[Pc_Support] Re: Case w/ good airflow and PSU with good +12V?

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Thu, 2005-08-18 at 20:39 -0700, Thomas Carlson wrote:
> I saw an Aspire X-QPack series at Fry's today ... really quite nice for
> around 100 bucks or so. 
> These come in red, black, silver and blue from what I could tell and are
> a little bit wider and deeper than the shuttle small form factor boxes.

Correct, because they have a _full_ MicroATX mainboard _and_ a _full_
ATX (not even MicroATX, but _full_ ATX) power supply.  As I noted in my
blog, most small form-factor cases uses a proprietary power supply, and
many also use a proprietary mainboards.  IMHO, it's not worth it, I'd
rather have standard components.

Hence why I noted in my blog I think the 8-9" x 10-11" x 13-14" MicroATX
mainboard, ATX power supply "box" is on the verge of popularity as the
"Small Enough" Form-Factor PC:  
http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/08/small-enough-form-factor-pc.html  

> The case reminded me of the Mondarch Hornet.

I think they are using the same.

> Also how is the btx form factor enter into this... wait until prices
> drop and eventually replace the micro atx?

BTX is going the way of FlexATX, Tier-1 OEM-only.  BTX started out as a
great idea (flip the board so AGP/PCI cards are "facing up"), but then
it got too "Tier-1" focused with the mid-cooling fan and other changes.
Furthermore, it can't handle dual processor or other layouts.

ATX and MicroATX seem to continue to have the industry behind them.
There are "flipped ATX" cases with the CPU at the bottom, and the cards
at the top "facing up."  And now the "box" MicroATX cases have taken off
-- some with proprietary power supplies, more and more coming with full
ATX power supplies for only 1-2" more in height.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith     b.j.smith at ieee.org     http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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