Micro ATX Boards Stagnating?

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:20 pm

DDR3 seems to be starting to take off, though it does still seem to be pretty expensive. Never the less, id still like to at least SEE the option of some DDR3 micro atx boards.

Even more importantly than that though, is id really like to see more than just 1 micro atx board that supports 1600/1333 FSB.

The way it is now, 1333/1066 FSB with DDR2 800 is about the best you can get. Theres a few boards that say they do DDR2 1066, but technically per JDEC, there is no DDR2 standard above 800.

Should i just settle for DDR2 800 and 1333 FSB, or hold out and hope someone starts producing faster micro atx boards soon?

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:38 pm

Aris, I think you're right. uATX boards, esp. with integrated video, are stagnating. It's about delivering adequate performance for the buck, and right now DDR3 is deadly for that combination.

Remember Intel's Timna, which could only operate with RDRAM? And got cancelled when RDRAM prices got stuck in the atmosphere?

No uATX mobo vendor wants to get stuck with a feature that forces its product to sell (equipped) for more than their competitors. Bleeding edge consumers will have to buy more expensive ATX boards and a video board to go with their spiffy DDR3!

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:21 pm

No I think uATX will become even more popular. AMD has good integrated uATX boards: good integrated chipsets are the only reason for getting AMD. Once Intel has G45 that will be a great solution and I would expect uATX to dominate for Intel also.

Regarding memory DDR3 is very expensive and while it is supposed to have power advantages over DDR2 the opposite looks the case at present. Looking at the 2*2Gb DDE3 on newegg, they all have heatsinks, whereas many 2*2Gb DDR2 offerings are low power enough not to need heatsinks.

psyopper · Post by **psyopper** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:40 pm

I think what ou are seeing is a holding pattern for the Intel '45 chipsets to become widely available.

Asus has already demo-ed a G45 based P5E-VM HDMI micro-atx board. I think most manufacturers get their full sized (ie more popular) boards fleshed out with the newer chipsets before rolling into their less popular micro-atx variants.

I'm forcasting Intel '45 chipset based m-atx boards by the end of August, early September. Oof course I'm a rank amateur and stand a better chance of forcasting the weather in Zimbabwe through binoculars from my home in Washington State.

Modo · Post by **Modo** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:42 pm

Felger Carbon wrote:Aris, I think you're right. uATX boards, esp. with integrated video, are stagnating.

Are there even models without integrated video? Seriously, last time I checked (half a year ago), there was literally no such thing available (in Poland).

Luminair · Post by **Luminair** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:44 pm

small motherboards are not stagnating, they are becoming more popular than ever

your read on the market is apparently incorrect

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:53 am

AFAIK there is no nVidia 8200 (integrated graphics) for Intel, so there is some stagnation.
With AMD uATX mobos you can get a 4850e CPU, but the Intel E8400 is about 50% faster for the same power.
So I believe there would be a nice market for an Skt 775 / DDR3 nVidia 8200 uATX mobo, since DDR3 offers more bandwidth for the gfx.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:58 pm

Just wait til we get the new nvidia and intel chipsets for microatx. There will be a nice explosion then with hdmi, displayport, etc running about. Plus decent integrated performance!
And ddr3 is complete worthless for performance until Nehalem. Ignore it and save your money.

austinbike · Post by **austinbike** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:55 pm

I have seen DDR-3 with ~100-150% price premium over DDR-2.

With the way that memory prices work, why would you ever move to DDR-3 before the price hits mainstream?

Bragging rights is all I can think.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:42 pm

austinbike wrote:I have seen DDR-3 with ~100-150% price premium over DDR-2.

With the way that memory prices work, why would you ever move to DDR-3 before the price hits mainstream?

Bragging rights is all I can think.

Brag that your computer doesn't even run faster? SAD! At least if you're gonna get bragging rights, get something that makes your computer faster. DDR3 does NOTHING. Well ok, it does a little. Little enough that a double blind test would show no difference. On the other hand, Nehalem + DDR3 does sound interesting and useful. Hopefully prices will be down to only 1.5X ddr2 then.