Motherboards come in various standard sizes, but for most of us, the choice boils down to ATX, micro-ATX, and mini-ITX, from largest to smallest. But that’s mostly variations on how many PCIE cards it can hold. There’s now a new standard that swaps a few things around, assuming you only want a graphics card and maybe fewer RAM DIMMs, traded for more M.2 storage options.
It’s called “YTX,” from Maxsun, a lesser-known brand based out of mainland China. The promotional material positions the YTX form factor as a more powerful alternative to the smaller ITX, widening it out past the area that usually holds the RAM DIMM slots in order to fit in three easily-accessible, full-length M.2 2280 slots. The first board that uses the size is the MS-Terminator H770, an Intel-branded LGA 1700 board with an H770 chipset. The 245mm x 175mm board is almost exactly as long as a mini-ITX board, “long” in the sense of going down towards the PCIE area, (170mm) but 75mm wider.
On top of the novel sizing, it also positions power, SATA, and other connection slots on the back of the motherboard, following the trend of routing cables in the rear of the case for a clean-looking setup. On top of the PCIE 5.0 slot, other highlights include Wi-F 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and four M.2 slots in total (they’re stacked), all sadly sticking with PCIE 4.0 speeds. PCGamer spotted this one, but if there’s a price or release date, I can’t see it there or on Maxsun’s site.
Maxsun
A new format for something as entrenched as motherboards is always a tough sell. But I think this one might be useful. This YTX board is made with small, powerful builds in mind, and anyone who’s made one knows that the limiting factor for that often isn’t the mini-ITX motherboard, it’s actually getting a graphics card to fit in those teeny tiny cases. Yes, you can move it around a bit with a PCIE riser, but that doesn’t help with the length issue. The YTX format would acknowledge that you can’t do anything about that, while taking advantage of the space to add much-needed M.2 capacity.
Whether we’ll actually see case manufacturers support this format…well, that’s another thing entirely. The YTX board won’t fit in a standard mini-ITX tray, but a micro-ATX case would hold it unmodified. That’ll have to do until someone makes something specifically designed for this longer SFF setup.