Can MicroATX Boards Do the Job?

Feature Table

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Header Cell - Column 0 Elitegroup G33T-M2 Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2H MSI G33M
Revision 1.0 0.1 1.0
BIOS 080014 (07/05/31) F1 VP.B02
Northbridge G33 G33 G33
Southbridge ICH9 (82801IB) ICH9 (82801IB) ICH9 (82801IB)
Voltage regulators 3 Phase 4 Phase 4 Phase
Clock generator ICS9LP505-2HGLF ICS9LPR587EGLF ICS9LPRS906CGLF
200 MHz (FSB800) 199.5 MHz (-0.25%) 200.5 (+0.25%) 201.6 (+0.8%)
Connectors and Interfaces
PCI-Interfaces 1x PCIe x16 (16x electrical)1x PCIe x1 (1x electrical)2x PCI 1x PCIe x16 (16x electrical)1x PCIe x1 (1x electrical)2x PCI 1x PCIe x16 (16x electrical)1x PCIe x1 (1x electrical)2x PCI
Other connectors 4x USB4x SATA 4x USB2x 1394a1x IDE3x SATA1x LPT1x COM 3x USB1x 1394a1x IDE3x SATA 1x COM
Fan header 1x 4 Pin (CPU)1x 3 Pin (system) 1x 4 Pin (CPU)1x 4 Pin (system) 1x 4 Pin (CPU)1x 4 Pin (system)
Audio 1x SPDIF (out)1x Front Audio1x CD (Eingang) 1x SPDIF (in & out)1x Front Audio1x CD (Eingang) 1x SPDIF (out)1x Front Audio1x CD (Eingang)
Power Supply 24-Pin ATX4-Pin CPU2x PS2 (keyboard + mouse)4x USB 2.01x Network1x RS232 (COM) 24-Pin ATX4-Pin CPU2x PS2 (keyboard + mouse)4x USB 2.01x Network1x eSATA1x 1394a 24-Pin ATX4-Pin CPU2x PS2 (keyboard + mouse)6x USB 2.01x Network2x eSATA1x 1394a
Audio 1x 7.1 analog audio channels 1x 7.1 analog audio channels1x optical digital out 1x 7.1 analog audio channels
Mass Storage Controller ICH91x Floppy4x SATA ICH91x Floppy4x SATAJmicron 3681x IDE ICH91x Floppy4x SATAMarvell 88SE6111-NAA11x IDE1x SATA
Network Realtek RTL8111B (PCIe)1x 1 Gbit/s LAN Realtek RTL8110SC (PCI)1x 1 Gbit/s LAN Marvell 88E8056-NNC1 (PCIe)1x 1 Gbit/s LAN
Audio Realtek ALC883AC97 or High Definition Audio Realtek ALC889aAC97 or High Definition Audio Realtek ALC888AC97 or High Definition Audio
Overclocking
Adjust CPU Clock Ratio Row 18 - Cell 1 yes Row 18 - Cell 3
FSB 200-510 100-700 200-710
PCIe Row 20 - Cell 1 90-150 100-200
Memory Multiplier 667, 800 3.33;4.0 2.5;3;3.33;4
DRAM manual timing yes yes yes
Overvoltaging
CPU Row 24 - Cell 1 0.5V-1.6V; increments 0.00625V 1.275V-2.0625V; increments 0.0125
RAM 1.85V;1.9V;1.95V;2.0V +0.1V;+0.2V;+0.3V;+0.4V 1.8V-3.3VV; incremental w/ varying granularity
MCH Row 26 - Cell 1 -0.15V;-0.1V;-0.05V;+0.1V;+0.2V;+0.3V 1.25V-1.65V; increments 0.025V
FSB Row 27 - Cell 1 -0.15V;-0.1V;-0.05V;+0.1V;+0.2V;+0.3V 1.175V-1.575V; increments 0.025V
Patrick Schmid
Editor-in-Chief (2005-2006)

Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.