Good Bye ATX - BTX Form Factor Is Coming

Shagga

Diamond Member
Nov 9, 1999
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The new BTX form factor specification gives developers options to balance thermal management, acoustics, system performance, and size in the system form factors and stylish designs that are desired in today's products. The BTX form factor is a clear break from previous ATX form factor layouts and was developed with emerging technologies such as Serial ATA, USB 2.0, and PCI Express* in mind. In addition to smaller than microATX system sizes, BTX also was designed to scale up to tower size systems using the same core layout by increasing the number of system slots included.

Saw it here. ;)
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
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I like the fact that they've moved the CPU to a location away from the power supply but right in line with the airflow path going through the case. Tower cases would need to have intake fans right in the middle of the case ideally though for this form factor.
 

Phantron

Member
Aug 21, 2003
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Yeah, one 92 cools the entire damn computer....uh huh. Keep trying Intel cause theres no way im going that route.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
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huh... following in the footsteps of apple. sorta like the apple g5, but no where near as cool:(
 

RalfHutter

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2000
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Originally posted by: Phantron
Yeah, one 92 cools the entire damn computer....uh huh. Keep trying Intel cause theres no way im going that route.

I don't see why that wouldn't work just fine. My current rig is a P4 3.0C running in an Antec SLK3700 that is being cooled by a 120mm L1A running at 5V, plus whatever the very slow moving fan on the Seasonic SuperSilencer 400 PSU pulls out, which isn't much.. Right now, at 74°F my case temp is 28°C. Ant this is with an "old fashioned" ATX mobo. Just think how much better it would be with a new-fangled, more efficient BTX board!

 

Bagheera

Senior member
Jul 6, 2000
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BTX looks cool; efficient cooling is always a plus. But I kinda wished they would be more considerate as to make it ATX-backward-compatible (for people like me, who just bought a new case with all the cool mods...)

I mean they didn't have to reverse the whole layout and switch the motherboard onto the other side of the case... that part didn't make much sense to me.
 

BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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Originally posted by: Bagheera
BTX looks cool; efficient cooling is always a plus. But I kinda wished they would be more considerate as to make it ATX-backward-compatible (for people like me, who just bought a new case with all the cool mods...).
Same here. In May02 i brought a £110 server tower case to house my system. I was planning on using it long term, 5Yrs+, but now i wont be able to, which is annoying.
The new cooling design is a good idea though. Intakes blow strait into CPU HSF, then passes through to the GPU HSF, then out. Good idea imo.

 

lameaway

Member
Jun 18, 2003
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Looks great to me. Once these motherboards and cases start rolling out, the entire thermal aspect of PC design is finally going to get exciting again.
 

EeyoreX

Platinum Member
Oct 27, 2002
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Good Bye ATX - BTX Form Factor Is Coming
Somehow, I think ATX will be around for quite a while yet. For several reasons. For one, as some people mentioned, end users have so much invested in the current form factor, I don't see then running out in huge numbers to replace everything for a new formfactor. This rings true for OEMs as well. OEMs would need to embrace this formfactor before it is goodbye to ATX. That would mean lots of resources to devolop systems around this. As a whole, I tend to think there is often resistance to "clean break" technology. That means you can't use the old stuff. People get all bent out of shape when Intel changes a pin count or processor configuration because they now have to buy a new motherboard. I doubt they will be much happier to have to buy a new motherboard and chassis. Also, I admit to not grasping a lot of the technical aspects, (plus my general apathy to "extreme cooling". ie, anything other than what is needed to run stable) but how much difference can the mainboard make for cooling? With current setups with the ATX formfactor, I see board temps only a couple degrees above ambient air temp. You aren't going to get cooler than that with a board redesign. The specs also make a big deal about "new technology" like SATA, and PCI Express and USB 2.0. Oddly enough, I have an ATX board with two of these technologies in my desktop now. Bottom line, I don't think ATX will go the way of the dodo anytime soon in terms of mass market products.

\Dan
 

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
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I want to know if there will be an "Extended-BTX" for server boards, rendering all current large-formfactor cases irrelevant. Or, will it be a relatively safe investment to purchase a case capable of holding an EATX board right now (if BTX is only for the desktop)? Or will server boards finally move to WTX, while desktop boards go BTX? (I ask this because I'm not too far from getting a Chenbro Genie or similar case, for future upgrades which will likely include an EATX board, but I will just postpone the case upgrade if something else will be needed).
 

EeyoreX

Platinum Member
Oct 27, 2002
2,864
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IMO, if you are going to postpone a purchase for the wide release of BTX boards, you might be waiting a while. I don't see wide-scale adaptation of the form factor all that soon (see my above post for reasons).

\Dan