btx or atx

[sirkillalot617]

which is better what do you think

[dgrmkrp]

atx is widelly available.. btx (imo: better cooling with air..) hasn't really caught the market.. and it's been a while.. so?

[MitaPi]

BTX was SUPPOSED to take off like a rocket. But it never really did... Dont know why that is. But as I understand it... ATX is right side up and BTX is upside down. ....I think? I could be wrong. I think BTX stands for Balanced Technology Extended. So... that sounds like it was supposed to be better than ATX. I guess its just a matter of preference. I believe with a BTX setup you can see the right side of your video card and not the bottom. So in my opinion (if thats correct so far) BTX is better because its the TRUE right side up.

COULD BE WRONG THOUGH! So dont take my word for it. Someone is bound to know the difference. But like I said, I dont think its a matter of which is better than just what you perfer.

...actually I think I heard somewhere that BTX gets better cooling or something. IDK! lol I'm done. I think I just had a brain fart...

EDIT:
WOW, I know where I heard the better cooling part.. one post up lmao rofl

EDIT: 2
Here is a link about BTX
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1876&p=2

[sirkillalot617]

so which is better

Love your sig MitaPi i wish i had one with a dragon on it or somin

[MitaPi]

I really dont know which is better to be honest... lol. Again, I personally think it is just what you perfer. I think it was supposed to be the future form factor of choice by manufacturers but it never/hasnt caught on. So I really dont know what to tell you... other than go with which one you like better. Or go with the ATX/BTX combo. Um... I think the CM Stacker is ATX/BTX. Best of luck!

One of our fellow modders created this sig pic for me. Isnt it great!? I was like :eek: closely followed by :D

[Razors Edge]

There is no comparison. Atx is much simpler and every comapny uses atx. Dell,compaq,HP, ect. I have built an BTX back a bit, meh, nto really much different, but you have to find a motherboard adn stuff for it.

[dgrmkrp]

sirkillalot617, what r u planning to do?..
cause the answer depends on the need you have :) if u plan to build a btx pc.. i'm not sure how many choices you have for a mobo ;) if u wanna "borrow" some traits... cool! it has great potential and lots of lessons to "teach" us (the guys who can mod stuff and make it better :) hihi)

[sirkillalot617]

im doing a mod in a old server case with 2 sides an watercooling and id like to get the best setup to test if my mobo can sustain btx im going to run my pc upsidedown for a while to see what happens

[jreffy]

The main difference in BTX and ATX is how the components are arranged inside the case.

In your typical ATX, air is pulled in over the hard-drives, then across the motherboard and graphics/sound cards. The problem here is that the component for which cooling is more important (the mobo) is getting cooled by air that has already been warmed by the HDDs.


BTX is an attempt to improve how cooling works inside the PC by way of airflow. In a BTX case, the motherboard is mounted toward the front of the PC, that way the incoming "fresh" and cooler air is being run over the motherboard first, then over the hard disk drives on its way out.

ATX Case:http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-112-022-28.JPG


Like others have mentioned, sometimes finding BTX motherboards can be tough, but unless you are wanting to be very specific with what motherboard you want, BTX friendly mobos aren't terribly difficult to find.


BTX Case:
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-196-012-07.JPG

[dgrmkrp]

im doing a mod in a old server case with 2 sides an watercooling and id like to get the best setup to test if my mobo can sustain btx im going to run my pc upsidedown for a while to see what happens
watercooling has nothing to do with atx or btx :) they want/need airflow :) u can therefore use any orientation.. take a desktop as example:) is it upsidedown or rightside up? ;) upside down is cool if u want a watercooled video card ;) 'cause u can see it better :D
of course, proper cooling has nothing to do with atx or btx.. it's common sense :) u can do it well in either case: the duct on intel's TAC cases is like a pseudo btx-duct... cool air over the cpu, independent of hdds, video and other stuff... if u watercool (cpu+chipset+vr+video+anything else you think of) things, you need airflow over the mobo, which can be obtained in atx or btx cases or whatever u think of.. just be creative and don't place a mobo after the hdd in the air-loop:) (btx-wise hihi)... anything is possible :) sketchup :)
edit: i'm also curious.. i say 10:1 nothing happens, but i've been wrong before :(

[chedabob]

btx looks mad. its weird. ever since the dawn of time, the pci slots have been on the left of the board, and the cpu on the right. why cant you just do exactly the same thing on ATX? like make the case shorter, riser card the graphics card, and use the thermal unit?

im gonna stick with ATX. its more widely available, and its less confusing.

[jreffy]

While watercooling really doesn't matter for ATX and BTX. Keep in mind that you still need some kind of airflow for a watercooled system for the Memory, Hard Disk Drives, the other parts of the mobo besides the CPU, and possibly also your GPU if you aren't watercooling that as well.

For the typical PC builder, these things don't really matter too much, however to squeeze out every scrap of power you can get, keeping all the parts cool is paramount. Just keep in mind that because you are watercooling doesn't mean you can neglect airflow.


Just make sure you have intake and exhaust fans placed in good spots (common sense) and you'll be golden.

[sirkillalot617]

thanks everyone ill see which one turns out better as for hard drives they will be cooled in the other side of the case away from the mobo