Blogs Should size be the new battleground in the motherboard market?

@Bindi - "we"? Are you now an Asus employee? Forgive me if this is something I've missed.

 

Yeah Bindi's an asus employeee.

 

Look at the locale, and signature

I work for ROG dept, but I'm trying to explain what I can from this side of the fence to give everyone a broader understanding of can-do's and cannot-do's.

 

@Bindi, multi gpu as a reason why some people still want atx? Two geforce 690 on a maximus v gene is perfectly possible, so its not really a reason to buy anything bigger than matx, I'd say its more the psychological bit you've mentioned.
Personally I'm happy with my gene v, even if i have to settle for something less than 2 690s lol (only got a 570), but anyway, that little board does everything it needs to and oc's like mad, so i don't think I'll ever buy a atx board again.

 

I can see mATX becoming the standard over ATX soon. Back in the day, my first PC had a separate graphics card, sound card, network card, tv card etc. Since then sound and networking has moved onto the motherboard. Of course then along came a wifi card and a USB port card, but now they're on motherboards too.
Only the graphics card has remained a constant as a separate card in my PC's over the years.
mATX will suit most people, though many will still get a full sized ATX case for cooling reasons.

 

They should make itX linkable so you can place four boards in a grid to make a 4x4 core machine.

 

After thinking about it for a day or two I think there's actually a simple reason for why mini ITX isn't more widespread: laptops/notebooks.

People interested in more powerful rigs usually go with ATX or µATX due to the better cooling and upgradeability. Mini ITX is awesome for HTPCs or low-power office-PCs, but these are usually second or third rigs in addition to the workstation on/under your desk.

I'm going back to µATX myself aswell, as building a mini ITX-system allways requires "special" solutions (smaller PSUs with less and shorter cables, smaller coolers or watercoolers, etc.)

 

I'll check this tomorrow whether it's a production thing or because retailers aren't picking it up.

 

If ASUS ever make a RoG ITX board you can be sure as hell I'll be revisiting that form factor and seeing if I can get another small and powerful PC!

Dear Bindi,

MAKE AN ITX RoG BOARD!! I want to spend more money

Mars

 

What do you want on it that's not on the P8Z77-I?

 

RED!

I haven't looked too much into it thought tbh. But I'd like to keep the red and black colour scheme of my PC if I were to move to m-ITX. That's a pretty worthless reason for an RoG board though.

I'm sure there's a few tricks up your sleeves at ASUS that you could pop on to one of the boards.

 

Nvidia onboard graphic's, TBH anything else is pretty cr*p for a HTPC

 

Cheers Bindi,
Here's where i've been looking as DABS are selling it at a competitive price.

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-p...l-z77-ddr3-mitx-81X3.html?refs=52240000&src=3

 

Onboard mini-ITX? LOL GL with that PCIe card these days if you want NV.

Asouter - http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=p8z77-i+deluxe&cid=7806734557499102817&os=sellers - yea Dabs look like the cheapest. You can try getting other companies to price match maybe??

 

There's a Z68 mini ITX board available with onboard nVidia GFX actually. And it even comes with a PCIe x4 slot for a sound or TV/SAT card.

ZOTAC Z68-ITX WiFi Supreme

It's the only manufacturer so far that seems to have somewhat specialized in mini ITX.

 

A quick search of "form factor" here on b-t yields some interesting results. My favourite is: Intel will drop ATX next year

Anyway, I think the only company that has a decent SFF form factor has been Shuttle. Basically a longer (but not wider) mini-DTX. Two slots, room for some decently powerful GPUs and still fairly small. The extra length allows for more hardware on the motherboard (4+ RAM slots, extra power phases, ...) and it comes closer to matching GPU length (a full size GPU looks silly on an micro-ITX board). I just think it's a shame that Shuttle hasn't done anything with AMD's A-series chips.

Personally I'd like to see a "back of the monitor" standard. It would use the longer Shuttle type motherboard but move the GPU to a slot on the other side (like BTX) and rotate the connector 90 degrees. this would allow a slimmer pizza box shaped system with all the air intakes on one side. It might even be possible to run another 90 degree PCI-e slot on the other side for a TV tuner or better sound or ...

 

Ohh haven't seen that. Ballsy, but I wonder how many layers that PCB has and at how much does the Supreme cost? Is it not easier to buy a low profile GT 430 and stuff it in the PCIe 16x slot?

Given costerformance - is it really worth it to have Nvidia video playback versus Intel or AMD??

Tyinsar - Back of the monitor standard is called whitebook AIO.

 

The Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi Supreme is available for some €220.

Sure it's expensive, but if you're aiming for the smallest system possible, where you've got a more beefy GPU then the intel HD + the option for a sound/TV-card that's your only choice I guess.

 

And how big is that market realistically? A handful people? MOST people will choose an FM1 board in that situation, or they'll opt to go a little bigger and use the PCIe slot. The ROI just isn't realistically there imo.