Despite of all advantages Intel Corp. endowed its new BTX form-factor, mainboard makers are note really enthusiastic about the emerging standard. There are very few BTX mainboards at Computex Taipei 2004 show, which may indicate pretty tough times for BTX.

Introduced in September 2003, the BTX form-factor for computer cases and mainboards is developed to succeed the widely-used ATX architecture. The main idea behind BTX is to optimize the design of mainboard in order to allow more efficient cooling by placing central processing unit, memory controller hub and graphics card in a way that all of them would be blown by the same flow of air. This ensures that no more than one fan is required for a typical PC, but still provides efficient cooling.

Even though BTX does bring some interesting capabilities for system builders, mainboard makers do not seem to be really enthusiastic about the first version of technology and are likely to stick to ATX variations this year. Unofficial sources indicated that Intel had been constantly tweaking its Balanced Technology eXtended, which encouraged them to wait for the final specifications before jumping on the bandwagon.

The majority of mainboard makers consider BTX launch for late Q3 or Q4 2004, when everything will be finalized. However, in case Intel adds more changes to the form-factor, the adoption of BTX is only likely to ramp in 2005.

No officials commented on the report.