Thoughts
Thoughts
I can count the number of commercially available BTX mainboards and chassis' in this country on one hand. I can count the number of UK retailers selling packaged Pentium 4 processors with the Type 1 BTX Thermal Module on the fingers of no hands. Intel are happy for that to happen, too. Softly does it with BTX was the message conveyed to us during recent conversations. While BTX itself is a full platform shift, it's going to happen in incremental steps.
Intel admit that BTX has, in the past, been a closed-doors specification. They've put the spec out there for others to see, but its basic inception was Intel's own doing. I mentioned to them that a BTX-SIG doesn't exist and that's maybe not such a good thing. They replied that they've got no objection to it happening in the future if the right people want to get on board and help drive BTX forward. In essence, they bootstrapped BTX and are hoping everyone else will help it climb the ladders to adoption.
Intel claim that BTX isn't about Prescott's heat. At least not totally. They do admit they have a thermal problem to solve with certain designs and that BTX is one factor of a larger picture and that the P4 is an even smaller part of that still. They're more interested in using BTX to solve issues of complexity, size and cost, hence the push to smaller BTX designs initially.
They want to stress that it's not just a P4 patch job, and while I'm still sceptical, I'm happy to take on board that viewpoint for the time being. It'll take time for BTX to make its way into every market Intel wish it to occupy, time measured in years. During that time, ATX lives and lives large and Intel are happy to accomodate it. They think there's a lot that ATX does well for current markets and I agree.
So BTX is still embryonic and it'll take time to see what it grows into. Today's early designs show promise on several fronts and while far from perfect, may just hold keys to future PC design that ATX doesn't have. Companies like IBM, HP and Dell are shipping BTX to customers as I type this, Intel's Marblehead mainboard is shipping and the boxed P4 CPUs with the BTX Thermal Module will show up to purchase outside of a system in due course, should you wish to roll your own.
Coverage of BTX will continue at HEXUS in the near future as we take a look at a couple of shipping BTX designs. Stay tuned.
HEXUS Right2Reply
HEXUS asked AMD what their stance was with regards to the BTX Form Factor. They were kind enough to reply with this comment:“At AMD we pride ourselves in being customer focused and as such AMD prioritize support for platform standards based on the needs of our customers, hence we will work with customers on BTX-based solutions according to their requirements.”
Dave Everitt – European Platforms & Solutions Manager – AMD
