ATX specification

February 1996

Release 1.1

ATX specification - February 1996

Release 1.1 Specification Changes:

Since the introduction of the ATX specification (Revision 1.0 dated July 1995), feedback has been received
from a number of OEMs, chassis manufactures, and industry sources developing products based on the ATX
formfactor. This feedback has prompted the following changes to the specification:
1) Optional Mounting Hole
Concern has been expressed over the location of the optional mounting hole and the fact that it conflicts
with the need to place I/O connectors in the same location. In response, the optional mounting hole, has
been moved 0.4 (10.17mm) down toward the bottom edge of the board. Refer to figure 3 for details.
A few responses indicated a preference for this hole be made permanent rather than optional. However, most
agreed that this hole must stay optional to support existing ATX boards that have through hole components
in that location. This means a spacer between the baseboard and the chassis must still be removable in this
location.
2) Height Restriction Specification
The revision 1.1 specification eases the height restrictions on the right side of the board to supply more
flexibility to chassis designers and accommodate future board requirements. Note both the height limits and
boundaries have been changed in this area. Refer to figure 8 for details.
3) Airflow Direction
Computer OEMs and power supply manufactures have indicated that the ATX specification did not state
which direction air should flow through the chassis. While many different cooling methods exists for ATX,
the most prevalent solution in the market has the power supply fan sucking air from outside the chassis and
blowing it across the processor. See power supply section 4.0 for details on airflow.
4) Metal EMI Containment I/O Shield
Integrators of ATX chassis, power supplies, and baseboards have expressed that it is difficult to fit different
EMI shields for each new baseboard into their chassis. The initial ATX specification defined a specific cutout area for I/O, but the specification did not specify how to attach a shield to this area and resulted in
incompatible I/O shield designs across various ATX chassis. In response, revision 1.1 of the specification
incorporates a keepout area around the cut-out area to which a computer supplier can attached an I/O shield.
It also specifies a range for the thickness of the chassis backpanel the clip will be attached to. These new
specifications give shield vendors the capability to design and build shields which can be attached to any
chassis designed to the specifications. Refer to figures 3 and 5 for details.

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ATX specification - February 1996

IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS

1.
INTEL CORPORATION MAKES NO WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS ATX
SPECIFICATION (SPECIFICATION), AND IN PARTICULAR DOES NOT WARRANT OR
REPRESENT THAT THIS SPECIFICATION OR ANY PRODUCTS MADE IN CONFORMANCE WITH
IT WILL WORK IN THE INTENDED MANNER. NOR DOES INTEL ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY
FOR ANY ERRORS THAT THE SPECIFICATION MAY CONTAIN OR HAVE ANY LIABILITIES OR
OBLIGATIONS FOR DAMAGES INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHETHER ARISING FROM OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THIS SPECIFICATION IN ANY WAY.
2.
NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ARE MADE THAT ANY PRODUCT BASED IN
WHOLE OR IN PART ON THE ABOVE SPECIFICATION WILL BE FREE FROM DEFECTS OR SAFE
FOR USE FOR ITS INTENDED PURPOSE. ANY PERSON MAKING, USING OR SELLING SUCH
PRODUCT DOES SO AT HIS OR HER OWN RISK.
3.
THE USER OF THIS SPECIFICATION HEREBY EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE
SPECIFICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS, AND THAT INTEL CORPORATION MAKES NO
REPRESENTATIONS, EXTENDS ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, ORAL OR WRITTEN, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION THAT THE
SPECIFICATION OR ANY PRODUCT OR TECHNOLOGY UTILIZING THE SPECIFICATION OR
ANY SUBSET OF THE SPECIFICATION WILL BE FREE FROM ANY CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT
OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, INCLUDING PATENTS, COPYRIGHT AND TRADE
SECRETS NOR DOES INTEL ASSUME ANY OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES WHATSOEVER WITH
RESPECT TO THE SPECIFICATION OR SUCH PRODUCTS.
4.
A LICENSE IS HEREBY GRANTED TO COPY AND REPRODUCE THIS SPECIFICATION
FOR ANY PURPOSE PROVIDED THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS
SECTION (PARAGRAPHS 1-4) IS PROVIDED IN WHOLE. NO OTHER LICENSE, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
IS GRANTED HEREIN.

Copyright 1996 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Revision 1.1, February 1996
* Other product and corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of other companies, and are used only for
explanation and to the owners benefit, without intent to infringe.

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ATX specification - February 1996

Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2. ATX FORM-FACTOR OVERVIEW

2.1 IMPROVING THE END-USER EXPERIENCE

2.2 BENEFITS TO MANUFACTURERS
2.3 MINI-ATX : A FUTURE AVENUE FOR COST REDUCTION
3. LAYOUT
3.1 BOARD SIZE
3.2 MOUNTING HOLE PLACEMENT
3.3 CONNECTOR PLACEMENT
3.3.1 EXPANSION SLOTS
3.3.2 POWER INPUT
3.3.3 DISK I/O
3.3.4 FRONT PANEL I/O
3.3.5 BACK PANEL I/O
3.3.6 MEMORY SOCKETS
3.3.7 PROCESSOR
3.4 HEIGHT CONSTRAINTS
4. ATX POWER SUPPLY

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ATX specification - February 1996

1. Executive Summary
ATX is an evolution of the popular Baby-AT form-factor defined to address four major areas of improvement
over todays predominant form-factors: enhanced ease-of-use, better support for current and future I/O, better
support for current and future processor technology, and reduction in total system cost.
ATX combines the best functionality from each of the two current industry standard form factors: the high
integration of LPX and the expandability of Baby AT. The ATX form factor is essentially a Baby AT
baseboard rotated 90 degrees within the chassis enclosure and providing a new mounting configuration for
the power supply. The processor is relocated away from the expansion slots, allowing them all to hold full
length add-in cards. The longer side of the board is used to host more on-board I/O.
A change to the system form-factor is ultimately of little benefit if it doesnt reduce overall system cost. ATX
achieves this in a number of ways. By integrating more I/O down onto the board and better positioning the
hard drive and floppy connectors (which allows the use of shorter cables), material cost of cables and add-in
cards is reduced. By reducing the number of cables in the system, manufacturing time and inventory holding
costs are also reduced. Another benefit of integrated I/O down is the potential for lower EMI emissions with
the removal of serial and parallel cables which can act like little antennas. Video-playback enhanced graphics
and audio, the main hardware building blocks to support multi-media, are now becoming a standard on many
PCs. At the entry level, these features are quickly becoming a commodity, and so to reduce cost in a highly
dollar sensitive market segment, it makes sense to migrate these features down to the baseboard itself.
Finally, by using a power supply that is specially optimized for ATX, it is possible to reduce cooling costs
and lower acoustical noise. An ATX power supply, which has a side mounted fan, allows direct cooling of the
processor and add-in cards making a secondary fan or active heatsink unnecessary in most system
applications.

Feature
Double height flexible I/O panel
allows higher integration

Relocated drive I/O means shorter

cables
System cooled by single fan in the
power supply
Relocated CPU and memory

Benefit

Lower system cost

Fewer cables

Improved reliability

Shorter assembly time

Support for future connectivity and I/O standards like

USB, TV in/out, ISDN, etc.

Integrated graphics allows use of unified frame buffer

architecture

Reduced cost

Support for faster drives such as PIO Mode 4/5 IDE

drives

Reduced cost

More ergonomic (Reduced noise)

Improved reliability

All full length expansion slots

Ease of use, upgrading the CPU

Ease of use, upgrading memory

Ease of use, adding cards

Relocated CPU allows easier use of bulk capacitance and

voltage regulation circuitry

Table 1 : ATX Feature Summary

The ATX specification is written as an open specification for the industry, designed to add value to the Intel
architecture PC.

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ATX specification - February 1996

2. ATX form-factor overview

The ATX form-factor improves over Baby AT and LPX in a number of ways. By modifying the power supply
orientation and specification and rotating the Baby AT baseboard through 90 degrees, the processor can be
relocated away from the expansion slots, and the longer side of the board can be used to host more on-board
I/O. The ATX power supply, rather than blowing air out of the chassis, as in most Baby AT platforms,
provides airflow through the chassis, and across the processor.

Double high
expandable I/O

VGA

Parallel

Kbd Mse

Single
chassis fan

Serial

Processor

Power
Supply

Full
length slots

CPU located
near PSU
Single power
connector

Floppy/IDE
connectors close
to peripheral bays

3
Bay

5
Bay

Easy to access
SIMM memory

Figure 1 : Summary of ATX chassis features

2.1 Improving the end-user experience

By simply rotating the board through 90 degrees within the chassis, the end-user gains a great deal in ease-ofuse and improved functionality.
1. With the processor relocated, all expansion slots can be full-length.
2. Since the processor is not located between or under the add-in cards, a processor upgrade can now
be performed without removing the installed cards.
3. The SIMM* connectors can be relocated away from the expansion bays and slots, increasing easeof-use by giving easy access to the user for memory upgrades, and increasing the total number of
available full length slots.
4. The use of only one fan within the system reduces noise levels.
5. More I/O is integrated onto the baseboard, improving reliability and reducing the number of cables.
6. Disk I/O connectors are located closer to the peripheral bays, reducing cable lengths. This reduces
the clutter in the chassis and allows the use of faster hard disk drives.
7. With increased ease of use, and a reduction in cable complexity, the technical support burden is
lowered.

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ATX specification - February 1996

2.2 Benefits to manufacturers

As well as improving functionality, the ATX form-factor also reduces total system cost. This is achieved by
moving more I/O onto the baseboard and reducing the number of fans and cables within the system, cutting
material and installation cost. The mounting hole positions for the ATX form-factor baseboard were carefully
chosen to be backward compatible with previous form-factor generations. Where possible, ATX
utilizes the same mounting holes as Baby AT and full AT, simplifying the design of multi-purpose chassis.
Full details can be found in section 3.2.
Another benefit is the potential for reduced EMI emissions through the use of integrated I/O connectors on
the baseboard. Baby AT designs require that the parallel and serial I/O off the baseboard be cabled up to
connectors on the chassis backpanel. These cables, not required on ATX baseboards, may act as small
antennas that pick up and radiate unwanted EMI in Baby AT designs.

2.3 Mini-ATX : a future avenue for cost reduction

ATX has been designed with headroom for the future. An ATX board measures 12 x 9.6 (305mm x
244mm). This board size allows a manufacturer to cut two boards out of every 24 x 18 (660mm x 457mm)
panel. To optimize the panel utilization at the printed circuit board manufacturer a smaller ATX form-factor,
Mini-ATX, may be implemented that allows manufacturers to achieve four printed circuit boards per panel.
Board size could be reduced from 12 x 9.6 (305mm x 244mm) to a Mini-ATX size of 11.2 x 8.2 (284mm
x 208mm). This would reduce the cost of the printed circuit board by approximately 30%. To standardize
the inevitable migration towards this cost-reduced future form-factor, Mini-ATX is fully defined in this
specification alongside full ATX.

3. Layout
The following section describes the mechanical specification of the ATX form-factor baseboard, including
physical size, mounting hole placement, connector placement and component height constraints. Where
appropriate, details of Mini-ATX are also included. This will enable chassis manufacturers to plan ahead now
for this future development.

3.1 Board Size

The maximum allowable width for the ATX board is 12 inches (305mm), the same width as a full AT board.
This allows many existing AT form-factor chassis to accept Baby AT, Full AT, ATX or Mini-ATX formfactor boards with a minimum number of changes. A full size ATX board is 12 inches wide by 9.6 inches
deep (305mm x 244mm). The size of a Mini-ATX is 11.2 x 8.2 (284mm x 208mm).

3.2 Mounting hole placement

Where possible, the ATX mounting holes line up with mounting holes used for Full AT and Baby AT boards.
As shown in figure 2, three new holes (one optional) have been defined and added along the front edge of a
full size ATX board to provide mechanical support. For the exact location of the mounting holes, refer to
figure 3.

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ATX specification - February 1996

*
#
Key
ATX
Baby AT

Full AT
Full AT hole
Baby AT hole
ATX hole
*

Hole not used

by ATX

Optional hole

Figure 2 : ATX, Baby AT and Full AT form-factor mounting holes

Two holes located on the right edge of the Baby AT board are not supported in the ATX form-factor (as
shown in figure 2). Mechanical support is not required in that location on ATX, and its presence would
present unwanted difficulty in placement and routing of an ATX board. The top hole, located on the right
edge of Full AT boards was supported as an option in the initial ATX specification Revision 1.0. However,
designers that wanted to take advantage of this hole found it restricted the available I/O connector space. In
response, the optional hole location is moved down 0.4 (10.2mm) in Revision 1.1 of the ATX specification
as shown in Figure 2. To remain backward compatible with existing ATX baseboard designs, the new hole
location is still optional and the chassis standoff for this location must be removable to prevent interference
with potential through hole components in this area. If the optional hole in not used and additional support of
the baseboard is required, use of a rubber bumper is suggested.

3.3 Connector placement

The location of the PCI and ISA connectors as well as the allowable placement area for I/O connectors on the
back panel are clearly defined in figure 3. The specification provides recommendations, but the exact
locations of other connectors are left to the judgment of the motherboard designer working in conjunction
with the system integrator.
3.3.1 Expansion slots
The ATX form-factor supports up to seven expansion slots. These slots may be any combination of ISA,
PCI or shared ISA/PCI. Figure 3 shows a typical combination of the three ISA slots, three PCI slots and one
shared ISA/PCI slot. The location of pin 1 is defined for each of the connectors. If a combination other than
that shown in Figure 3 is desired, baseboard designers should extrapolate the location of pin one on each of
the connectors. The slot spacing must remain constant. To allow all add-in cards to be full length, it is
recommended that the height of any board component located to the left of the right edge of the seventh slot
(plus clearance for the board components) is less than 0.6 inches (15.2mm). Further details on component
height constraints can be found in section 3.4. It is suggested that mechanical support be implemented under
expansion slots for extra support during add-in card insertion.

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ATX specification - February 1996

Figure 3 : Sample ATX/Mini-ATX layout diagram

(all dimensions shown in inches)
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ATX specification - February 1996

3.3.2 Power input

Two power supply trends are driving change in the board power input connectors. First, to support future
processor technologies and the expected transition to 3.3V PCI add-in cards, a 3.3V output option is required
directly from the power supply. Second, with the introduction of new operating systems, such as Microsoft*
Windows* 95, that support the ability to power down the system from software, a soft-power connector will
increasingly become a requirement. These two changes imply that two more connectors are required (3.3V
and soft-power) in addition to the two already used on power supplies today. To reduce both material and
manufacturing costs, ATX combines all four of these into a single 20-pin connector interface to the power
supply which incorporates standard 5V and 12V, optional 3.3V and soft-power signals. Use of this
connector will reduce production costs by cutting installation time and connection error rate. The connector
pinout is shown in Figure 4. The board mounted header is the Molex 39-29-9202 or equivalent. This mates
with the power supply connector, Molex 39-01-2200 or equivalent.

3.3V *

11

3.3V *

-12V

12

3.3V *

COM

13

COM

PS-ON

14

5V

COM

15

COM

COM

16

5V

COM

17

COM

-5V

18

PW-OK

5V

19

5VSB

5V

20

10

12V

* optional
Figure 4 : ATX Power connector pin out
The exact location of the power connector is not specified. It is recommended that it be placed along the
right edge of the board considering the location of the processor, core logic and clearance for the peripheral
bays. Locating the power connector near the CPU will help to ensure clean power.
3.3.3 Disk I/O
The exact locations of the floppy, IDE and/or SCSI I/O connectors are not specified. It is recommended that
they be placed along the front edge of the board to the right of the expansion slots. When placing connectors,
the designer should keep in mind that proper clearance must be provided for the chassis peripheral bays.
3.3.4 Front panel I/O
The exact location of the front panel I/O connector is not specified. It is recommended that it be placed along
the front edge of the board to the right of the expansion slots. When placing the connector, the designer
should keep in mind that proper clearance must be provided for the chassis peripheral bays. Locating the front
panel I/O connector along the left edge of the board is not recommended due to limited clearance with a full
length add-in card. Locating it along the front edge of the board under the expansion slots using a right angle
header may be acceptable provided clearance for the add-in cards and mechanical retention of the mating
connector are properly accounted for.

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ATX specification - February 1996

3.3.5 Back panel I/O

With the PC platform evolving so fast, it makes sense to retain the greatest level of flexibility possible for
external I/O. The multimedia explosion has demonstrated how user needs for enhanced I/O can change
quickly over time. With future technologies such as Universal Serial Bus likely to quickly become standard
features on PC platforms, it makes sense to retain flexibility for the future. ATX defines a stacked I/O area to
the rear of the chassis which is 6.25 inches (158mm) wide by 1.75 inches (44.5mm) tall. This allows the use
of stacked connectors on the baseboard to maximize the amount of I/O space available. As shown in Figure 5,
the bottom of the back panel opening is located 0.15 inches (3.8mm) below the top of the baseboard. In
addition, a 0.2 (5.1mm) keepout zone has been defined around the outside edge of the cutout area. This
optional keepout zone provides a reserved space that can be used to clip our suggested I/O shield to the
chassis backpanel. If a chassis violates the keepout zone it loses the opportunity to support an I/O shield
which can be designed to fit all ATX chassis which meet the following specifications, as detailed in figure 7.
Cutout Size = 6.25(159mm)x1.75(44.5mm)
Distance from top of baseboard to bottom of I/O cutout hole = 0.15(3.8mm)
Allowable thickness of a chassis back panel that the I/O shield can clip into is in the range of
0.040(1.02mm) to 0.048(1.23mm)
The face of all I/O connectors overhang the board edge by 0.045(1.16mm)
To retain maximum flexibility, the exact positioning of connectors within the I/O shield is left to the
discretion of the baseboard designer (working in conjunction with the system integrator); however, two I/O
panel configurations are shown below (Figures 5 and 6) as examples.
Figure 5 shows an example implementation for a standard I/O back panel, featuring a serial port, PS/2*
mouse port, PS/2 keyboard port, parallel port, and secondary serial port. This configuration would be suitable
for high-end boards requiring graphics and audio flexibility.

6.25 (159mm)
1.75 (44.5mm)

0.15 (3.8mm)

0.2
(5.09mm)

0.2(5.09mm) keepout zone around I/O shield cutout on chassis backpanel

Serial 1

Mouse Keyboard

Parallel

Serial 2

Figure 5 : Example standard I/O back panel, no video, no audio

The example multimedia I/O panel is a superset of the standard I/O panel. To position the VGA* connector
close to the probable location of the on-board graphics controller, the VGA connector replaces the second
serial connector. Since the ATX form-factor board is fitted with a PS/2 style mouse connector, the need for a
second serial port (for use with a serial mouse) is reduced. Some manufacturers may therefore wish to ship
ATX form-factor products with only one serial port. For those manufacturers still requiring two serial ports
on systems, a multimedia I/O panel could accommodate a second serial port directly above the first with a
stacked connector.
Figure 6 shows an example multimedia I/O panel, featuring stacked serial ports, stacked keyboard and mouse,
stacked audio jacks and midi port, and parallel port and VGA connector. LAN, modem or ISDN connectors
could be added if the manufacturer so desired.

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ATX specification - February 1996

Serial 1&2

Mouse
Keyboard

Parallel

Midi/Game

VGA

Audio

Figure 6 : Example multimedia I/O back panel

This layout is of course only an example - the ATX form factor allows complete flexibility in the layout of
rear panel I/O. Baseboard and chassis vendors should work together to agree on their own preferred layouts.

Figure 7: Detail side view of I/O connector placement in I/O back panel
(all dimensions shown in inches)

3.3.6 Memory sockets

The exact location of the memory sockets, be they SIMM, DIMM or some other type of connector, is not
rigidly specified. Ideally, the sockets should be located to the right of the seventh expansion slot and far
enough toward the back edge of the board to clear the chassis peripheral bays. This will enable easy upgrade
by the end user. Their exact location will be dictated by the CPU and core logic placement requirements.
Two of the most likely locations are
a) placed rear to front between the CPU and the seventh expansion slot, or
b) placed left to right between the CPU and the front edge of the board.

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ATX specification - February 1996

3.3.7 Processor
The exact location of the CPU is not specified. It is recommended that it be located behind the external I/O
connectors and to the right of the seventh expansion slot, such that it receives sufficient cooling. It may be
cooled from either the fan located in the power supply, an active heat sink (fan attached to the CPU) or
normal airflow through the chassis. The exact method will depend on the specific CPU cooling requirements.

3.4 Height constraints

One of the major advantages of the ATX form factor is its accessibility and ease of expansion. Figure 8 shows
the suggested height constraints for the components on the PC board. The bottom right corner of the board is
the most constrained because of the 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch peripherals. If the chassis manufacturer places the
drive carriers optimally, only one corner of the full size ATX will be overlapped. If the board is smaller than
the full ATX then this height constraint may not be an issue. The top right corner of the board has two height
constraints defined to accommodate a power supply being placed over this area in a mini-tower configuration.
2.20 inches (55.9mm) for a power supply (with external fan) or 2.75(69.85mm) for a power supply (with
integrated fan*).

Figure 8 : ATX height restrictions

(all dimensions in inches)
*Note 1: For future baseboard designs which may require additional height clearance in this area, a
minimum height restriction of 2.75 has been specified. Chassis designs that place the power
supply over this area and need to support a baseboard requiring the extra clearance, a power
supply with the fan internal to the power supply housing will be required.
Note 2: Height restrictions are based on a typical ATX implementation in a desktop of mini-tower
chassis with 3.5 and 5.25 peripheral bays.

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ATX specification - February 1996

4. ATX power supply

The standard PS/2 power supply unit can be modified to better support the ATX form-factor. These
modifications include adding a 3.3V supply rail, repositioning the fan to move air across the processor, and
consolidating the baseboard connectors into one 20 pin header. Initial units of ATX power supplies will ship
with externally mounted fans that pull air from outside the chassis and blow air across the processor. Over
time, as integration improves, power supply versions will be developed where the fan is moved inside the
PSU casing. Although pulling air through the power supply from outside the chassis is the most common
airflow solution, other airflow solutions maybe implemented to meet the specific cooling requirements of
different ATX chassis. For example, one alternative cooling solution would be to use a standard PS/2 power
supply, modified with the 20 pin power connector, without repositioning the fan, but use an active heatsink
(heatsink with small fan mounted on top) to cool the microprocessor.

(See Wiring Harness Detail)

10.0

Label placement
area

45.0

118 MAX

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ATX specification - February 1996

Figure 9 : ATX Power supply mechanical diagram

(all dimensions in millimeters)

P6

P3

P5

P4

P2

P1

280 15
254 15 (2X)

Figure 10 : ATX Power supply wiring harness

(all dimensions in millimeters)

Page 15