Are mobo IO region sizes consistent across all or at least most mobos?
Posted by Lucky_Luciano642@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 10 comments
I'm not great with computer hardware and I want to upgrade my PC mobo and CPU. I ordered new of both earlier today, however I just had a thought that the new mobo might not fit the IO slot of my old case. Are the sizes consistent across most mobos? I'm sorry if this seems foolish, I just want to be sure.
BaronB@reddit
Yes and no.
All ATX family motherboards, which includes EATX, mATX, ITX, ATX, and a few other less common sizes, use the same standoff mounting positions (or subset of them), power input standard, PCIe slot positioning, and rear I/O size and position.
However, if you bought a prebuilt PC, there's no guarantee it uses ATX anything. Many prebuilts from Dell, HP, and others use proprietary motherboard layouts, proprietary power, proprietary PCIe slot positioning, and arbitrary I/O. But if you do have a system that uses the ATX standard, a new ATX motherboard of the same size or smaller should fit.
Lucky_Luciano642@reddit (OP)
How do I know of it's ATX?
rizzzeh@reddit
whats the motherboard model?
Lucky_Luciano642@reddit (OP)
That's what I'm currently working on figuring out
rizzzeh@reddit
install free software like CPU-Z, it shows the details
Lucky_Luciano642@reddit (OP)
I dug it up in System Info, apparently it's a micro ATX board
BaronB@reddit
Look at the back of your case. How many slots are there for PCIe cards? 4 or 7? If it's 4, that case can only hold an mATX or smaller motherboard. If it's 7 (or more) it can take an ATX motherboard.
Lucky_Luciano642@reddit (OP)
That’s really helpful as well, thank you
rizzzeh@reddit
Whats the new mtherboard, is it also mATX?
Lucky_Luciano642@reddit (OP)
It is also mATX. My bad, falling asleep brain got me worried for nothing. Thank you for walking me through that.