AT vs. ATX

[cobain1crt]

Ok, I am putting together a second machine, I have decided on P2, as I have a 333A celeron that I am not using, but I only have one mother board, I am going to buy a new one, but I need to know something first, is there anything other than the fact that most boards are ATX to give me a reason to go to ATX, I have a realy nice AT case that I do not want to waist on the 386 in there. i can get an AT board that is 440BX for $70, and I can get a 440BX ATX for $90. So are ther any encentives for me to spend the extra $80 to upgrade my power supply and to get the ATX board?

[Mntsnow]

Cobain1crt,

It truely comes down to what you think are the advantages/perks of going to the ATX board...such as Advanced power management (wake on lan, wake on keyboard, suspend mode, ect) I personally like the ATX form factor as it has provided me with added feature such as slide out mobo tray (dont have to pull cards to remove mobo from case) more powerful power supply (yes I know you can BUY/trade for more powerful PS for the AT) But for what I have found I can buy a ATX case with 250w powersupply for what I can by a 235-250w AT powersupply. and get the added functionality of the ATX system

My 2cents

Mntsnow http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[cobain1crt]

Thats it? My 75mhz Pentium had all of that, but i never have used it, even on my present 450mhz P-III. What I ment was like is the AT form less stable, or slower, or perhapse even less overclockable? And I saw 20 lines running to my ATX mobo, my AT setup has like 10, what ere the extra 10 for?

[Mntsnow]

what are you refering to "lines"?

As to stabability I personally have not seen a difference between AT and ATX. (at "stock speeds")

As to Overclockability I have had better luck with ATX boards vs. AT. (probably due to the answer/side note below)

a side note though for you....it is usually easier to get a ATX board that supports the NEWEST chips and chipsets.

Is this more of what you wanted?

Mntsnow


[This message has been edited by Mntsnow (edited 06-13-99).]

[Stevo]

I think the best advantage of the ATX board is the layout, When you actually look at it the AT board layout is a dog. The ATX board group the cpu, ram, power connectors, serial ports, parallel port ans ps/2 connectors together at the top and all away from your expansion slots.

At boards have everything all over the place. For example I cannot install a sound card or video card, or any long isa card a few slot of my 486 because it hits the cpu!

I like the soft off function too

[cobain1crt]

Well, I hate soft off, just my openion, as the way I run multi-tesking when it freezes up the soft off don't work, even if you hold it down. I even messed it up so bad once that the reset buttin didn't work, that is when I have to unplug it. I lived on a boat for too long, when I say lines I mean the wires running from the PS to the mobo connector.

[MR COMPUTER]

I understand your wanting to recycle your 386 AT case.Have you checked the power supply rating? A lot of older AT cases had only 100 or 150 watt power supplies! Not nearly enough for todays needs.Personally,I favor the AT setups over ATX.I'm not stuck with any long cards,and they are easier for me to put together/setup. My 2c. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[cobain1crt]

I think I will get the AT form. The power supply is rated at 220. And I love the fact that this case is black, on top of that it was originaly a server(386 used to be realy fast), so lots of bays and room for 2 120mm fans, with no modifications. even has room for 12 cards!

[Roy]

Cool case! But is this form over function?

The computer is the mobo (& CPU), not the package it lives in. I doubt you'll find a forward looking mobo in the AT form factor.

[cobain1crt]

I can get a mobo going 800mhz for it though, that is fast enough for now, and when the time comes and ATX power supplies are cheaper, I will pull the present one. So form over function? Not realy. I just want to wait for the 300W power supplies to get cheap (like me). Then I will put my BH6 in there, or perhapse by then, whatever ABIT uses the camino chipset!

[Roy]

800MHz FSB? AT form factor. What is it?

[Andre]

-Roy

I think he means 800, like in 8x100MHz FSB http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Andre (edited 06-14-99).]

[cobain1crt]

Yes, 8x100, not 800fsb, I have never heard of any board, AT or ATX that even does 400fsb. I did get to play with the power companies computer once (the server, not like the reactor controls or anything), I bet that does 800fsb.