AT vs ATX?

Discussion in 'A+' started by mikehende, May 23, 2006.

  1. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    How can you tell if a person's pc is AT or ATX?
     
  2. Weemez

    Weemez Kilobyte Poster

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    A good indication is the mouse ports, if its ATX they will be PS2, if AT they will be 5 pin din connectors.
     
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  3. simongrahamuk
    Honorary Member

    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    Other methods would be PSU connector or the Motherboard Layout.
     
  4. Mr_Fishbulb

    Mr_Fishbulb Nibble Poster

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    Plus it will run like a dog and be full of dust - well my parents' Pentium 166 was like that anyway.

    As Weemez says - look at the back, if the mouse port is a big DIN 5 then it will be an AT.
     
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  5. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    Regarding "fans", the book says that the intake is usually located at the bottom of the case, sucking in air and blowing all over the components then the hot air rises and would go out of the pc via another exhaust fan located at the top within the PSU, in my case, I am sensing the "opposite", I took a piece of toilet paper and placed it in front of both fans, the top fan pulls the paper and the bottom one rejects it. Seems to me my pc is intaking the air from the PSU at the top and exhausting through the lower fan, can I be correct?
     
  6. Mr_Fishbulb

    Mr_Fishbulb Nibble Poster

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    When you say 'top fan' do you mean the PSU or another fan in the case?
     
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  7. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    Sorry, when I say top fan, I mean PSU.
     
  8. Mr_Fishbulb

    Mr_Fishbulb Nibble Poster

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    I'm not sure what's going on then. The PSU shouldn't be pulling air into the case becuase the components in the PSU heat up themselves so that would be pulling hot air into the case.
     
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  9. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    Well, I could be wrong but this is what I am seeing, is there another way I can tell for sure?
     
  10. Lord Deckard

    Lord Deckard Byte Poster

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    I'm with Weemez and Mr Fishbulb. Big 5 pin din for keyboard is a give away. Also, the power supply will probably have a proper clicky on/off switch as opposed to the nice soft buttons we have these days. Also the layout of the ports on the back will be a dead giveaway. They'll probably be spread across the back of the case instead of all nicely lumped together on the back plate. Of course, if you open the case, it gets a lot easier with a bloody great motherboard staring at you and those P8/P9 connectors as Simon says.
    As regards the fans, I have seen them put into a PSU so the suck air *into* a case. Probably in error but there you go. With Mr Fishbulb again, you want cool air being sucked in at the front, over the components and exhausting hot air out through the PSU.

    Lord Deckard.
     
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  11. Lord Deckard

    Lord Deckard Byte Poster

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    Just as a matter of interest, is the fan in the PSU thats in the supposed AT? I just had a look at a couple of AT PSUs I've got kicking around and neither of them has a built in fan. And they're both less than 200W LOL!!

    Lord Deckard.
     
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  12. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    No, mine is ATX, just tried contacting Dell to confirm this fan issue but since my pc is no longer under warranty, they can't answer my question, can this company be any more ridiculous?
     
  13. Malnomates

    Malnomates Megabyte Poster

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    Be sure to do a little research on the AT/ATX thing Mike,they are really very different from all angles with the connectors,bus expansions and so forth,but while your at it check out the newer BTX format.I say this because BTX references appeared on the practice exams I purchased and I've a sneaking feeling that BTX will become a part of the CompTIA A+ Core objectives when the new tests are released.Better to have a heads up and know this stuff than to have a nasty surprise come test time I say. :biggrin
     
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  14. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    Do they have a knowledgebase on their site? I haven't really looked at their site in that closely.
     
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  15. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    I'm on it, thanks for the tip!
    Yes, Dell has a knowledgebase but that would not answer my question unfortunately as I need a tech from Dell to explain to me why my PSU fan is being used as an intake, I don't think that may have been done by accident becuase then the lower fan would also have been set to intake.
     
  16. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    Did some reading up on the upcoming BTX technology from Intel, everytime I tell myself I should start building my own powerhouse pc, some new technology comes up that makes me rethink my strategy. My plan for the A+ exam is to read through the entire book, then go through each chapter's questions over and over until I get over 90% correct. Then my plan is to get a dedicated question-oriented guide such as this one

    http://www.globalitcert.com/features.htm

    and work on that, I should know from my performance when I will be ready for the test.
     
  17. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    The problem with Dell, and many other 'names' is that they often fail to follow the 'standards'.

    I've seen many such which are a mix of AT and ATX, or have different layouts from the 'standard'.

    Harry.
     
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  18. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    BTX hasn't really happend yet in full. Various parts have been used, but the change in layout, needing a complete redesign of the case, seems to be lagging behind.

    Harry.
     
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  19. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    This is standard for computers. There is *always* something new coming. So if you want to wait you will wait forever.

    My view is that a good computer is built from tried and trusted stable parts - don't try and live on the 'bleeding edge'.

    Harry.
     
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  20. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Oh drat I always thought it was tired and rusted table parts, that's where I have been going wrong :twisted:
     
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