<s>
BTX	B-Device
(	O
for	O
Balanced	B-Device
Technology	I-Device
eXtended	I-Device
)	O
is	O
a	O
form	O
factor	O
for	O
motherboards	B-Device
,	O
originally	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
replacement	O
for	O
the	O
aging	O
ATX	B-Language
motherboard	B-Device
form	O
factor	O
in	O
late	O
2004	O
and	O
early	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
alleviate	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
issues	O
that	O
arose	O
from	O
using	O
newer	O
technologies	O
(	O
which	O
often	O
demand	O
more	O
power	O
and	O
create	O
more	O
heat	O
)	O
on	O
motherboards	B-Device
compliant	O
with	O
the	O
circa	O
1996	O
ATX	B-Language
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ATX	B-Language
and	O
BTX	B-Device
standards	O
were	O
both	O
proposed	O
by	O
Intel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
future	O
development	O
of	O
BTX	B-Device
retail	O
products	O
by	O
Intel	O
was	O
canceled	O
in	O
September	O
2006	O
following	O
Intel	O
's	O
decision	O
to	O
refocus	O
on	O
low-power	O
CPUs	O
after	O
suffering	O
scaling	O
and	O
thermal	O
issues	O
with	O
the	O
Pentium	B-General_Concept
4	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
company	O
to	O
implement	O
BTX	B-Device
was	O
Gateway	O
Inc	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
Dell	O
and	O
MPC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
generation	O
of	O
Apple	O
's	O
Mac	O
Pro	O
used	O
some	O
elements	O
of	O
the	O
BTX	B-Device
design	O
system	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
not	O
BTX-compliant	O
,	O
instead	O
using	O
a	O
proprietary	O
form	O
factor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Low-profile	O
–	O
With	O
the	O
push	O
for	O
ever-smaller	O
systems	O
,	O
a	O
redesigned	O
backplane	O
that	O
shaves	O
inches	O
off	O
height	O
requirements	O
is	O
a	O
benefit	O
to	O
system	O
integrators	O
and	O
enterprises	O
who	O
use	O
rack	B-Application
mounts	I-Application
or	O
blade	B-Architecture
servers	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thermal	O
design	O
–	O
The	O
BTX	B-Device
layout	O
establishes	O
a	O
straighter	O
path	O
of	O
airflow	O
with	O
fewer	O
obstacles	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
better	O
overall	O
cooling	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
distinct	O
feature	O
of	O
BTX	B-Device
is	O
the	O
vertical	O
mounting	O
of	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
on	O
the	O
left-hand	O
side	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Structural	O
design	O
–	O
The	O
BTX	B-Device
standard	O
specifies	O
different	O
locations	O
for	O
hardware	O
mounting	O
points	O
,	O
thereby	O
reducing	O
latency	O
between	O
key	O
components	O
and	O
also	O
reduces	O
the	O
physical	O
strain	O
imposed	O
on	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
by	O
heat	O
sinks	O
,	O
capacitors	O
and	O
other	O
components	O
dealing	O
with	O
electrical	O
and	O
thermal	O
regulation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
Northbridge	B-Device
and	O
Southbridge	B-Device
chips	O
are	O
located	O
near	O
each	O
other	O
and	O
to	O
the	O
hardware	O
they	O
control	O
like	O
CPU	O
,	O
RAM	O
and	O
expansion	O
ports	O
(	O
PS/2	O
,	O
USB	O
,	O
LPT	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Pico	B-Device
BTX	I-Device
is	O
a	O
motherboard	B-Device
form	O
factor	O
that	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
miniaturize	O
the	O
BTX	B-Device
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pico	B-Device
BTX	I-Device
motherboards	B-Device
measure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
smaller	O
than	O
many	O
current	O
"	O
micro	O
"	O
-sized	O
motherboards	B-Device
,	O
hence	O
the	O
name	O
"	O
pico	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
motherboards	B-Device
share	O
a	O
common	O
top	O
half	O
with	O
the	O
other	O
sizes	O
in	O
the	O
BTX	B-Device
line	O
,	O
but	O
support	O
only	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
expansion	O
slots	O
,	O
designed	O
for	O
half-height	O
or	O
riser	O
card	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
smaller	O
BTX	B-Device
sizes	O
include	O
:	O
microBTX	B-Device
at	O
and	O
nano	O
BTX	B-Device
at	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
heat	O
sink	O
to	O
be	O
attached	O
to	O
the	O
CPU	O
,	O
called	O
"	O
Thermal	O
Module	O
"	O
throughout	O
the	O
official	O
specification	O
,	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
attached	O
solely	O
to	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
,	O
but	O
to	O
the	O
casing	O
itself	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
inertial	O
load	O
of	O
its	O
mass	O
during	O
a	O
mechanical	O
shock	O
event	O
can	O
no	O
longer	O
damage	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
first	O
months	O
of	O
production	O
the	O
ATX	B-Language
and	O
BTX	B-Device
motherboards	I-Device
were	O
so	O
similar	O
that	O
moving	O
a	O
BTX	B-Device
motherboard	I-Device
to	O
an	O
ATX	B-Language
case	O
was	O
possible	O
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
possible	O
because	O
the	O
first	O
BTX	B-Device
motherboards	I-Device
were	O
ATX	B-Language
motherboards	B-Device
turned	O
upside	O
down	O
,	O
except	O
for	O
the	O
component	O
location	O
that	O
really	O
were	O
BTX	B-Device
positioning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
the	O
BTX	B-Device
form	O
factor	O
had	O
a	O
big	O
change	O
by	O
turning	O
it	O
into	O
a	O
mirror	O
image	O
of	O
the	O
ATX	B-Language
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
new	O
motherboard	B-Device
design	O
,	O
both	O
standards	O
are	O
incompatible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Basically	O
BTX	B-Device
motherboards	I-Device
are	O
'	O
leftside-right	O
'	O
compared	O
to	O
ATX	B-Language
and	O
not	O
upside-down	O
as	O
before	O
:	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
computer	O
cases	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Cooler	O
Master	O
Series	O
(	O
Stackers	O
)	O
were	O
released	O
to	O
support	O
a	O
varying	O
range	O
of	O
motherboard	B-Device
standards	O
such	O
as	O
ATX	B-Language
,	O
BTX	B-Device
,	O
Mini-ATX	O
and	O
so	O
forth	O
,	O
to	O
ease	O
motherboard	B-Device
upgrade	O
without	O
buying	O
a	O
new	O
case	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
all	O
connector	O
and	O
slot	O
standards	O
are	O
identical	O
,	O
including	O
PCI(e )	O
cards	O
,	O
processors	O
,	O
RAM	O
,	O
hard	O
drives	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BTX	B-Device
power	O
supply	O
units	O
can	O
be	O
exchanged	O
with	O
newer	O
ATX12V	O
units	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
with	O
older	O
ATX	B-Language
power	O
supplies	O
that	O
do	O
n't	O
have	O
the	O
extra	O
4-pin	O
12V	O
connector	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
introduced	O
with	O
the	O
ATX12V	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BTX	B-Device
form	O
factor	O
has	O
not	O
been	O
widely	O
adopted	O
despite	O
its	O
improvements	O
over	O
ATX	B-Language
and	O
related	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
availability	O
and	O
variety	O
of	O
BTX-compatible	O
components	O
is	O
limited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
reason	O
for	O
the	O
failure	O
of	O
BTX	B-Device
to	O
gain	O
traction	O
in	O
key	O
markets	O
was	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
energy-efficient	O
components	O
(	O
CPUs	O
,	O
chipsets	O
and	O
GPUs	O
)	O
which	O
require	O
less	O
power	O
and	O
produce	O
less	O
waste	O
heat	O
,	O
eliminating	O
two	O
of	O
the	O
primary	O
intended	O
benefits	O
of	O
BTX	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
,	O
only	O
Gateway	O
and	O
Dell	O
offered	O
computers	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
format	O
,	O
later	O
HP	O
and	O
Fujitsu-Siemens	O
(	O
now	O
Fujitsu	O
)	O
also	O
offered	O
some	O
BTX-based	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
other	O
manufacturers	O
stayed	O
with	O
the	O
ATX	B-Language
standard	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
the	O
handful	O
of	O
manufacturers	O
who	O
did	O
adopt	O
BTX	B-Device
for	O
some	O
products	O
continued	O
to	O
produce	O
the	O
bulk	O
of	O
their	O
machines	O
with	O
the	O
ATX	B-Language
form	O
factor	O
.	O
</s>
