Motherboards are produced in a variety of form factors, some of which are specific to individual computer manufacturers. However, the motherboards used in IBM-compatible commodity computers have been standardized to fit various case sizes. As of 2007, most desktop computer motherboards use one of these standard form factors—even those found in Macintosh and Sun computers which have not traditionally been built from commodity components.
These are some of the more popular motherboard form factors:
PC/XT - created by IBM for the IBM PC, its first home computer. As the specifications were open, a large number of clone motherboards were produced and it became a de facto standard.
AT form factor (Advanced Technology) - created by IBM for its PC/XT successor, the AT. Also known as Full AT, it was popular during the era of the Intel 80386 microprocessor. Superseded by ATX.
Baby-at - IBM's 1985 successor to the AT motherboard. Functionally equivalent to the AT, it became popular due to its significantly smaller size.
ATX - created by Intel in 1995. As of 2007, it is the most popular form factor for commodity motherboards.
ETX - used in embedded systems and single board computers.
microATX - a smaller variant of the ATX form factor (about 25% shorter). It is compatible with most ATX cases, but supports fewer expansion slots due to its smaller size. Very popular for desktop and small form factor computers as of 2007.
FlexATX - a subset of microATX developed by Intel in 1999. Allows more flexible motherboard design, component positioning and shape.
LPX - based on a design by Western Digital, it allowed smaller cases than the AT standard, by putting the expansion card slots on a riser (image). LPX was never standardized and generally only used by large OEMs.
NLX - a low-profile design released in 1997. It also incorporated a riser for expansion cards, and never became popular.
BTX (Balanced Technology Extended) - a standard proposed by Intel as a successor to ATX in the early 2000s.
Mini-ITX - a small, highly-integrated form factor created by VIA in 2001. Mini-ITX was designed for small devices such as thin clients and set-top boxes.
WTX - created by Intel in 1998. A large design for servers and high-end workstations featuring multiple CPUs and hard drives.
Laptop computers generally use highly integrated, miniaturized, and customized motherboards. This is one of the reasons that laptop computers are difficult to upgrade and expensive to repair. Often the failure of one laptop component requires the replacement of the entire motherboard, which is usually more expensive than a desktop motherboard due to the large number of integrated components
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