DTX is nice. All of the pieces have to be cost competitive though before I go there. Mini-ITX is pretty cool, but there's always a catch with that form factor either too expensive or too slow for my taste.

I just got into an AMD BE-2400 low-power CPU with an micro-ATX Asus M2A-VM HDMI motherboard and a quiet power-supply. I couldn't be happier with that combo. It sips 40 watts from the socket at idle and 90 under load.

I do like towers and I don't like optical disks that are mounted on their side. Those are two reasons why there's a limit in how far I'm willing to go in case shrinkage.

Sounds like AMD should also hook up with Microsoft and work out using this reference design for Windows Home Servers.

Something like this that barely uses more electricity than a 60W light bulb would be perfect to be used for WHS. It would store all your data, auto-backup all your other PCs in the house, along with the other features WHS provides. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Hide it in the closet and forget about it. Integrate 802.11n and all you need is a power plug.

If the internal drive isn't enough, have some slick way to attach additional USB cabinets to the main chassis with standard 2.5" or 3.5" drives inside.

If I could build a DTX box including the cost of WHS for ~$500... I’d bite.

Firstoff - since the early 90's I've been wondering why only the PC grew BIGGER (where bigger was better and a huge loud pillbox in your home was a "Good thing") over the years while EVERYTHING ELSE ELECTRONIC GOT A HELL OF ALOT SMALLER....and continues to do so.

why? - this DTX is 10 yrs late to the party .. .its a start, but the start is getting starting MANY years later than it ever had a right/reason to.

same issue with the noise problem over the years. Seemed i was the only man on the planet that hated loud boxs in 1995....others were like "huh"?.....now its the latest rage - quiet. finally!

Maybe the PC will finally venture out of Mainframe envy one of these centuries.

maybe.

now for LOW PROFILE HIGH END CARDS!!.....fat/tall cards are not necessary!!!!!!1.......so offer an alternative card makers!!

low profile and SFF GO IN PAIRS!!!.......we don't HAVE to all have CUBES!! Some here would like small and slim thank you!

I personally am having trouble getting a sense of the size of the case for my personal evaluation of whether it's a great improvement.

While the side-by-side pictures of the motherboards are nice, it would be nice to see the reference case next to a sample of other cases.

This is exciting. Shuttle has recently said they want to standardize their motherboards, chassis and PSUs so that they're upgradeable, instead of having to buy a new system every time you want to upgrade.

Hopefully AMD gets their act together so we can all have little cheap boxen around our house for various functions like HTPCs, internet terminals, etc.

Scott, help me out - is that slimline optical drive using a PATA-to-SATA adapter? I think it is, but I can't quite tell.

If it is, did AMD make any comment about whether or not they're expecting slimline SATA drives to ever hit the market? Otherwise, that part of the setup seems like kind of a hack.

I like the idea of the SODIMM slots. I always wondered why they only came on desktops, although they do cost more. It seems to only make sense to me to use those for smaller and smaller PCs. Of course, the SODIMM spec could be an alternate configuration of a given manufacturer's board, sorta like an option.

Also, the front do-all panel is a good idea, because it consolidates many things that are often supplied by PCI slots (which takes away from your available PCI slots).

Have you noticed that as PCs get smaller and smaller, they pretty much approach expandable laptops with detached monitors?

Really, MOST of the people I know run similar rigs: 1x CPU, 2xDIMM 2GB, 1x or 2x HDDs, 1x PCIe-16x, and 1x PCI (some with 1x PCI-x1). It seems like we could all get away with DTX boards if they made them.

The whole name of the game here is small and quiet - only what you need. Here would be my ideal DTX spec mobo:
1x low-watt CPU with low-rise cooler
2x DIMM or 2x SODIMM up to 8GB (more than 4GB is very uncommon anyway)
1x PCIe-x16 (that could accommodate all graphics cards) or onboard video, but not both
Worthwhile onboard audio that doesn't snap-crackle-pop (does this exist???)
1x PCI or 1x PCI-x1 or both if it would fit (for eSATA, USB, audio, whatever someone wanted)
2x SATA or 1x SATA or 1x SATA + 1x eSATA for HDDs
1x slim CD
1x front panel connectors (USB, card readers, firewire, PCMCIA, etc.)
1x GBit LAN or onboard wi-fi
Perhaps some OC ability (although not really necessary nor desired for tight enclosures)
No floppy connector, no parallel connector, no PS2
***So, this is pretty much a micro-ATX minus 1xPCI.

Ideal Case Spec:
1x built-in PSU or cage for a small one
1x removable HDD cage to house 1x3.5" or 2x2.5"
1x slot for slim CD
1x slot for front panel
1x80mm SILENT fan (or not)
Lightweight
Uses only clips and thumbscrews
***Of course, the orientation of all of this is where the money is. And surely some people would want LEDs, windows, wild case designs, water cooling, wheels, inverted designs, etcetera etcetera.

Tada!!! I just established DTX :D

That TT model with the knobs looks like a mod project for an 80's stereo :P.

I hope DTX succeeds where FlexATX has failed.

The SFF PCs are only held back by lack of a standard and proprietary platforms.

If FlexATX hasn't taken off in eight years, why would one expect DTX to? FlexATX even had Intel's clout behind it, and now even Intel doesn't build FlexATX cases motherboards, even though they're fully compatible with MicroATX and full ATX.

Mini-ITX, despite being a VIA specification, has actually seen success because it's small enough for shoebox-style PCs. (Intel even makes the D201GLY motherboard, a mini-ITX board, though they market it as MicroATX so as not to risk acknowledging the existence of mini-ITX.) The DTX form factors don't seem to be small enough for SFF manufacturers to opt for them.

Read on to see what DTX is all about and how the first reference design is shaping up.

Uhm, HTTP 404? (Damn you guys are fast)

Page 1, 4th image.

Mini-ITX in relation to ATX. Source: AMD.

DTX?

Tangent: I'm currently working on an AOpen DE box. It's amazingly tiny, quiet, and fast (c2d) But, it's not expandable, and it's pricey vs desktop.
http://www.minitechnet.de/uploads/pics/aopen-de945fx_3-mainboard-1.jpg

Here's a variety of other similar tiny PCs.
http://www.linuxforen.de/forums/showthread.php?p=1581715

Nice write up Scott.

Whats the diff between this and the little cut down boards that oem's are using?

We use HP's at work. The population at work has a choice of AMD or Intel, with the AMD being the budget option. I'm finding a lot of departments going with the Intel purely because the AMD is in a ATX case and the Intel is the SFF model from HP. Message...? They want smaller PC's on their desks.

Thanks a bunch for the write up Scott. I haven't been as enthused about a PC product since dual core. I really want this to succeed. I'm very tired of big, heavy, gaudy computers. The micro-BTX machine I use at work is very powerful and all but inaudible a mere 18" from my face. It hides beneath my monitor and gets stuff done all day long.

I'd like to see a little more room for expansion of certain types—specifically, a second hard drive and full-height PCI/PCIe cards I'd be OK with this as a segment of DTX but I'm looking forward to seeing the lean mean DTX boxes that are as small as possible while still housing a half-height video card and other expansion card. Let the extra hard drives connect through eSATA. These machines aren't purposed for RAID and gaming and that sounds to me like getting a VW Beetle and putting a V8 and 4WD on the thing.