BTX, want it back

[PeteRoy]

It is a shame that BTX didn't make it in the enthusiasts DIY market.

I work with many Dell desktops and I am very impressed by their BTX case and cpu cooler, it is dead silent, the cooler heatsink is big and the cpu fan is big and silent.

I wish I could build a system myself using BTX motherboard, case and cpu cooler components.

 

[Zepper]

Sorry, BTX was an animal of its time when the CPUs were only getting hotter. Just after that, the went with smaller and more processes and more efficient interconnects that cooled the CPUs way down.

Original C-M Stacker (STC-T01) has a BTX kit available for it. If you can find the 820 it was BTX only and some of the 830 models include a BTX kit. And the Aerocool Masstige series (Masstige, Coolview, Zero Degree, etc.) also have a BTX kit available. Xoxide.com has the Zero Degree at a good price but their shipping is atrocious and I'm only one state away. Newegg has the ZD too. I guess you have to get the BTX kit direct from Aerocool. Need to talk to them before buying. The Aerocool boxes are the only ones you can get for under $100.00

.bh.

 

[mooseracing]

The TT Armor also can be setup for BTX for what its worth

 

[PeteRoy]

What about motherboards, can you buy a BTX motherboard anywhere?

 

[Quiksilver]

....couldn't you just get an ATX motherboard and install it upside down? Isn't that what BTX is really...

 

[PeteRoy]

No, BTX puts the CPU in the middle front of the chassis, the connectors in the back, the memory above the cpu, the video card behind the cpu.

This way, the front fan is big and sucks in cold air from the front of the chassis to the cpu cooler behind it and then to the video card behind the cpu.

Look at this: Dell XPS interior using BTX

 

[RallyMaster]

So you want to have video cards that suck up the heat produced by the CPU? 😕

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
So you want to have video cards that suck up the heat produced by the CPU? 😕

With the current setup, they don't really get a fresh supply of air anyway. Besides, GPUs are able to run at much higher temperatures than CPUs. 80c is not unreasonable, but for a CPU it would be. So having a slightly warmer supply of air isn't going to phase them significantly.

BTX is a superior form factor, just it's not superior enough to warrant switching over.

However with quad cores, and octa cores, we may be approaching thermal loads similar to the old Prescott days.

 

[Andrew1990]

Wouldnt it just be easier for the big companies to start making cooler chips? I mean right now a low end non overclocked Core2 can play any game reasonably except for crysis. Why not just undervolt them to lower the heat and then just keep making the dies smaller? Same thing can be done with video cards.

Of course this is just me talking because I like low power consumption CPUs and Computers. Yay for my Pentium M 725 and Celeron L 420 that will never overheat!!!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Besides, GPUs are able to run at much higher temperatures than CPUs. 80c is not unreasonable, but for a CPU it would be.

That depends on which CPU/GPU you're talking about, and how far you're trying to overclock 'em. The Prescott CPUs were rated for 90ºC operational temperature.

 

[SolMiester]

Originally posted by: PeteRoy
No, BTX puts the CPU in the middle front of the chassis, the connectors in the back, the memory above the cpu, the video card behind the cpu.

This way, the front fan is big and sucks in cold air from the front of the chassis to the cpu cooler behind it and then to the video card behind the cpu.

Look at this: Dell XPS interior using BTX

My Silverstone TJ06 does exactly whats shown is the photo TJ06 BTX style case

Edit - Its actually not what you're after...doh

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Besides, GPUs are able to run at much higher temperatures than CPUs. 80c is not unreasonable, but for a CPU it would be.

That depends on which CPU/GPU you're talking about, and how far you're trying to overclock 'em. The Prescott CPUs were rated for 90ºC operational temperature.

That was shutoff temperature, throttling happened much sooner. My Prescott would start throttling at 70c.