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Intel's Long Awaited BTX Form Factor

 by Purav Sanghani on November 15, 2004 5:31 AM EST
77 Comments | Add A Comment
77 Comments

Impact of BTX, Launch Schedule

Today we saw a microBTX board and an innovative AOpen case with all the BTX trimmings, but what did Intel plan in the long run for BTX?  Obviously, today is an NDA launch so don't expect BTX motherboards and cases to start filling the shelves at Fry's tommorow.  Furthermore, don't expect ATX to suddenly disappear while BTX becomes the new overnight standard stranding us ATXers in an upgrade dead end.

According to Intel roadmaps, Intel's desktop motherboard business prospects ATX and BTX boards for H1'05.  Glenwood, Intel's Alderwood (925X/E) successor, will feature Intel motherboards designed on ATX, BTX, uATX and uBTX!  Keep in mind, this is Intel's motherboard lineup, and traditionally Tier I motherboard manufacturers follow suit very closely, but that doesn't have to be the case.  Looking further down the roadmap, we see only ATX/uATX motherboards for the lower performance Lakeport-P chipset, with one uBTX motherboard similar to the one we saw today.  Lakeport-G chipsets are not completely planned yet, but the roadmap shows one ATX, one uATX, one uBTX and one pBTX (pico BTX) board on the horizon.  You may recall from our Computex 2004 show coverage that the majority of BTX motherboards on display were actually picoBTX motherboards.  Given that picoBTX boards are smaller than microATX boards, we would not be too surprised if pBTX builds its own niche very quickly.

However, one thing we haven't touched on with BTX concerns Intel's new "East Fork" push.  Anand's vacation work trip to Taipei a few weeks ago reveiled plans from all the major motherboard manufacturers to release Pentium M compatible motherboards to offset some of their Pentium 4 desktop motherboard sales.  If Pentium M becomes a large player for midrange desktop computing, motherboard manufacturers will probably have to decide for themselves where ATX and BTX stand with regard to their new platform design.  Small form factor would be an excellent position for Pentium M to penetrate, and if pBTX picks up then perhaps the form factor race could get very interesting very quickly. 

Let us also not forget AMD needs to jump onto the BTX bandwagon in order for case and power supply manufacturers to migrate to the new standard.  Power supply manufacturers have it slightly easier; virtually every 24 pin server ATX or BTX capable power supply comes with a 20 pin step down converter.  For this corner we can effectively proclaim BTX power supplies backwards compatible with ATX and BTX motherboards.

Case manufacturers have things a little more difficult.  Obviously, without AMD's support BTX will not become a universal standard and the burden to manufacturer two different form factors rests on the shoulders of case manufacturers.  For larger case manufacturers like AOpen that do a lot of OEM work anyway, this will not be a huge deal.  However, don't be surprised if smaller case companies start trending more towards ATX or BTX in a similar manner to small motherboard manufacturers that tend to focus mostly on Intel or AMD motherboards. 

Noise Testing, ATX, BTX Final Thoughts
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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 least

  • Cygni - 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.
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