“The ATX standard allows power supplies and cases to be commodity parts, dramatically reducing the cost of computer design. Lessons learned from the success of this standard show why standardizing parts is important. The BTX standard builds on this, and the blade.org standards work should do likewise.”
For what the humble ATX power supply offers it is pretty incredible value as much so as the processors it powers.
Some 30yrs ago a 200W PSU with the specs of todays lowest grade model ($15 typical) would have been pricey probably $1000 or more and I still remember the old S100 mainframes with 8080s that had huge linear PSUs as large as all the boards put together.
I do wish though the small form factor segment (mini Itx) would get some of the same commodity effect, tiny 70W PSUs cost $70 about 10x the price per W.
volume volume volume
I remember back in the old days when I pressed the power button on my computer, it actually turned off. Now I gotta sit there and hold the damn button for 5-6 seconds, and hope it doesn’t restart instead of power off. I don’t like it when the computer second-guesses me.
…it actually turned off.
Decent ATX power supplies do have real power switches, on the back. I can’t speak to whatever you’re using, but every ATX supply in my house has one.
Standards for things like computers are great for a lot of what the article says, and where very valid for a long time. But as things have progressed we are now at the cross over point where they loose their benifit.
Computer hardware is now massively cheap, to toss a whole computer and replace it is no big deal. ATX and all that comes with standard PCs, the PCI slots, processor sockets and such are becoming less important. Its not 1999 where building the box saved you a lot of money, and upgrading parts doesn’t have the same return on cost any more. Plus you may want to upgrade the CPU, but now the chipset is lagging. But in the mean time, its costing you a lot to have all those slots and sockets and so forth put on that may never be used in the world of everything being integrated to a single chip. Remove all that and the computer gets even cheaper, so now you can just replace it for next to nothing and have a whole new box that is made to work together for little cost. And thus you start ariving at Shuttle XPCs and further to Apple Minis, They move away from standards and create more optimized computers (the shuttles), or cheap computers (the mini).
Sure you can’t upgrade the mini (aside from ram and HD), but if something new comes out you want, you could toss the whole thing if you want and buy a new one cheaply. And one probably wouldn’t bother upgrading anything in it. Just the cost of the HD or a better cpu (Solo to Duo) pretty much negates much cost savings.
Computers have got to the level of disposable, and at that point putting the cost into making them standardized and expandable starts to go away.
Some parts of them still have a lot of life in them, mainly the HDs, they are something where a standard interface is still important. But cpu sockets, pci slots, board form factor, are become much less of an issue unless you are working at the more extreme ends of things.
If apple gets a eSATA port out the back of a mini, they will become real close to a throw away computer. Buy one, have a external drive ( with eSATA it could even be your primary drive). And every year or so when they come out with a update, toss it and buy a new one and go. Sell it on ebay to off set cost some, or give it to a family member.
Also if computer makers just start making setups where you just cluster them, things get better, just keep buying new minis and connecting them together, run of the one with the best graphics, and as you add on you just get more processor power and storage as a bonus. Just build up a stack, if one dies, oh well. Minis are small and cheap, just stack them on a shelf. Someone suddenly needs a computer, just unhook one and give it to them.
yes the 399$ bargain basement comps are disposable and basically non upgradeable. also anything from say dell is as hardware locked in as buying anything from apple. but if you know a thing or 2 about comps know better then too do that to yurself. invest in good components and contrary to popular belief you can run them a lot longer then 6 months b4 they are outdated, and even then they are upgradeable easily or overclockable at the very least.
also please tell me why you are in a situation where u NEED to turn the power to yur computer off forcefully so often?? that worrys me a little.
yes volume matters, but at some point small things become more expensive to produce then full size counterparts. so volume is only half the story.
BTX standard?!? how come we arent all using it yet? heck even intell, the inventor of it, doesnt make it its number one priority.