Intel Announces New ATX Riser Card Specification For Lower-Cost, Low-Profile System Designs

New Specification Extends Design Flexibility for ATX Family Desktop Boards, Wins Manufacturers' Support

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 13, 1999 - Intel Corporation today announced a new, board-level specification to enable the design of low-profile, cost-effective system solutions based on the ATX form factor family of desktop boards.

The ATX Riser Card V1.0 specification is intended to meet the need in business and consumer markets for space-constrained, lower-cost systems, using commonly available form factor building blocks. The specification describes a mechanism to reuse existing ATX family (ATX, microATX, and FlexATX) designs to create low-profile desktop PCs for point-of-sale, business client, and consumer applications.

The ATX Riser Card specification allows design of a passive or active riser card design consisting of the addition of a 2 x 11 riser connector and using the existing Slot 6 PCI connector on ATX, microATX, and FlexATX motherboards. The specification allows either a two-slot or three-slot riser, though custom designs with more slots are possible. The specification also defines the maximum height for the riser, mechanical attach points, electrical requirements, and allows a variable length riser card.

Saves Up to One Third in System Height
The specification allows horizontal placement of any full-height, PCI-compliant I/O card and enables ATX family motherboards to scale from low-profile to tower designs. Systems based on this riser can now be shorter than four inches, possibly saving more than two inches in overall system height when compared to non-riser designs. The simple riser design offers a more cost-effective means to achieve low-profile system designs than current low-profile alternatives. Taking advantage of the widely available ATX family of desktop boards, this strategy results in a reduction in costs associated with the entire system design and potentially lower system costs for the end user, as well as an improved aesthetic value.

"Business and individual PC users are always seeking lower-cost solutions and better space utilization in their PCs," said B.C. Ooi, vice president, Intel's Desktop Products Group. "The new ATX Riser Card specification enables manufacturers and designers to address both space and cost requirements without sacrificing the benefits of ATX, microATX, and FlexATX form factors or losing their investments in existing designs."

Manufacturers Support New Specification
The ATX Riser Card V1.0 specification was developed in concert with top PC suppliers and is being adopted by a broad range of manufacturers including Hewlett-Packard Company.

"We have worked closely with Intel to develop the ATX-riser specification, with the ultimate goal of providing our mutual customers with the means of lowering their overall desktop PC costs and meeting space constraints," said Emilio Ghilardi, commercial PCs product lines manager of Hewlett-Packard's Business Desktop Division. "We are pleased to be part of today's announcement and plan to incorporate this technology into our next generation of business desktop PCs."

The ATX Riser Card V1.0 specification is available at the following Web site: www.teleport.com/~ffsupprt.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.