A Mini-ITX motherboard in a Bitfenix Prodigy (Pinterest)
The rise of the mobile computing devices (smartphones, tablets, wearables, etc.) are slowly and surely relegating the desktop PC factor from everyone’s computer down to workstations and the enthusiast segment. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, as the smaller, portable computers make for a more inexpensive and practical solution for most mainstream needs.
That being said, the humble desktop will still be with us for many years more. With so many PC hardware manufacturers and plenty legacy equipment in use, it would simply be impractical for it to be ditched as a standard computing platform. What will more likely happen is that it will become increasingly more compact and sport more modern connectivity options.
The Mini-ITX form factor, established by VIA Technologies in 2001, was designed for low-power, embedded PC designs that could be implemented as low-cost, mainstream use machines for non-power and processing intensive tasks such as internet browsing and word processing. For one reason or another, the standard didn't catch on until the second half of the decade.
At first it was just the industrial integrators and computing appliance manufacturers that were utilizing Mini-ITX in their designs, but even the home PC and enthusiast markets eventually realized that this compact form factor was pretty much just the right size to be able to carry full-sized desktop components (processor, memory, video and sound cards) while being a mere 17 by 17 centimeters. There are smaller form factors, but they could only mount laptop and notebook-specific parts, which tend to be significantly more expensive, and often not enthusiast-grade.
The then-growing home theater PC (HTPC) builders’ scene found the Mini-ITX motherboard to be an ideal platform for their set-top creations, since streaming audiovisuals to the screen didn't take high-powered PC components to pull off.
Motherboard manufacturers eventually responded to gaming enthusiasts and compact workstation proponents to create Mini-ITX motherboards that could handle higher power, performance oriented desktop components, and out came the pocket rockets of the gaming system builders, equipped with the very same high performance parts, fancy, albeit compact chassis, and exotic cooling solutions that their bigger desktop cousins had.
The modern crop of Mini-ITX motherboards are every bit as capable and fully-featured as its ATX and micro-ATX cousins. With more manufacturers building motherboards and other PC parts and accessories compatible to this form factor (even high performance video cards are being made more compact in order to fit in smaller Mini-ITX chassis), it is inevitable in this writer’s mind that this form factor of PC motherboard will eventually replace ATX and micro-ATX as the platform of choice for desktops.
About the Author
Stacey Thompson is a professional writer, marketer, entrepreneur, and a lover of weird little animals. She is based in San Diego, California, and is currently building herself a Mini-ITX gaming and productivity (yeah right) rig, with the help of her #pcmasterrace friends.
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