Btx

[GavinO]

I keep reading about BTX, but have yet to get a definative look. I know a lot of people here get out to computer conventions much more than I do, so anyone get a look at actual hardware yet? Looks like a pretty nifty design, schematically anyway ...

 

[AWS]

I've seen them. The major difference is the placement of the cpu and pci slots. The design is to take advantage of advanced air flow techniques and new heatpipe design. The placement of the cpu in the front of the board makes it possible to draw air into the heatpipe from an opening in the front of the case and then exhauted into the case without affecting case temps.
I just built a Shuttle XPC. This has the cpu in the back of the box. There is a heatpipe system that installs to the rear of the case with a 90mm fan that blows air through the pipes and onto the integrated heatsink. This system is fully enclosed. Air is blown through the heatsink through a set of pipes. Exhaust is through another set of pipes that is directed to the sides of the case.
The cpu temps with this system is between 28C and 35C and case temp at 30C to 38C. In comparison the temps of my dual Xeon are 49C to 53C and case temp 40C to 45C.

BTX boards will make it easy for case manufacturers to integrate an advanced cooling system because of cpu placement.