AMD's DTX Form Factor: Smaller PCs for Everyone?
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 22, 2007 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Words
AMD's goal is to bring small form factor standardization to the channel and enthusiast markets, so that smaller system builders as well as end users can build smaller form factor PCs as well. It's a lofty goal, but very typical of AMD's approach: seeing a niche untouched by Intel and doing its best to make its mark. The problem is that a new form factor is a difficult (and costly) thing to establish, whether or not AMD can pull it off with DTX remains to be seen.
Because DTX motherboards have the same mounting hole locations as ATX boards, motherboard makers could just as easily standardize on DTX instead of micro-ATX. The motivation being that with DTX motherboards, end users have the ability to build small form factor PCs without resorting to expensive custom cases. The problem is that the argument for DTX, much like the one for BTX, is a classic chicken and egg scenario. While it may be easier for motherboard makers to make DTX boards than it was to produce BTX boards, the motivation just isn't there if there are no DTX cases. At the same time, there won't be any DTX cases if there are no DTX motherboards, and thus we have the same problem we had when BTX was first introduced - albeit not as severe.
If DTX does become successful then we will run into another problem: further fragmentation of PC form factors. BTX won't go away given its prevalence in the OEM market today, it will simply be augmented by ATX and DTX, which is something motherboard makers wouldn't be particularly eager to entertain.
Don't mistake our cautious skepticism for a lack of appreciation; we are excited about the idea of being able to have a wide variety of cases and motherboards to choose from, all based on the same standard. It would be great to be able to build small form factor PCs using standard components just like the OEMs can, but given that BTX hasn't been able to achieve such ubiquity it's difficult to believe that DTX can. ITX has had pockets of success, but it's far from widely used, DTX needs to do better than that.
It's nice to see a working DTX reference design, but as with BTX, it'll be at least a couple of years before we can measure success. There's also the argument that instead of motherboard makers producing DTX boards, they should simply focus on bringing micro and picoBTX solutions to the channel. These boards are already in use on the OEM side, so why not offer them to all?
Almost as good as an iMac
With no clear leader in the small form factor standard race, it's anyone's guess where DTX vs. BTX will end up among end users. There's also the question of whether or not there is a huge market for a standardized small PC form factor, will the entire market eventually move to a combination of a tower PC, a notebook and small, proprietary CE devices to get content throughout the home? Looking at the success of Apple's iMac and major OEM desire to compete in the all-in-one space, the debate over small form factor standards may be a little too late.
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kyp275 - Monday, October 22, 2007 - link
In that case, I do agree with you. Miniaturization will happen, but unless there's a large market demand for it, it's not going to happen fast.and ultimately price is a big factor, and that's where the chicken-or-egg lies: price won't come down until there's a wide adaptation of the standard, but said adaptation won't happen 'til the price comes down.
IMO in this particular case it requires a whole lot of manufacturers taking the plunge together across multiple devices and standards, and I don't see that happening any time soon, if ever.
sprockkets - Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - link
I'm looking forward to having the first SSD built on the motherboard, say 16GB for the OS. Making a diskless system will be way easier.chrispyski - Monday, October 22, 2007 - link
Yup, thats precisely where the problem with BTX & DTX lies. If your gonna do some heavy gaming and need upgradability, then you have to go with ATX or at least mATX. But if all you want to do is some word processing and web, then laptops become more prevalent for their small size.DTX will have some hills to climb, no doubt. But eventually this could become a very good HTPC platform.
themadmilkman - Monday, October 22, 2007 - link
I was about to say the same thing. For a general use PC, ie email, web surfing, maybe the occasional flash-based game, a tiny PC like that makes perfect sense. But for people who jam 2 video cards, a sound card, RAID, etc., into a case space becomes a priority fast.Bluestealth - Monday, October 22, 2007 - link
Its it really necessary?There is also flexATX(Part of the mATX spec) which is almost as small as mini-DTX, and that isn't doing so great.
I feel that AMD is trying to solve a problem that isn't there.
Most of the users looking for smaller systems than pico-btx are businesses wanting to deploy terminals. For that use, mini-ITX is big enough.
sprockkets - Monday, October 22, 2007 - link
Would have built a BTX system using a pico or whatever the small form factor board is. But, try looking for such a case. There are none, with only one motherboard from Intel.Had Intel not been an ass and flipped all the slots around, and had the same setup of the fan and the same arrangement of the processor and such exhaust through the back, more people may have liked it. All that hot air that comes out of that duct system of theirs just went into the case, only to be exhausted by the power supply.
OEMs built systems around BTX because, "Well, it came out from Intel, and since they are the leader, we have to use it and market it as a feature." Then they said how it makes the system quieter. Hmmm..., OEMs had problems with this since when? They custom make all there stuff.
In any case, for the prototype case, when you say there was a vent missing from the power supply, can you say where? In the picture covering the system, is that also where it intakes air? Can't see any holes for the CPU fan.
Wonder if they should not have used a Shuttle XPC format instead of this one, still using a laptop cd drive to decrease size.
Shame also too there are no laptop cd drives yet that use SATA.
madgegafford1 - Friday, July 8, 2016 - link
Thoughtful writing . I was fascinated by the analysis ! Does someone know where my assistant could possibly grab a blank a form example to work with ?