Why Balanced Technology Extended (BTX)?

The current industry standard, ATX, was introduced in 1995, and as technology has evolved, new challenges have arisen that are increasingly difficult for ATX to handle. The Balanced Technology Extended (BTX) form factor specification was developed as an evolutionary follow-on to the ATX form factor to address these issues, and Intel expects it to eventually replace ATX as the industry standard.
ATX Challenge
 How BTX Addresses the Problem
Limited Scalability Improved Scalability
ATX does not scale well into small form factor (SFF) designs
Core layout in FlexATX exceedingly difficult
Custom SFF designs are generally expensive and often exclusionary
Performance silicon often excluded


System ingredients with standard interface definitions in a broader range of sizes
Two Standard Thermal Module designs
Three standard board sizes with common core area design.
pico Balanced Technology Extended (picoBTX) – 1 expansion slot
micro Balanced Technology Extended (microBTX) – 4 expansion slots
BTX – 7 expansion slots

LFX12V and CFX12V added to the existing standard Power Supply portfolio to support Small Form Factor PCs


Expensive to cool Superior Thermal Environment
Increasing system thermal demands can require substantial R&D investment in new heatsink and voltage regulation technologies and extensive chassis modifications.

High power components use the same in-line, high velocity, low temperature airflow
Above and below motherboard airflow helps improve voltage regulation and socket capability

Increasing Noise Superior Acoustic Performance
Increasing system thermal demands generally require more and noisier fans.

Only two fans required - even in high performance configurations
-Thermal module fan and PSU fan create and manage simplified system airflow
Lower impedance and high velocity, low temperature air allows lower fan speeds

Motherboard Design complexity Improved Motherboard Design
Routing and component placement in ATX becoming increasing complex:
Core routing area saturated
Processor power delivery placement constrained
ICH-to-I/O routing length
MCH-to-memory routing imbalance


More room for power delivery and rear panel I/O
Balanced memory and localized I/O routing

Limited support for heavy heatsinks Improved Structural Integrity
ATX platforms limited to 450 gram CPU heatsink mass.

100% increase in allowable CPU heatsink mass (900g)
Single, reusable ingredient (Support and Retention Module) used in all system sizes

Increasing cost to keep up with thermal requirements Improved Cost Structure
ATX power delivery, power dissipation, and motherboard design liabilities increase cost:

New heatsink technologies
New voltage regulation technologies and increased component count
Chassis modifications

Low temperature, high velocity airflow allows simpler, less costly heatsink technologies
Standard ingredients replace custom ingredients for compact system designs