Intel has officially released the Balanced Technology Extended format, also known as BTX. Developed by the Santa Clara giant, the BTX will replace the ATX and should principally optimize airflow path for efficient power dissipation. The BTX reorganizes motherboard components to optimize the airflow and allow developers to eliminate one or more fans from the system.
This airflow is generated by the « Thermal Module ». The Thermal Module combines the processor radiator, processor fan and a plastic duct.
Several motherboard formats are expected, picoBTX, microBTX and BTX respectively 203.2, 264.16 and 325.12mm wide max (1, 4 or 7 additional cards max). For power supply, the only input required is located on the main power supply connector and has a 24-pin format. This format started with the Intel Socket 775 & PCI Express motherboards (but isn’t required with these motherboards).
We feel that the picoBTX and microBTX format (and towers compatible) rather than the BTX should really improve the power dissipation. It is however also important to notice that Mini computer manufacturers like Shuttle have already designed new formats and obtain great results with small computer and reduced numbers of fans.
The BTX format will need some time to become the standard. Also, the BTX might not work for Athlon 64. With a MicroBTX motherboard, the CPU is located in the lower part of the motherboard. The chipsets is above the CPU and faces the DIMM slots. This is ideal if the chipset manages memory, but when the CPU does (like with the Athlon 64) it is much more difficult. Distances and lanes connecting the processor and memory may vary considerably.
