Isn't it just a DTX board? I've never heard of any plans to make a mini-DTX format. In fact, "small but not too small" was one of the design concepts for DTX.

http://www.dtxpc.org/
As far as i could tell, mini-dtx has been discussed almost as long as dtx. i, for one, welcome mini-dtx. it will make for a nice htpc, whereas i think dtx can still be a little big for smaller cases.

Like we really need YET ANOTHER form factor. ATX is still the defacto standard, and even BTX promised to make sweeping headways into the Channel - I remember reading about it some 5 years ago and how it was going to revolutionize airflow.

That STILL hasn't happened, and despite Gateway and Dell using it in many of their system builds, Intel has discontinued selling retail products with it last year (they only ever had a few retail models of processors with stock BTX HSF's, so choice was VERY limited).

For products in the Channel, it doesn't look like ATX, or microATX is going anywhere any time soon. It's a shame too - aside from CPU cooling deficiencies inherent in ATX, the biggest problem is with video and hard drive placement being too close together in standard cases where hot air from new, fast, big hard drives is being sucked into already hotter vidcard heatsink blower fans.

I really wish Intel would bring back their proposed standard liquid cooling solution. I don't remember the codename they had for it (somebody help here), but the retail product was available from Sanyo Denki and called "San Ace MC Liquid". Intel's product name was also called "Intel Advanced Liquid Cooling Technology". The best part about their solution was that you never needed to refill the liquid, because the entire unit was sealed. It was a great idea and looked like a simple design (which is always favourable). At least then we'd have a solution for half of the equation.

If one of you Toms/TG guys has the original TomsHardware.com article about it, that'd be a great ride through memory lane.

http://www.tomshardware.com/20...index.html

That's what I'm referring to.

$100 for something like that in late 2004. It just needs a few updates for the Core 2 design (fan speed adjusted for noise/heat, etc.) and voila, a perfect cooler for high-end current PC's. Imagine the kick-ass HDTV Gaming-PC you could build into one of those otherwise cramped HTPC cases if you used one of these babies....

Waethorn,

I've had the cooler you're talking about in my hand and yes it's quite nice. I wonder why it's not out yet in the market.

-Z

Do you remember Intel's codename for the product? I think it was some kind of place name like "Walnut Creek" or something like that. I've tried talking to Intel about it (as I'm a reseller), and they don't seem to know much about it themselves. Seems like they swept it under the rug for some reason. I wonder why....

It DID seem like a good idea to me though. I wonder if it's suitable for the new QX6800 since they only offer that as an OEM part, and then only to boutique system builders that include water cooling.... It would seem that if they really worked with Sanyo Denki to build it, why not have a retail purchase option for the QX6800 that included that particular cooling unit?