Are you considering buying a Micro ATX or Mini ITX motherboard? If you are, then you should know some information about Micro ATX vs Mini ITX before buying. In this post, MiniTool compares their differences on four different parameters: size, RAM slots, PCIe slots, and price.

The motherboard is an essential part of your computer. If you want to build a new computer but don’t know which motherboard is suitable for you, then you are in the right place. Although there are multiple formats and sizes available in motherboards, Micro ATX and Mini ITX are the two most popular.

This post is mainly talking about Micro ATX vs Mini ITX. After reading this post, you should know which one is good for you.

Micro ATX vs Mini ITX

This part gives some differences between Micro ATX vs Mini ITX from 4 different aspects.

Micro ATX vs Mini ITX

Size

When talking about Micro ATX vs Mini ITX, the first thing need to compare is their size. The size of the Micro ATX is 244 x 244 mm (9.6″ x 9.6″). On the other hand, the size of the Mini ITX is 170 x 170 mm (6.7″ x 6.7″). When you compare the size of them, the winner is the Mini ITX.

RAM Slots

Another thing to compare when talking about Micro ATX vs Mini ITX is RAM slots. For Micro ATX, it supports up to 4 memory slots. However, Mini ITX only supports two RAM slots, and each slot can only hold 16 GB RAM.

Therefore, if you need more than 32 GB of RAM in the future, in Mini ITX, you will not be able to choose to expand RAM. This is one of the reasons why you should not only consider the size, but also the slots provided.

PCIe Slots

In terms of PCIe slots, the difference between Micro ATX vs Micro ITX is even greater. Micro ATX motherboard has four slots. Mini ITX motherboard only has 1 PCIe slot. These slots are used to integrate the graphics card with the system.

Slots are usually placed on the edge of the circuit board. Therefore, if the space on the motherboard is small, it may not be possible to install a heavy-duty graphics card. Hence, it is best to choose Micro ATX motherboards because they provide more PCIe slots.

Price

The last thing to compare between Micro ITX vs Micro ATX is the price. It is generally believed that due to the smaller Mini ITX motherboard, the price will be cheaper. However, you are wrong here. Micro ATX is the most affordable. This is because the demand for them is high, and therefore, the company can reduce costs. However, when choosing a Micro ATX motherboard, you need to ensure that the quality of the components meets the requirements.

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Which One to Choose?

After getting some information about Micro ITX vs Micro ATX, then which one should you choose? The choice between Micro ATX and Micro ITX depends on the type of PC you are building.

For Gaming PC

If you plan to build a gaming PC, the Micro ATX motherboard is your ideal choice. It will allow you to integrate more RAM. It also supports the Dual-GPU setup. Even after that, empty slots for expansion will be provided. As the number of PCIe slots increases, you can expand your computer later.

If there is not enough space, only Mini ITX is a good choice. However, it must be remembered that if you want to use Mini ITX, the size of the graphics card to be integrated with the system should also be small. This is because the slot faces the edge.

For Workstation

When creating a workstation, you can use the Mini ITX. This is because you do not need high RAM. You will not need an additional slot to integrate the graphics card. This is why Mini ITX can be used if there is not enough space when building a workstation.

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Final Words

To sum up, this post has listed the differences between Micro ATX and Mini ITX from four parameters. After reading this post, you should know which one is suitable for you.

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