As I’ve been watching comments and reactions from customers on YouTube and Reddit about this year’s motherboard launches, like our refreshed AM5 motherboard series and the new retro-themed ROG Crosshair 2006, I’ve seen a question pop up several times. It comes in a few different forms, but the sentiment is always the same: “Where are the microATX motherboards?”
I respect the question, in no small part because I see that it comes from a place of real passion. For years, microATX was a savvy choice, offering a compact form factor that didn’t ask you to make too many compromises. Perhaps you’re one of the many PC builders who tends to re-use the same PC case for more than one build, and you’re still rocking a microATX case from the glory days of the form factor.
But if you feel like you’re seeing fewer of them, especially in the high-performance space, you’re not wrong. When we launched our Z390 series back in 2018, we included a microATX option in the top-end ROG Maximus lineup. But since then, our offerings for enthusiasts have focused primarily on the ATX form factor, with EATX and mini-ITX providing variety. We did include the ROG Crosshair X670E Gene as part of our first salvo of AM5 motherboards, but it’s a bit of an exception. If you browse the motherboards currently available in the United States through the ASUS Shop, you’ll see 22 microATX motherboards compared to 79 ATX boards. Many of those microATX options hail from our value-oriented ASUS Prime family, with a cluster of mainstream TUF Gaming boards thrown into the mix. The sole ROG microATX motherboard in this list is the ROG Strix B850-G Gaming WiFi.
So you’re not without options if you’re committed to microATX. If you’re looking for a white-and-silver themed microATX board that drills down on high-end gaming value through the B850 chipset, that Strix board is right there. But in fairness, that doesn’t answer the question about what actually happened to microATX motherboards. Why aren’t there as many options as there used to be?
The decline of high-end microATX isn’t due to one single thing, but rather a range of factors that have reshaped the PC building landscape. Many of these factors are related to changes in the CPU and motherboard space. Others are more tied to trends in chassis design. But the trend also has a lot to do with today’s PC users. In large part, there are fewer microATX motherboard options because many builders are buying ATX, EATX, and mini-ITX options instead. Let’s take a closer look at some of the reasons why.
The battle for motherboard real estate
The most direct challenge for microATX is a simple matter of physics. A modern high-end motherboard is fighting a war for every square millimeter of its printed circuit board (PCB). Fitting everything that today’s users need, want, and expect on a microATX motherboard is a challenge — not an impossible challenge, but a challenge nonetheless.
First, look at the demands of modern CPUs. Today’s top-tier AMD Ryzen or Intel Core Ultra processors draw no small amount of power. Delivering clean, stable voltage to these chips requires a massive Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) with a large, effective heatsink. A full-size ATX board gives us more space to build out these robust power solutions.
Then there’s storage. The M.2 slot has become the standard for high-speed SSDs, and enthusiasts want lots of them. We’re now offering up to seven M.2 slots on our modern lineup. A handful of M.2 slots doesn’t take up a ton of horizontal space on a motherboard, but it does require far more elbow room than a stack of SATA 6GB/s connectors. And it’s not just the physical M.2 slots themselves, but the complex data traces on the PCB and the need for effective heatsinks that consume more valuable board area than a cluster of SATA ports ever did.
With modern chassis design, ATX doesn’t mean full-size anymore
Design decisions don’t happen in a vacuum. Back when microATX motherboards more common than they are today, PC cases had to leave room for bulky drive bays. And the need for space to fit in an optical drive and a stack of 2.5-inch storage drives significantly constrained how far you could shrink a chassis without requiring users to select a smaller motherboard.
Today, many PC cases only offer drive bays as an optional accessory. And that’s opened up a lot of room. The ASUS Prime AP303 chassis is a good example here. With its compact 44-liter volume, it’s by no means a full-size tower. Yet it comfortably fits ATX motherboards, 360mm liquid cooling radiators, graphics cards up to 360mm long, and power supplies up to 180mm long. You can go smaller with the 33-liter ASUS Prime AP201. But in 2026, it’s more than possible to go compact while still keeping your motherboard options open through compatibility with the ATX form factor.
Builders who want to go small can go a lot smaller than microATX
MicroATX is indeed a more compact form factor than ATX. It reduces board length by roughly 25%, and that’s not insignificant. But if you’re looking to fit a lot of PC horsepower in a small space, you’ve got options. And you’ve got options that are much, much smaller than a microATX PC build.
In 2026, a small-form-factor PC is easier to build than ever. Petite Mini-ITX motherboards like the ROG Strix X870-I Gaming WiFi pack incredible punch considering their size. And the word “compact” doesn’t do these boards justice. You can easily balance a mini-ITX board on the palm of one hand. And while building a small-form-factor PC still takes some planning, NVIDIA’s SFF Ready program smooths out the process of finding graphics cards and cases that play together nicely.
Beyond the traditional desktop PC space, you have even more options for getting potent PC performance in a pint-size package. In 2026, you have your pick between powerful PC gaming handhelds, ultra-compact ROG NUCs, and slim gaming laptops that offer incredible performance. If your main goal is to go small, you can go much smaller than a microATX PC build.
Larger graphics cards obviate the space savings of microATX for many
One last trend that’s worth some discussion as we explore the changing popularity of different motherboard form factors. That’s the way that today’s graphics cards tend to be much larger than they were in the heyday of microATX motherboards.
In 2026, high-end graphics cards are nearly complete PCs unto themselves. Their heatsinks don’t just cover the entire PCB, but extend out even further, using vents in the backplate for flow-through cooling. Cooling solutions now often include fan arrays wielding three or even four fans, each significantly larger for increased airflow and more pleasing noise characteristics.
Graphics are often bigger than they used to be, but today’s best-selling PC cases, by and large, leave more than enough room for today’s large-and-in-charge graphics cards. And for the most part, that means that they also have the room for ATX motherboards. You certainly can install a microATX motherboard in such a case. But there’s little advantage from doing that, and there’s a good aesthetic reason why you might not prefer it. Aesthetically, a smaller microATX board can look “lost” inside a case that can fit larger boards, which is a real consideration for builders who care about the visual appeal of their rig.
Where does microATX fit in today?
All this doesn’t mean microATX is gone. Far from it. Perhaps there aren’t as many microATX options as there used to be, but microATX cases and motherboards are still alive and kicking. In 2026, the form factor primarily caters to value-focused builders looking to balance size, performance, and budget.
Think about a first-time builder constructing a gaming rig. They don’t have a small pile of leftover drives from previous PCs, so they don’t need an entire fleet of M.2 slots. They’re probably selecting an AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU, so they won’t get as much value out of the massive power solutions found on high-end ATX motherboards. They probably don’t need all the options that come with picking a full-size tower, but would have an easier time building in a PC with a little elbow room. For these folks, microATX motherboards and cases are the perfect choice. And that’s exactly where our Prime and TUF Gaming series shine, delivering incredible value at mainstream prices.
For those of us who have fond memories of building powerful, compact rigs around a high-end microATX board, it’s understandable to feel like something has been lost. But the spirit of those builds hasn’t vanished. It lives on through other form factors, whether that’s a cleverly designed ATX mid-tower or a truly tiny Mini-ITX powerhouse. The types of builds that microATX motherboards used to enable — compact yet easy-to-build-in PCs compatible with most any graphics card, cooler, or power supply — are still possible today with ATX motherboards. And since compatibility with ATX opens up an incredible range of motherboard options, that’s a win-win for most builders. They can get the benefits that used to come with microATX builds alongside the advantages of sticking with ATX motherboards, and that’s a change that’s worth celebrating.