Micro-ATX Motherboard Performance

[MRG]

Greetings all,

I was given an old Gateway by a client, since she no longer needed it as I had built her a new PC. The tower itself is 6 years old & so the hardware within is junk. However, there is something about the case itself that I find very appealing. A slim silver case with dual black strips down the front. I also very much liked how the front 1/2 cover flips up to reveal the dual DVD drives, floppy & media-card reader. However, since it was an earlier model Gateway, the case *was* propriatary & so a little fabrication internally was needed to allow a *normal* PSU & *normal* Micro-ATX mobo, all of which I have completed. The next step is to improve airflow, though I am still in the planning stages as to where on the case itself I will fabricate to fit in new system fans.

This is the exact case I am talking about, color & all, but in a generic picture.

My question is this;

Does anyone here have a current generation Micro-ATX motherboard in their PC & if so, how is it's performance? I have several old micro-ATX motherboard's, that I got from clients over the years but they are all of the older technology of onboard VGA & 4x AGP. The reviews I have read on the ones I have looked at are positive, but I am curious if anyone here has any hands-on experience with a newer model. I plan to install my E6400 & 4850 in it.

-MRG

 

[unozero]

well good gpus won't fit thats a major downside imo

 

[Eejit]

I built a computer for my parents recently using a mATX mobo. I didn't play games or run benchmarks etc. but it seemed to run fine.

Actually quite a lot of GPUs do fit with mATX boards unozero. It actually depends more on the case. I easily put a nvidia 8500 in my parents' machine with room to spare (PCI-E 16x slot too). You'd probably have trouble with monsters like 9800GTX2 or whatever though.

 

[Asus]

The performance should be basically what normal ATX boards are. Although with less slots and a lower power requirement. But they use the same chipsets normal ATX boards use. Entry level, normal and high end features. Just check the chipset's model number.

 

[ricera10]

You can even get this if you want Crossfire!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136055