New Case and Power Supply - HUH?
Something that kind of caught me off guard when I first looked into setting up a Pentium 4 system was the fact that the new CPU required a new case and power supply. With recent problems with supplying power to ever-faster processors, I can see the reasoning behind this new requirement.

Intel is introducing the ATX 2.03 specification with their Pentium 4 CPU. This specification is very similar to the old ATX specification, such as the positioning of the I/O connector back plates, but also has some important differences. First of all, ATX 2.03 alters the mounting holes on the back plate of the case to accommodate the added pressure of the new heatsink retention mechanism (I will explain on it in a future review). This means that current standard ATX cases likely will not be able to accommodate a Pentium 4 motherboard, unless you're into making your own holes, of course. The second feature of the ATX 2.03 specification is the ATX12V power supply. Basically, an ATX12V power supply is identical to a standard ATX power supply, except for the addition of a separate 12V connector that connects to the motherboard to provide extra power to components in and around the CPU.

On to: Built Today, Designed for the Future