I'm finishing a gaming PC for my girlfriend and the motherboard is the last part I need to choose. I'm in Germany and would like to spend up to €80 for a used board or around €120 for a new one.
The planned system includes an Intel Core i5-12400, a Samsung PM9A1 1TB NVMe SSD, a Strix Radeon RX Vega 56, 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4-3000 memory, and an Arctic Liquid Freezer i35 RGB cooler. For the remaining parts, I'm considering an RM650e or used Seasonic Focus GX-650 power supply and a Lian Li Vector or similar case.
I've been searching for a reasonably priced DDR4-compatible LGA1700 board, but used options often cost only €10–20 less than buying new. I'm currently considering the Asus Prime B760-Plus, though I'm open to alternatives costing up to €120.
Would a micro-ATX board be a better choice than full ATX for this setup? Are there any compatibility or building differences I should know about, and does anyone have recommendations for reliable DDR4 LGA1700 boards available in Germany?
3 Answers
For this build, micro-ATX should be completely fine. The main differences are physical size and expansion options, not performance. You’ll have fewer PCIe slots and possibly fewer M.2 or SATA connectors, but a normal gaming PC with one graphics card usually doesn’t need much more than that.
Just make sure the case supports micro-ATX. A full ATX case will also accept a micro-ATX board, while a micro-ATX case generally won’t fit a full-size ATX board. Building in micro-ATX isn’t fundamentally different; the parts install the same way, though there’s a little less room to work with.
There’s no major reason to insist on full ATX here. The graphics card, memory, SSD, cooler, and power supply should work normally on a compatible micro-ATX board. Check the board’s memory type carefully, since some B660 and B760 models use DDR5 while others use DDR4.
Also verify that the case supports the board size and that the cooler mounting hardware supports LGA1700. A full ATX board mainly makes sense if you want additional PCIe slots, more storage connections, or a specific case layout.
I’d lean toward the Asus Prime B760M-A WiFi D4 or a similar B660/B760 DDR4 board if you can find one at a good price. Avoid the very cheapest models with almost no VRM cooling, especially if the price difference is small. The i5-12400 isn’t especially demanding, but decent VRM heatsinks and a reasonable feature set are still worth having.
Micro-ATX boards are often cheaper and make for smaller, easier-to-move systems. Unless she needs several expansion cards, multiple extra drives, or custom water-cooling hardware, full ATX mostly adds unused space.
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