BTX Cooling and Airflow Explained

We know the purpose of the BTX design and why each component is placed where it is, but the question is, will it work? Will a single CPU heatsink fan be able to effectively cool all of the critical components in a system? In our preview of BTX last year we explained the placement of each component as well as showed a top view of the heat paths in a BTX system. The CPU, Northbridge, Southbridge, and VGA card are all inline which creates a single path for air to flow and in one single direction, from front to back through the thermal module.


From the picture we see the flow of air pushed back through the CPU thermal module towards the Northbridge, Southbridge, and VGA card. As this air flows around the CPU, it warms up, as we can see from the red areas to the left and right of the CPU. This warm air then flows over the Northbridge and seems to cool as it travels further back in the chassis. At the left we see the channel of air flowing to the left over the memory and out through the PSU. The channel on the right flows straight back to the VGA card and out through groups of holes in the back of the case.

Intel will incorporate various other features that will help their CPUs perform at an efficient level no matter the conditions beginning with the Pentium 4 6xx series chips scheduled for Q1 of 2005. One feature is an enhanced version of their mobile processor SpeedStep technology called just that, Enhanced SpeedStep Technology; EIST or EST. EIST will allow the operating system to lower the CPU's power state during idleness which will reduce heat dissipation and power consumption. Another feature which will have a great effect on a system's thermal conditions as well as safety is the Thermal Management feature. This feature allows the CPU to immediately cut its clock speed to a fraction of its normal operating clock speed when the motherboard detects it is operating at temperatures out of the norm.  There are a lot of Centrino-eque technologies at work here.  The lessons learned from Pentium M have played heavily on system design as well as processor design. 

So how will Intel's new BTX form factor affect third party manufacturers specializing in cooling equipment? The fact of the matter is that cooling hardware will always be required. We have seen in past ATX case reviews that no matter how many fans are in a case, a single 80mm fan at the front as an intake, or a set of six 80mm fans throughout a mid tower case, current hardware will operate under normal loads. Users, however, still prefer to spend their money on extra cooling equipment to get the most out of their systems. Intel has been bundling their heatsink fans with their CPU's since the beginning while third party manufacturers like Zalman and Thermaltake provide solutions for enthusiasts who prefer custom hardware. So the market for third part hardware will still be there for the BTX form factor as it has been for ATX.

BTX Cooling and Airflow First Look: AOpen B300 microBTX case
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  • ZobarStyl - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    God looking at those small cases makes me tremble and remember my parent's old IBM Pentium I system where you had to remove the PSU and the CD drive to install the RAM. I was so glad when I saw computers moving AWAY from this type of design...forget footprint, I want a case I can actually work in.

    Either way, congrats to Intel on making a new Delleron case, but I'm simply not interested. Great for OEM's but useless for me, just like most of Intel's products...

    As for #3's question, why does Intel need it outside of helping their OEM buddies? Dual core is only going to make Prescott's heat issues stand out further and their x20/30/40's on the roadmap still are clocked in the range where they are going to be high heat output. All that heat has to go somewhere...
  • shabby - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    #5 that must be the canadian version, it'll keep us warm during winter by exhausting warm air into our faces.
  • Jeff7181 - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    Am I reading this right... warm air from the CPU is exhausted out the FRONT of the case????
  • mcveigh - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    I can't get past page 1??????
  • skunkbuster - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    will intel even need btx anymore? since they are probably going to be dumping the p4 in favor of the pM(eventually)?
    i thought one of the main reasons why btx was designed was to better handle the hotter p4 processors and to cool them more efficiently?
  • PuravSanghani - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    Thanks MAME, problem fixed :)
  • MAME - Monday, November 15, 2004 - link

    thumbnail of this article doesn't load on front page

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