Not all gaming PCs need to be giant giants. If you want to save a bit of space (and potentially a bit of cash), a micro ATX build might be the way to go.
With a form factor slightly smaller than a full-size ATX gaming motherboard, but larger than Mini-ITX, Micro ATX motherboards omit some features like extra PCIe slots and SATA ports, but have enough bells and whistles.
To allow you to build a serious PC in a smaller cabinet. Of course, there is still plenty of variety between these motherboards designed to fit in a Micro ATX case, some offer “just the basics” while others allow for further expansion, support faster parts, offer more ports, and some even throw RGB lighting.
Not all gaming PCs need to be gigantic monsters. If you want to save a little space (and, potentially, a little money), a micro ATX build might be the way to go.
With a slightly smaller form factor than a full-size ATX gaming motherboard, but larger than Mini-ITX, Micro ATX motherboards omit some features like extra PCIe slots and SATA ports but have enough bells and whistles to let you build a serious PC into a small enclosure.
Of course, there is still a lot of variety between these motherboards designed to fit in a Micro ATX enclosure, with some offering “just the basics” while others allow more expansion, support faster parts, offer more ports and some are even integrated. RGB lighting.
Best Budget Micro ATX Motherboard in 2021
Below some of the top recommended micro atx motherboard which are available on budget with good performance.
MSI ProSeries AMD Ryzen Motherboard
About this item
- Supports 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen/ Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics and 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen with Radeon graphics/ Athlon with Radeon Vega Graphics desktop processors for Socket AM4
- Supports ddr4 memory, up to 3466+(OC) MHz
- Ddr4 boost: Advanced technology to deliver pure data signals for the best performance and stability
- Audio boost: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality
- Pci-e steel slot: Protecting VGA cards against bending
- Memory storage capacity: 32
Gigabyte B450M DS3H Motherboard
About this item
- Supports AMD 1st & 2nd generation Ryzen/ Ryzen with Radeon Vega graphics processors
- Dual channel non-ECC unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
- HDMI, DVI D ports for multiple display
- PCIe Gen3 M.2 NVMe
- High quality audio capacitors and audio noise guard
- RGB fusion supports RGB LED strips in 7 colors
- Realtek Gigabit LAN
ASRock B450M PRO4 Motherboard
About this item
- Socket AM4 Digi Power design 9 Power Phase design Supports 105W Water Cooling (Pinnacle Ridge) Supports 95W Water Cooling (Summit Ridge) Supports 65W Water Cooling (Raven Ridge)
- Chipset AMD Promontory B450
- Memory 4x DDR4-3200+(OC)/2933/2667/2400/2133 DIMM Slots Dual Channel ECC Non-ECC Unbuffered Max Capacity of 64 GB (AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Pinnacle Ridge))
- Slots 2x PCI-Express 3 0 x16 Slots (one runs at x8) 2x PCI-Express 2 0 x16 Slots (two runs at x4) 1x PCI-Express 2 0 x1 Slot
- SATA 4x SATA3 Ports Support RAID 0 1 10 NCQ AHCI and Hot Plug
ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS Motherboard
About this item
- AMD AM4 Socket and PCIe 4. 0: The perfect pairing for Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 & 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen CPUs
- Robust Power Design: 8+2 DrMOS power stages with high-quality alloy chokes and durable capacitors to provide reliable power for the last AMD high-count-core CPUs
- Optimized Thermal Solution: Fanless VRM and chipset heat sink, multiple hybrid fan headers and fan speed management with Fan Xpert 4 or the UEFI Q-Fan Control utility
- High-performance Gaming Networking: 2. 5 GB LAN with ASUS LANGuard
- Best Gaming Connectivity: Supports HDMI 2. 1( 4K@60HZ) and DisplayPort 1. 2 output, featuring dual M. 2 slots (NVMe SSD)—one with PCIe 4. 0 x4 connectivity, front panel USB 3. 2 Gen 1 connector, USB 3. 2 Gen 2 Type-C & Type-A ports
- Industry-leading Gaming Audio & AI Noise Cancelling Mic Technology: High fidelity audio from a SupremeFX S1220A codec with DTS Sound Unbound and Sonic Studio III draws you deeper into the action. Communicate clearly with ASUS AI Noise Cancelling Mic technology
- Gaming Look and Feel: ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including RGB headers and Gen 2 addressable RGB header
- Please ensure your BIOS is up to date if installing a compatible Ryzen 5000 series CPU. Visit ASUS site search by motherboard model name, click on “Support” tab, Drivers and Tools, then BIOS & Firmware to download the latest BIOS.
Based on my research and extensive PC building experience, here are the best Micro ATX cards for any compact gaming build.
What to Look for in a Micro ATX Motherboard
The Micro ATX motherboard might be great at saving you a bit of space and being cheaper than full-size ATX motherboards, but you need to know that you’re making some sacrifices.
Mainly, these smaller boards often come with fewer PCIe lanes, or even just one on certain models.
So you need to think about how many graphics cards, sound cards, capture cards, and other PCIe cards you want to install when deciding which mATX control panel is right for you.
The smaller PCB you get with mATX motherboards also means you’ll likely have fewer M.2 slots for NVMe and SATA SSDs.
The good news is that most boards this size have at least two M.2 slots, but don’t expect there to be four or five on some of the more premium ATX parts.
When choosing the motherboard set that will serve as the backbone of your gaming PC , it’s worth considering whether you need all the extras that come with a full-size ATX motherboard.
Unless you plan to load PCIe expansion cards or go wild overclocking, chances are you’ll find that a Micro ATX motherboard will have everything you need to complete your build and cost a lot less. Then an ATX card.
Price is not the only advantage of a Micro ATX motherboard. The smaller size also gives you the option to build a more compact gaming PC.
That means you can opt for a bed or a more portable design. If you already have a large enclosure of what you plan to use, you could probably use a Micro ATX motherboard, as many full ATX cases also support Micro ATX cards.
We have selected a variety of Micro ATX motherboards, giving you options for both AMD and Intel processors.
You can even find cards with multiple PCIe x16 expansion slots ready for dual GPU builds, models with PCIe 4.0, and some with really amazing memory support.
What happens next with Micro ATX gaming motherboards?
Intel recently released its LGA1200 socket and uses its Z490 chipset at the premium level for its modern processors, perhaps a little before having to worry about the next set of chipsets.
And, when Intel introduces its next chipsets, they may not offer many surprising updates. As things stand, rumors suggest that Intel (and AMD for that matter) might not be ready with DDR5 support until 2022, according to Tweaktown .
It is expected that the next generation of Intel processor motherboards will support PCIe 4.0 to increase the bandwidth of add-on devices, as motherboard manufacturers prepare for it.
Some existing Intel motherboards even support PCIe 4.0, although there are no Intel processors available to support it.
AM D’s current X570 chipset is getting old, and there will surely be a new chipset to accompany the next version of the Ryzen processors.
The new B550 chipset fills a more value-oriented market segment, and over time, we may see more mATX motherboards incorporating the chipset.
It could give you more options to create. Create a compact and affordable PC without missing out on some next generation speeds of PCIe 4.0.
That said, AMD’s Ryzen 4000 series desktop processors will not require new motherboards in many cases, as the new processors will work on existing X570 and B550 motherboards, as well as older X470 and B450 motherboards.