
upgraders forum pointed me to this
site:http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
but it doesn't seem to consider the onboard features either.
I'm suprised I can't find minimum power-supply specs at the Asus site for
their boards.
I found this one:
http://www.affordablesurplus.com/emachines_power_supply.asp#SPECIFICATION
S
but I'm thinking I need 250 to 300 watts.
Any ideas or should I go for a non P4 board?
Click to expand...

A newer, name-brand mATX power supply should handle that board with a
moderate speed CPU and minimal complmentary parts... not a good idea to
try using 3 or more hard drives too, for example.

If you really want to reuse that case, replace the power supply with the
modern Sparkle ATX12V version,
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-424&depa=0
That looks to be a slightly newer revision of the unit you linked, it
might be slightly better. Still replacing the whole case would be best.

As for going with an Athlon instead of a P4, the Athlon would be easier to
find a board for that would work from your present power supply, simply
choose a board that doesn't have the ATX12V 4-pin connector. To me the
most significant thing wouldn't be the particular CPU as much as the
video... Sis integrated video (on the board you mentioned) is the bottom
of the barrel in integrated video, slower than ATI integrated, Via,
nForce. You might be best served with a lower speed Athlon and nForce2
motherboard, for example a Barton XP2500 and Asus A7N8X-VM, and a pair of
256MB PC2700-PC3200 memory modules (a pair to get better performance out
of the integrated video).

However, the A7V8X-VM has a newer style, non-standard rear I/O shield
(included with it)... if your eMachines case has a removable rear I/O
shield that's fine, but if it only has holes stamped into the rear wall of
the case that would be a problem. Although, the board you mentioned,
P4S800-MX, has this same issue.
 
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