BTX (form factor)

  • AT Baby -AT
  • Mini -ATX
  • Micro -ATX
  • FlexATX
  • Mini - DTX
  • Mini -ITX
  • Nano-ITX
  • Pico -ITX

The BTX ( " Balanced Technology Extended" ) was planned as the successor to the ATX form as form factor for PCs. The new standard was first introduced in 2003 at the Intel Developer Forum, but could not due to technical innovations and lack of acceptance as a competitor of the incumbent ATX format, and was taken by Intel in 2007 from the market. Similar to the ATX form factor are additional form factors for smaller housing, once MicroBTX and an even smaller format PicoBTX.

BTX hardware is mostly to be found in the form of finished PCs especially for business customers on the market. Intel motherboards are no longer offered for the BTX format since the " P35 " chipset family.

Technology

The BTX chassis is divided into zones in which only certain components, such as the main processor may be located.

  • The mainboard is installed on the left instead of the right side (as viewed from the front).
  • The graphics card is located in the air stream, not like ATX in a stationary bubble. Addition is achieved by installing on the left side that the graphics chip is now on top of the graphics card, so no build up of heat.
  • Air is drawn out of the front housing part, so that an air flow is created.
  • PCI Express ( x16) is the default slot.
  • The 4-pin 12 V plugs for stable power supply to the processor is required!

Benefits

  • A better cooling is possible, especially for the heat sources main processor, chipset and graphics card, since these are now on a plane in which passes by the air flow of the cooler.
  • By this improved arrangement of the components, the operating noise is reduced, because a lower number of fans is required.
  • By SRM ( Standard Support and Retention Module) there are fewer failures of the CPU due to vibrations and mechanical stresses.
  • Some of the improvements have also been incorporated in ATX.

Disadvantages

  • Since the development of BTX chip development has progressed significantly. Through intelligent chip design and slot - cooling for video cards many heat problems have been solved, so that the advantage of better cooling capability no longer has the original relevance.
  • Due to the defined positioning of the CPU socket, the Northbridge and the orientation of the socket for the memory format with current CPUs is no longer compatible. Since the memory controller is located in these processors no longer in the Northbridge, but in the CPU, it is not reasonably possible to dimension the signal paths to memory accordingly.

Dimensions

  • BTX: 325.12 mm x 266.70 mm
  • MicroBTX: 264.16 mm x 266.70 mm
  • NanoBTX: 223.52 mm x 266.70 mm
  • PicoBTX: 203.20 mm x 266.70 mm
AT (form factor) DTX (form factor) Mini-ITX Computer memory
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