New BTF 3.0 PC standard proposes no cables between PSU, motherboard and GPU

[Daniel Sims]

Why it matters: Asus and other companies have spent years exploring ways to remove cables from the custom PC building process. The manufacturer's BTF standard aims to make installing graphics cards safer and easier, and the latest version dramatically increases the power budget to accommodate more components.

DIY-APE recently unveiled a new iteration of the Back to the Future (BTF) standard that aims to minimize the number of cables needed for installing PC components. The new design can deliver up to 1,500W while shifting all non-chassis-related wiring to the back of the motherboard.

Asus proposed BTF a few years ago as a method for installing GPUs without running power cables in front of the motherboard, which often contributes to messy cable arrangements. Using designs demonstrated in 2023 and 2024, a graphics card can receive up to 600W directly from the motherboard without cables.

The new system from DIY-APE adds a 50-pin connector to the rear of a 12VO motherboard – a power standard Intel introduced to simplify cable management. By delivering 1,500W, DIY-APE's connector can replace traditional EPS dual 8-pin CPU connectors, 24-pin motherboard connectors, and 12V-2x6 GPU connectors.

congrats to diyape!
btf3.0 is finalised, no cables between psu and mobo and gpu.
it needs whole new types of psu and mobo and case that comply with btf3.0.
all connectors on mobos are at the back of the pcb.

12vo mobo confirmed, with a new header that has 50pin to replace the… https://t.co/ZhWRzaatBs pic.twitter.com/Hp0iM0hNQN

– UNIKO's Hardware 🌏 (@unikoshardware) January 2, 2025

In custom PCs built to the BTF 3.0 standard, the last remaining components requiring additional cables are coolers and SATA devices like storage drives. With most users transitioning to NVMe SSDs that connect directly into M.2 motherboard slots, only front panel buttons, fans, and RGB lights would reveal front-facing cables.

Compliant designs could make assembly easier for newcomers and reduce the risk of bad connections or fires, which plagued early RTX 4090 power connectors. Conversely, BTF could theoretically make troubleshooting more difficult, as individual components would be less isolated.

However, the primary downside is that BTF requires new motherboards, graphics cards, and power supply units to support the new connection types. Builders interested in BTF PCs would have to use BTF-compliant parts.

For BTF to become viable, other PC companies must adopt the standard. A cable-free future would require manufacturers of motherboards, GPUs, PSUs, and cases to approve a common set of connectors so users can build cableless PCs without worrying about viable upgrade paths.

Although BTF's chances of mainstream acceptance remain unclear, CES, which starts in a few days, might present an opportunity to showcase its advantages. Asus revealed a BTF version of the RTX 4090 at last year's trade show.

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New BTF 3.0 PC standard proposes no cables between PSU, motherboard and GPU

 

[opckieran]

I’m not convinced. It’s still unclear why they chose to go with a single massive connector instead of using existing standards and just adding an extra 20-30 pin cable dedicated to extra 12V/GPU power. If the goal was to improve the aesthetic by removing the cabling from view, what is gained afterwards by then consolidating 3 or 4 standardized connectors into one? Even if there are less cables, the one single cable that remains will be necessarily much more of a hassle to deal with, assuming they don’t continue in the wrong direction by relaxing the wire gauge requirements like they did with 12VHPWR (lowering the factor of safety below the already paltry 1.1 of 12VHPWR/12V2x6 which itself was lowered from the 1.9 rating of PCIe 6/8pin), which at that point, wouldn’t really fix anything. That would ultimately result in just shifting the failure point from the 12V2x6 connector to the singular 50 pin connector going to the entire motherboard (and by extension, EVERY major component now, not just the GPU). Imagine now frying your CPU, RAM, and M.2 SSDs too (screw that!), or at the very least taking your whole system offline when the power connector melts instead of at least being able to swap in a backup GPU or switching to iGPU upon power connector failure. Fun! Although in all fairness, the fact that we are even talking about power connector failure at this level now isn’t the fault of BTF… yet… Gotta thank 12VHPWR for that.


As for the ancillaries, SATA and front panel connectors should have been moved to the back of the board ages ago. Not sure why that’s taken so long, as they aren’t nearly as complicated, demanding, or crucial to the operation of the board. Real head-scratcher there.

 

[takaozo]

1500W....hehehhe ....next a 1200W nvidia moster gpu using this format

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I’m not convinced. It’s still unclear why they chose to go with a single massive connector instead of using existing standards and just adding an extra 20-30 pin cable dedicated to extra 12V/GPU power. If the goal was to improve the aesthetic by removing the cabling from view, what is gained afterwards by then consolidating 3 or 4 standardized connectors into one? Even if there are less cables, the one single cable that remains will be necessarily much more of a hassle to deal with, assuming they don’t continue in the wrong direction by relaxing the wire gauge requirements like they did with 12VHPWR (lowering the factor of safety below the already paltry 1.1 of 12VHPWR/12V2x6 which itself was lowered from the 1.9 rating of PCIe 6/8pin), which at that point, wouldn’t really fix anything. That would ultimately result in just shifting the failure point from the 12V2x6 connector to the singular 50 pin connector going to the entire motherboard (and by extension, EVERY major component now, not just the GPU). Imagine now frying your CPU, RAM, and M.2 SSDs too (screw that!), or at the very least taking your whole system offline when the power connector melts instead of at least being able to swap in a backup GPU or switching to iGPU upon power connector failure. Fun! Although in all fairness, the fact that we are even talking about power connector failure at this level now isn’t the fault of BTF… yet… Gotta thank 12VHPWR for that.


As for the ancillaries, SATA and front panel connectors should have been moved to the back of the board ages ago. Not sure why that’s taken so long, as they aren’t nearly as complicated, demanding, or crucial to the operation of the board. Real head-scratcher there.

They havent appeared for the same reason most boards dont put the 24 pin on the backside - most cases are not set up for such a config, and thus you are limiting your market to only people with certain cases. ATX was never set up with this in mind.

 

[NumberNine]

Headline says no cables.
Subheadline says no front facing cables.
Article says only SATA cables are front facing.

The walk back to reality from the headline.

Not only are there still cables but they are new special cables that connect to the back of the board while sata cables connect to the front.

 

[opckieran]

They havent appeared for the same reason most boards dont put the 24 pin on the backside - most cases are not set up for such a config, and thus you are limiting your market to only people with certain cases. ATX was never set up with this in mind.

Sure, but the 24-pin ATX connector was not the cause of this BTF pursuit, and can be Right-Angled if clearance is a concern (maybe split between front and back, 12 pins in front and 12 in the rear could be an option too?). The (very first-world) “problem” was having to run power cables to a position that was difficult as heck to hide, and the more pressing fact that the 12V versions liked to melt 33% more often than their more classic counterparts.

I still don’t believe the melting issue will be alleviated with this new connector. It looks a bit too ambitious in allowing for a significantly higher power density for the volume of wiring called for compared to past standards. And having to manage a single plug with 50 connectors (that are actually of a sufficient gauge to safely allow 1500W!) sounds like a pain.

The 50-pin should be broken into multiple connectors. I mean we already have the ATX standard so why not start there. But if they did that, they’d essentially be rewriting the ATX connector standards. And you wouldn’t want to use adapters as an alternative in such a high power scenario.

Hot-plug Server PSUs actually solve this connection issue quite well. You’d just have to modify the ATX form factor (there’s a theme here) to allow a long, skinny PSU to slide in right behind the motherboard (or maybe below?) to facilitate the connection in order to keep the length dimension under 1 meter. But hey, no more ugly cables right? It might also give manufacturers the ability to place more goodies behind the board. I’m thinking more VRMs, more m.2 slots, CAMM2, maybe even back-of-board cooling.

If one thing is clear, it’s that ATX is ancient, and it’s clearly time for it to be sunset. It’s had a great run, but times are a-changing.

 

[wiyosaya]

If one thing is clear, it’s that ATX is ancient, and it’s clearly time for it to be sunset.

Maybe for people with deep enough pockets and that also want space heaters that double as GPUs, but for the majority of people out there that do not fit that category, ATX is perfectly fine.

 

[opckieran]

Maybe for people with deep enough pockets and that also want space heaters that double as GPUs, but for the majority of people out there that do not fit that category, ATX is perfectly fine.

The industry and the standards it relies on are changing whether we like it or not. The discussion really is just how good (or bad) these proposed changes are.

 

[m3tavision]

Keep it simple stupid.
We do NOT need a cableless design (cables work), were need simpler cables & connections..!

 

[HardwareHunt365]

The future of PC builds? No cables, literally. Imagine magnet-based or latch-based connections, allowing components to be swapped effortlessly. While current builds are somewhat Lego-like, they still require intricate steps and wiring. In the future, it could truly become as simple as "attach and move on." That’s how I envision the advancement of PC hardware in the coming years.

 

[hahahanoobs]

How is this on version 3.0 already?
It's one of the biggest gimmicks going alongside CUDIMM.

 

[vvtunes]

Kim Jong Un looks pretty serious about this.

 

[toooooot]

I like the idea of no cables, but I am really interested to test this board's temperature. Or rather the entire pathway from a PSU to the board. It is my understanding that this design will require a very good cable to be able to handle much higher power flow.
Ultimately, the price of adopting this will decide if it stays or not.

 

[arrowflash]

Unnecessarily pushing all the wattage required by modern GPUs through increasingly complex multi-layered motherboards just to get rid of cables doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

 

[Loadedaxe]

Headline says no cables.
Subheadline says no front facing cables.
Article says only SATA cables are front facing.

The walk back to reality from the headline.

Not only are there still cables but they are new special cables that connect to the back of the board while sata cables connect to the front.

The sata connectors are on the back of the board with all the others.

 

[Loadedaxe]

I like the idea of no cables, but I am really interested to test this board's temperature. Or rather the entire pathway from a PSU to the board. It is my understanding that this design will require a very good cable to be able to handle much higher power flow.
Ultimately, the price of adopting this will decide if it stays or not.

There is no cable. The PSU plugs into the motherboard. Its a socket connector.

I do agree though and would like to see what kind of heat is generated on the MB itself.

 

[bharatkumarjha22]

Very good article thank you it was very helpful

 

[toooooot]

There is no cable. The PSU plugs into the motherboard. Its a socket connector.

I do agree though and would like to see what kind of heat is generated on the MB itself.

I did not see that. Now I do. that psu needs a reliable support to rest on thought, something like an hdd cage.

 

[Revolution 11]

The industry and the standards it relies on are changing whether we like it or not. The discussion really is just how good (or bad) these proposed changes are.

Yeah, no, you are just plain wrong here.

Nothing is changing if consumers are not going to pony up and open their wallets for the new changes.

So it definitely matters if people like it or not.

 

[Megalomaniac]

I like this idea. The entire motherboard and all components should be like a giant system on chip.

But I wanna see them not only connect every component without wires to the PSU and add in liquid cooling.

 

[opckieran]

Yeah, no, you are just plain wrong here.

Nothing is changing if consumers are not going to pony up and open their wallets for the new changes.

So it definitely matters if people like it or not.

Wrong about what exactly? Technology standards are constantly being scrutinized and revised. ATX itself is on version 3.0, and was given a major update in the past few years that was definitely a mixed bag for some unfortunate 4090 owners!

And in some cases, it’s neither the consumer nor the manufacturer, but a government mandate (USB-C charger mandate as one example) that such standards are forced to be changed.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Sure, but the 24-pin ATX connector was not the cause of this BTF pursuit, and can be Right-Angled if clearance is a concern (maybe split between front and back, 12 pins in front and 12 in the rear could be an option too?). The (very first-world) “problem” was having to run power cables to a position that was difficult as heck to hide, and the more pressing fact that the 12V versions liked to melt 33% more often than their more classic counterparts.

I still don’t believe the melting issue will be alleviated with this new connector. It looks a bit too ambitious in allowing for a significantly higher power density for the volume of wiring called for compared to past standards. And having to manage a single plug with 50 connectors (that are actually of a sufficient gauge to safely allow 1500W!) sounds like a pain.

The 50-pin should be broken into multiple connectors. I mean we already have the ATX standard so why not start there. But if they did that, they’d essentially be rewriting the ATX connector standards. And you wouldn’t want to use adapters as an alternative in such a high power scenario.

Hot-plug Server PSUs actually solve this connection issue quite well. You’d just have to modify the ATX form factor (there’s a theme here) to allow a long, skinny PSU to slide in right behind the motherboard (or maybe below?) to facilitate the connection in order to keep the length dimension under 1 meter. But hey, no more ugly cables right? It might also give manufacturers the ability to place more goodies behind the board. I’m thinking more VRMs, more m.2 slots, CAMM2, maybe even back-of-board cooling.

If one thing is clear, it’s that ATX is ancient, and it’s clearly time for it to be sunset. It’s had a great run, but times are a-changing.

This is not how cases work. I any of the cases I own, putting the 24 pin on the backside would mean it would be impossible for the board to fit. The 24 pin is taller then the screw standoffs so you NEED the back of the case cut out to accept this placement.

BTX already tried to sunset ATX. If you're gonna do it, you need to get all the mobo makers AND case makers on board, and it still going to take years to transition away. See also: the move from AT/babyAT to ATX.

 

[TechGuruOne]

Yeah. No thanks. This isn't anything I'd want. I don't see any benefit to it. I have always wondered why the power connection on gpus weren't added to the pin side like RAM instead of tacked on the back but combining it this way doesn't seem like a step forward.

 

[AlphaLyrae]

I’m not convinced. It’s still unclear why they chose to go with a single massive connector instead of using existing standards and just adding an extra 20-30 pin cable dedicated to extra 12V/GPU power. If the goal was to improve the aesthetic by removing the cabling from view, what is gained afterwards by then consolidating 3 or 4 standardized connectors into one? Even if there are less cables, the one single cable that remains will be necessarily much more of a hassle to deal with, assuming they don’t continue in the wrong direction by relaxing the wire gauge requirements like they did with 12VHPWR (lowering the factor of safety below the already paltry 1.1 of 12VHPWR/12V2x6 which itself was lowered from the 1.9 rating of PCIe 6/8pin), which at that point, wouldn’t really fix anything. That would ultimately result in just shifting the failure point from the 12V2x6 connector to the singular 50 pin connector going to the entire motherboard (and by extension, EVERY major component now, not just the GPU). Imagine now frying your CPU, RAM, and M.2 SSDs too (screw that!), or at the very least taking your whole system offline when the power connector melts instead of at least being able to swap in a backup GPU or switching to iGPU upon power connector failure. Fun! Although in all fairness, the fact that we are even talking about power connector failure at this level now isn’t the fault of BTF… yet… Gotta thank 12VHPWR for that.


As for the ancillaries, SATA and front panel connectors should have been moved to the back of the board ages ago. Not sure why that’s taken so long, as they aren’t nearly as complicated, demanding, or crucial to the operation of the board. Real head-scratcher there.

You can already fry your entire 12V system by running PSU in single-rail, high current supply mode if something surges beyond capacity of capacitors to absorb. That's been a risk for a while now, as running multi-rail mode limits each rail to about 20A*12V or 240W, which means high-end GPUs would need at least 2 separate rails, else you'd encounter PSU shut-downs.

A single connector isn't really an issue. Safety can be increased by using fusible links on any current carrying wires and using appropriate wire gauge for expected load. Let's say there are 20 wire pairs (40 wires) dedicated to 12V: 20*12V*6.33A = 1519.2W (1500W + any overhead)

Even at maximum load, each wire is still carrying less current than 12V-2x6's 9.2A max over 6 wire pairs. And how often are you going to be at 1500W? That's a very niche scenario. So, cut the current in half to 3.165A for 750W and that's a very safe amperage level across 20 wire pairs. This is where most people would be operating at with a high-end CPU and GPU. The risk of melting is very, very low.

GPU power connector can be designed as a slot, which is arguably safer than loose wires, as these slots are rigid connections that don't move. Bend 12V-2x6 too much and you get terminal hot-spotting at the connector end on the GPU.

 

[Eldrach]

Meh, not a great design. I imagine a future where you just slide the psu into the motherboard through side mounted connectors..and that would be all. Then you’d connect multiple linked fans like the lian-li and phantek solutions into 1-2 fan connectors that would also function as usb connectors..2-3 cables for the entire setup.
Probably a dream scenario that wont happen..but still, would be cool