EPOX EP-3VBA, User Manual, Page: 8 / 63

Introduction
EP-3VBA
Page 1-2
EP-3VBA Form-Factor
The EP-3VBA is designed with ATX form factor - the new industry standard of
chassis. MicroATX form factor is essentially a Baby-AT baseboard rotated 90
degrees within the chassis enclosure and a new mounting configuration for the
power supply. With these changes the processor is relocated away from the
expansion slots, allowing them all to hold full length add-in cards. ATX defines a
double height aperture to the rear of the chassis which can be used to host a wide
range of onboard I/O. Only the size and position of this aperture is defined,
allowing PC manufacturers to add new I/O features (e.g.; TV input, TV output,
joystick, modem, LAN, etc.) to systems. This will help systems integrators
differentiate their products in the marketplace, and better meet your needs.
•
By integrating more I/O down onto the board and better positioning the hard
drive and floppy connectors material cost of cables and add-in cards is
reduced.
•
By reducing the number of cables and components in the system, manufac-
turing time and inventory holding costs are reduced and reliability will
increase.
•
By using an optimized power supply, it's 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.
Full length
slots
Expandable I/O
5 1/4"
Bay
3 1/2"
Bay
Figure 2: Summary of MicroATX chassis features
CPU located near
Power Supply
Single chassis
fan for
system
ATX
Power
Supply
ATX power
connector
Floppy / IDE
connectors
close to
peripheral
bays