Ever since the trend moved towards modernization of the traditional PC into home entertainment consoles, there have been plenty of reasons for one to go for Small Form Factor (SFF) and HTPC designs. There are generally two ways one can go about this though. The easy way out is to buy into custom PCs like the AOpen Mini PC or barebone systems like those offered by Shuttle. The other way is to go the D.I.Y. route. With an increasing number of SFF chassis designs that can accommodate regular sized motherboards, building your own compact PC from the ground up isn't too difficult. If you're in the second group, you'd most probably be hunting for a microATX motherboard for your rig and while they aren't hard to find, boards these size are historically under-powered or under-featured compared to their full seized ATX brethren.



Link: HardwareZone