What type of motherboard should I buy for gaming? [Quick Answered]

Types of motherboards for gaming

Building a gaming pc is not an easy task, especially when there are too many options available.  

Every Pc hardware, especially those built specifically for gaming, comes in a wide range, having different specifications. So if you are a gamer and going to build a gaming pc, you should know every pc component or hardware. This is also in the case of the motherboard. You can’t just go to the market and buy any motherboard randomly. If you want to buy a motherboard for gaming, then you should have knowledge of the types of motherboards for gaming. This little research will help you to buy the best compatible motherboard for your PC.

Here we will explain different types of motherboards in detail.

Types of Motherboards

In every tech gadget like smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, pc, and tablets motherboards are present differ in shape and size. On PC, you can upgrade them easily as compared to other laptops, and smartphones which are hard to replace.

The physical shape and size of the motherboard is called a form factor. Every manufacturer has its form factor, but the most common one is Advanced Technology Extended or ATX, invented by Intel company in 1995. There are many different form factors like ATX, Macro ATX, Micro ATX, and Extended ATX or ETAX.

So let’s see them in detail.

AT Motherboards

Advance Technology motherboard or AT. They are big in physical size, the reason why they can’t be used in mini desktops. They were very popular in the 1980s, having a long shelf-life.

In the 1980s, when it was booming at its peak, it became a widely copied design. Its next variant was introduced with the name Baby AT in 1987. Soon after its new variant is released, all computer manufacturing companies abundant AT for baby AT because it’s cheap and smaller.

ATX Motherboards

ATX or Advance Technology design Motherboards. It is smaller in size than AT. ATX was developed in the 1990s by Intel corporation. Its Specifications were made public in 1995 and revised many times since then.

The dimensions of a full-sized ATX board are 12 x 9.6 inches or 305 x 244 mm. It has an extended version called Extended ATX, which is bigger than him.

LPX Motherboards

LPX denotes Low Profile Extension was developed in 1987 by Western Digital and was used from the late 80s to 90s. It has a dimension of 13 x 9 in (330 x 229 mm). Its design featured the riser card on the center of the board and the input/output ports mounted on the backside. Some of these features were later deployed in Intel ATX motherboards. One of the most booming features of this motherboard was the use of compact power supplies. LPX motherboards were gradually eliminated in 1998.

WTX Motherboards

WTX (Workstation Technology Extended) was introduced in September 1998 by Intel Corporation. WTX workstations are designed for high-end systems. They have very high capacity storage to store large amounts of data. In WTX cases, you can install ATX and EATX; this gives you freedom in future up-gradation. The maximum size it comes in is 356 x 425 mm (14 x 16.75 in). It helps to provide more room to hold the maximum number of integrated components.

E-ATX Motherboard

The E-ATX is a motherboard that measures up to 12″ x 13″, which provides more room for additional components. This type of motherboard is used in high-end gaming cases, and it’s helpful when using multiple graphics cards or extensive water cooling systems since there are generally more expansion slots available on the board itself.

Mini ITX Motherboards

Mini ITX is much smaller than typical motherboards developed in 2001 by VIA Technologies. This small motherboard has a physical dimension of 17 x 17 cm or 6.7 x 6.7 inches. Mini ITX motherboards consume significantly less power with a power supply of less than only 100 watts and have the ability to cool faster.

BTX Motherboard

The BTX motherboard design was created and developed by Intel. It is a full-size ATX motherboard with thinner heatsinks, giant fans, and more airflow than traditional motherboards. This allowed for increased cooling capabilities, which helped reduce heat production, allowing chipsets to run cooler and last longer. The boards were designed with the same black and blue colors that we see today.

The original purpose of the Balanced Technology Extended (BTX) Motherboard was to provide users with a solution for high-power, low resistance processors. Intel developed these boards to keep up and develop new technologies. Still, after 2006, they were no longer produced by default because it conflicted against their focus on less power-hungry CPUs like Core 2 Duo/ Xeon. Nowadays, some companies still use them, though, such as Gateway inc. , Mpc, and Dell.

Pico BTX Motherboard Type

Pico BTX is a smaller form factor that allows for the expansion of only one or two slots. Its compact size measuring 8 x 10.5 inches makes it smaller than many current “micro”-sized motherboards.

This form factor is meant for half-height and riser card applications. This form factor takes up less space than many current “micro”-sized boards while still maintaining backward compatibility with standard components.

Which one should I buy?

The basic answer to this question is it all depends on your need. Suppose you are building an ultra super-fast gaming rig, then in my option. It would be best to go for EATX or Extended Advanced Technology Design because it’s bigger, which helps to attach a bigger GPU and more components easily.

Conclusion

For building a perfect gaming PC, every single component of knowledge is compulsory, especially the motherboards. The motherboards Form Factor is responsible for its physical design. In the coming time, the design will go through many changes. So it would be best if you were very careful before choosing which one will complete your future gaming needs.

Related Article: Tips to Choose the Best Gaming Motherboard

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