Core i7 -- IMO reached the limits of ATX

[LittleNemoNES]

I'm probably not the first to mention this but:

I don't see how they can keep piling on features on Mobos on the ATX Format. IMO we need an extra 4 inches Horizontally and Vertically. On my DFI x48T2R I can't even add a PCI-Express Sound Card because my GTX280 and Areca card are using up most of the space.

 

[Rich3077]

I have often asked myself the same thing.

 

[Lonyo]

I don't see how it's an i7 thing (beyond needing space for 6 RAM slots in some cases), but yes, ATX is a bit small, mainly due to modern graphics cards more than anything.

 

[shabby]

We need some of those 10 slot mobo's, there are a couple cases already that support them... for some reason.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: gersson
I don't see how they can keep piling on features on Mobos on the ATX Format. IMO we need an extra 4 inches Horizontally and Vertically. On my DFI x48T2R I can't even add a PCI-Express Sound Card because my GTX280 and Areca card are using up most of the space.

That's like someone saying how he's reached the limits of his Hummer and needs to make it bigger, because he is unable to add that second gas tank to double the driving range and the new 65" widescreen he's picking up at Best Buy won't fit because the rear seats were removed to accomodate the six 15" subwoofers and matching amplifiers, and his two girlfriends are already in the front with him so where is his rottweiler going to sit?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Zap

That's like someone saying how he's reached the limits of his Hummer and needs to make it bigger, because he is unable to add that second gas tank to double the driving range and the new 65" widescreen he's picking up at Best Buy won't fit because the rear seats were removed to accomodate the six 15" subwoofers and matching amplifiers, and his two girlfriends are already in the front with him so where is his rottweiler going to sit?

Ive reached the limits of my case and i need something bigger!!

LOL.....

 

[Falloutboy]

why have we reached the limit, BTX came about due to high heat, but with chips moving towards higher efficiency thats not near the problem it was. that and with intel going IMC they'll have to rework BTX for the same reasons AMD never backed it

 

[JMapleton]

An external extension of the motherboard (that plugged directly to the motherboard) to hold several video cards would solve this issue.

 

[n7]

Considering how everything is getting smaller, especially for the average consumer area, the only way i see another format being added is for enthusiasts specifically...

For the average user, ATX isn't even needed, mATX is more than fine.

 

[ashishmishra]

Originally posted by: n7
Considering how everything is getting smaller, especially for the average consumer area, the only way i see another format being added is for enthusiasts specifically...

I doubt that will ever happen and I hope it doesn't as well, anything that is targeted towards enthusiasts tends to be quite expensive as well, rendering it as an elitist format even before it has the chance to become popular.

 

[aigomorla]

to answer the OP.

Its Called EATX.

And yes its available on SOME X58 boards.




And if you think elitist gear is expensive you my friend need to look at enterprise sector.

 

[hans007]

honestly micro ATX is enough for 99% of people.

hell i am a techie i guess and i have 1 hard drive, 1 cdrom, and no card plugged in. seriously the enthusiast sector is so small, that no motherboard company would make a special board just for them or it would cost a lot.


the best solution i've ever seen is HP sometimes uses an extender card, that turns a mATX board into an ATX board. maybe they should make one that makes it 10 slots.

 

[TidusZ]

yeah, Wolf 359 cost 39 ships and 11 000 lives, enterprise managed to escape though. The costs just grow exponentially at that scale. Bigger motherboards might solve the problem, but maybe not needing three videocards with dual slot coolers would help as well. Multi-GPU cards might be the new frontier.

 

[LungingAtThePope]

I have a micro atx board with a gtx260.... looks hilarious, but with so much stuff integrated the available pci and pci-e x1 slot easily enough for say a soundcard and tv card. The only people who need huge motherboards are the triple / quad sli types, and theyre just KILLING THE PLANET anyway... ahem... sorry....

 

[wwswimming]

i'm looking forward to the second set of Socket 1366 (not 1166) Micro-ATX motherboards
to be released.

by definition they have only one PCI-E slot for video cards (except for one socket 775
made by DFI).

just a simple board with 6 RAM slots, 5 USB slots, 4 SATA connectors, 3 power phases,
2 IDE connectors ... and a partridge in a pear tree !!!

 

[SunnyD]

I would be much happier if they simply took video cards into account when designing boards. If 50% of the video cards are dual slot in design, then make sure there's 2 slots of clearance on the PCIe x16 slot instead of parking a perfectly usable x1 slot underneath it.

 

[Idontcare]

Sounds like we need to allow for wider computer cases so the PCIe cards can be more than 3-4" wide.

 

[Sureshot324]

The problem is PCI is not obsolete yet. Once it is, then mobo makers will put more PCI-E slots instead of the PCI slots and there will be enough for most people.

 

[akugami]

As others have stated, MATX motherboards are more than enough for at least 90% of the users out there. Their computing needs are very basic after all. It is only the enthusiast that are feeling a bit cramped.

The fault lies not with the ATX standard but rather with the need for legacy PCI support. This is compounded by the large dual slot HSF's on today's top end video cards. Get rid of all but one PCI slot (just for those few legacy parts), put in PCI-E slots in the rest of the motherboard and this will open up room for PCI-E add-on boards.

One of the problems is that a lot of stuff still hasn't moved to PCI-E since PCI still provides enough bandwidth for the intended applications of these add-on boards. Vendors would be putting money towards moving to PCI-E when PCI is still alive and well. Compounding the problem is the lack of available PCI-E slots on motherboards...which leads to add-on vendors not supporting PCI-E yet...which leads to lack of PCI-E slots on motherboards...etc. It's the chicken and the egg scenario.

PCI-E will get there eventually but for now, we have the current situation where we need legacy support for PCI while trying to move to an all PCI-E system. It's much like how PS2 keyboards and mice are still around, and thus PS2 ports are on motherboards, when USB has been around for so long.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: TidusZ
yeah, Wolf 359 cost 39 ships and 11 000 lives, enterprise managed to escape though. The costs just grow exponentially at that scale. Bigger motherboards might solve the problem, but maybe not needing three videocards with dual slot coolers would help as well. Multi-GPU cards might be the new frontier.

ROFL!

they made a big mistake, they should of uploaded windows ME and watch the borg crash.

Originally posted by: SunnyD
I would be much happier if they simply took video cards into account when designing boards. If 50% of the video cards are dual slot in design, then make sure there's 2 slots of clearance on the PCIe x16 slot instead of parking a perfectly usable x1 slot underneath it.

The only company to ever consider that did make a nice board layout.. Very nice, fit 3 cards in pefectly... had no cramp issues.. but guess what..

It was NVIDIA.. and we all know nvidia chipsets..

 

[Dadofamunky]

Bring back the EISA slot!

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Dadofamunky
Bring back the EISA slot!

Screw that, those were a waste of space. Bring back VESA Local Bus (VLB); there's nothing quite as comforting as a connector as long as the whole motherboard!

 

[nyker96]

i agree with earlier posters, not many need that much expansion room in a rig. If you do then you are probably a power user, maybe get few machines, one NAS box with all your drives for storage. one gaming rig just simple g card/sound card with a raptor type of drive. one daily usage machine, general purpose maybe just integrated graphics/built in sound etc. So that division of labor would probably be the way to go for even power users. Why cram everything into one box and have to resort to workstation level heat management systems, expensive setups etc? built 3 boxes (actually I do this myself one for game+music/one for file serving/ one for daily usage). works out beautifully.

 

[zephyrprime]

Once pci is dropped entirely, more space will be available for expansion. The other problem is some high end MBs have huge heatsinks on them and that's making expansion tough.

 

[StinkyPinky]

The average person surfs the net, watches porn, types up emails, writes up word documents and maybe plays a bit of The Sims.

A simple motherboard with everything onboard will do that for them. ATX is just fine.