Intel Developer Forum Fall 2002 - Day 2: Live at the Technology Showcase

Tidewater & Big Water: 6 Months Later

At the Spring 2002 IDF Intel announced Tidewater and Big Water, two new form factors for the next-generation of PCs. Tidewater is more of an evolution of the current microATX designs while Big Water is a more radical departure and is also around 1.5 - 2 years out.

Intel was showing off their Tidewater reference design at the Showcase so we snapped a couple of pictures:

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As you can see, the Tidewater case is much like a conventional microATX solution with a few modifications. What's most impressive is the low profile cooling and power supply that are both able to tame the likes of a Pentium 4.

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The inside of a Tidewater system is cramped but that's the tradeoff you make when dealing with such a small form factor.