Intel's Long Awaited BTX Form Factor
by Purav Sanghani on November 15, 2004 5:31 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Noise Testing ATX, BTX
Besides the thermal advantages Intel claims BTX to have over ATX, Intel also states that BTX systems will produce much lower sound levels then ATX systems. We can see this as being true since our BTX evaluation kit includes the AOpen B300 which has zero case fans. The only cooling equipment in this BTX system is the thermal module which adjusts its speed according to the overall temperature of the system and the power supply. In turn, the only hardware producing any sound in the system would be the thermal module and the power supply.As we measured the sound levels of the AOpen B300, we noticed that as the Pentium 550's temperature rose from 62 to 63 degrees, the fan speed increased from 1400rpm to 1700 rpm. We realized that the heat sink fan was overcompensating for the increase of 1 degree to bring the temperature back down to a stable level.
We see that the uBTX AOpen B300 combined with Intel's thermal module and FSP power supply produced an extremely quiet 41dB of sound compared to the ATX D.Vine 5 and uATX TT-501. The D.Vine 5 had dual 60mm fans at the back while the TT-501 actually had two 80mm fans at its rear that produced the extra 9-10dB along with the CPU heatsink fans and power supplies.
The low sound levels of the BTX system came at a price of slightly higher temperatures through the case. Is the point of BTX to eliminate case fans entirely or just reduce them to keep a positive balance between thermal and sound levels? If a 80mm or even a 60mm fan is placed at the back of the chassis directly in line with the CPU thermal module, the air flow will be increased having a greater cooling effect on the components while still keeping sound levels to a minimum.
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L3p3rM355i4h - Thursday, February 10, 2005 - link
Seems to be good for the OEM market, but what about us people who *actually* care about computers? Front exhuaust has to be the stupidest thing ever. Why was it so hard just to reverse the layout, so it would be atleast somewhat compatable with the current ATX standard.And the guy/gal who made up the "ATX II" standard, maybe you should contact AMD or someone. They might be interested.
EthernaL - Friday, May 19, 2006 - link
What if I really LIKE my BIG ATX tower?Maybe I have temperature problems in summer... maybe is not all the efficient that could be but I really love this design and I don't want to move to a small design and I don't want to buy the whole thing again.
Another nice thing with the computers we currently have is the possibility to give our friends/relatives old pieces once we upgrade our computer (my sister's computer is build that way :P )
So, again, another decission based ONLY on money without thinking in what we (the users) want or need. Thanks Intel, I hate you more than ever, and if you 'force us' to move to that technology I hope your business will go bankrupt.
IntelUser2000 - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link
"From the picture we see the flow of air pushed back through the CPU thermal module towards the Northbridge, Southbridge, and VGA card. As this air flows around the CPU, it warms up, as we can see from the red areas to the left and right of the CPU. This warm air then flows over the Northbridge and seems to cool as it travels further back in the chassis. At the left we see the channel of air flowing to the left over the memory and out through the PSU. The channel on the right flows straight back to the VGA card and out through groups of holes in the back of the case."Well doesn't look like to me that hot air comes out front.
MadAd - Friday, November 19, 2004 - link
One question im having in my mind is how big of a paintbrush will i need to get inbetween those fins - talk about a dust trap.At least a majority of atx heatsink designs have easy to clean fins, and boy do they need cleaning sometimes, this is going to be worse.
Cue the repair calls in years to come, $50 an hour for removing wads of the customers cat/dog/children from around the cooler after the safety backoff system renders the machine temporatily gonadless.
epiv - Thursday, November 18, 2004 - link
Intel can and should make BTX backward and forward compeitable with ATX so we can decide if a new BTX case and PSU is worth the money.I am a poor student and I already spend money on a good case and PSU. My case should be able to handle more heat than a regular BTX case. I really hope I will not have to get a new case and PSU when I upgrade my computer.
trikster2 - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
facts? I actually own the silverstone version of the oppus case, so I am actually speaking from experience. Vertical vs horizontal lowprofile vs full height has a lot to do with heat disapation
Myrandex - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
I wonder how BTX had a NDA because Gateway has been selling BTX computers at best buy for over a month at leastCygni - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Dont you bring facts into this, Kris! Trikster2 doesnt want any of that!KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
trikster2: The Opus case was chosen because it was the same volume as the mBTX case. I don't really see how a mATX tower and an mBTX case are going to differ significantly.Kristopher
ceefka - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
How can this possibly translate into lower cost for end users? Thank you, Intel.I am also disappointed by Intel's approach. Uhm, we have a hot CPU; let's make a cooler case!
Since they invented this in their own backyard without creating a wide support it looks like an ego-trip.