Wednesday, March 8th 2023
ASUS TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi D4 has its Connectors on the Reverse Side of the Motherboard
Back in October of last year, pictures from an ASUS event in China appeared online, showing off a pair of mATX motherboards that had most of its peripheral and power connectors on the reverse side of the motherboard. Now it appears that ASUS has decided to launch such a product, in the shape of the unforgettably named TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi D4. The BTF part in the model name stands Back To (the) Future, although ASUS is most likely not allowed to use that term due to copyright restrictions, so it had to make do with BTF. Regardless of naming, the interesting part here is that all of the power connectors, the four SATA ports, the USB-C and USB 3.0 headers, as well as multiple other headers and one of three M.2 slots, are on the reverse side of the motherboard. This is all done to allow for cleaner cable management.
Other noteworthy features on the board include a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, one PCIe 4.0 x4 and one x1 slot, three USB-C ports, of which one is capable of 20 Gbps speeds and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet. As this is a mid-range board, we presume ASUS wants to test the waters so to speak, to make sure there's a market for such a product. However, one major hurdle is the small fact that there aren't any suitable chassis in the market and the product page even mentions that "This motherboard is compatible with specific case models", without going into any details. Presumably, ASUS will offer a suitable chassis, or have some partner(s) lined up that will provide a suitable chassis. Gigabyte announced something similar in May last year, but decided to team up with system integrators, something ASUS might be planning on as well.
Sources:
ASUS, via @momomo_us (on Twitter)
Other noteworthy features on the board include a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, one PCIe 4.0 x4 and one x1 slot, three USB-C ports, of which one is capable of 20 Gbps speeds and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet. As this is a mid-range board, we presume ASUS wants to test the waters so to speak, to make sure there's a market for such a product. However, one major hurdle is the small fact that there aren't any suitable chassis in the market and the product page even mentions that "This motherboard is compatible with specific case models", without going into any details. Presumably, ASUS will offer a suitable chassis, or have some partner(s) lined up that will provide a suitable chassis. Gigabyte announced something similar in May last year, but decided to team up with system integrators, something ASUS might be planning on as well.
34 Comments on ASUS TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi D4 has its Connectors on the Reverse Side of the Motherboard
Also, what's with the "MISSION" logo near the VRM heatsink? Or am I the only one who hates pointless text on things? It would be a nice-looking board otherwise.
those are two different things
(okay, they're at the bottom and on the reverse, but headers being on the bottom is hardly a revolutionary thing. they've been there for many a decade now.)
There needs to be a standard around this. When there is, I'm all in!
If this is to become a thing, it has to be a new standard, or it'll just be a mess.
This seems like the worst way you could have tried to hide the cable as it requires a specific case.
Two simple design changes and it works in practically every case already in use with minimal or no alterations:
1) Add a few mm to gap standoff creates between case and board.
2) Revisit a non-standard Asus design which rotated this set of connectors 90 degrees so cables run horizontally off the board instead of projecting outwards.
Maybe they'll do a custom UEFI for it and call it UTI while they're at it. Totally means Ultimate Technician trouble-free Interface, totally...
:kookoo:
We get all kinds of products with 0 Fooks given about their names or perceptions.
Seriously, I cannot browse Amazon w/o running across brand and product names that'd never be used by an English-first speaking company.Here, I thought I was the only one that thought that was dumb as hell.
Seems pretty stupid to put onboard graphics that high but then again onboard graphic's on a desktop seems pretty stupid to in 2023 :laugh:
Wifi antennas lower lower, well we all know antennas work better as low as possible :kookoo:
Guess this board really needs an upside down sinners case :cool:
It doesn't. :oops:No, same layout as Maximus XI Gene headers along the bottom + unstacking SATA, etc.
My explanation for extending the gap above directly relates to thickness of COM port when laid on its side exceeding gap between mobo and case per spec. IF this design gained traction my answer would be to just dremel a full length cable thickness slit with discretely placed rectangular hole for connectors to enter through exactly where the COM port was.
And the needed depth on the back side of the motherboard.
I'm all for options in the market, why not right?, but I find this pretty dumb. for the sake of hiding cables - why? is it better to look at a bare pcb? you either fine with looking at it or can always go with a solid sidepanel - they're making something that will require a specific case and be more expensive to produce (both due to lower volumes and by needing to pass 2 times through the smt line to place the components on the back). A solution looking for a problem that isn't there, oh well.
It's all in good fun.