DIY-APE is in development Rear plug-in An ecosystem for PC DIY enthusiasts. BTF3.0 (via Uniko’s hardware)’s design eliminates the need for wiring between the PSU, motherboard, or graphics card, reducing cable management for an extremely clean build. The DIY-APE team has shared some news and video footage of the various new components working together and individually Chinese social media.
As a reminder, DIY-APE’s BTF design has been previously adopted by important PC component manufacturers such as ASUS and MSI. The BTF design is designed to reduce cable clutter by placing connectors on the back and enabling direct cable-free connections between components. We’ve seen some great examples of previous BTF builds at trade shows, but it takes time to penetrate the market. Hopefully with the upcoming new generation of processors/platforms BTF will become mainstream.
Now that BTF3.0 has been finalized, what does it promise? The new BTF3.0 motherboards feature up to 1,500W 50-pin headers that replace the traditional or dual 8-pin EPS connector for the CPU and the 24-pin connector for motherboard power.
To match Colorful’s prototype Z890 chipset model motherboard, the DIY-APE team used Asus graphics cards, such as the TX Gaming RTX 4070 12G-BTF, paired with the company’s neat GC-HPWR connector. (Up to) 1,500W from the motherboard will be fed to the GPU through this connector (and PCIe slot), which sounds like enough. this too will end GPU power cord melted Disaster.
Another important component in this milestone setting is the PSU. However, we don’t know which supplier this component is from. In the embedded video, near the end, you can hear it click satisfyingly into place, powering the motherboard and GPU. It’s a shame they couldn’t find one that matched the motherboard and GPU, but that’s nitpicking.
With these three main components and equipped with M.2 instead of SATA SSD (the example Mini ATX motherboard in the picture has four M.2 slots), all the PC DIYer needs to connect is the CPU cooler, system fan, and RGB cabling and front panel connectors.
Congratulations diyape! Confirmed, new connector with 50pin to replace… https://t.co/ZhWRzaatBs pic.twitter.com/Hp0iM0hNQNJanuary 2, 2025
Finally, DIY-APE and Uniko shared some case information. Different case manufacturers use different motherboard tray thicknesses and cutouts, which can affect how things connect and require some design/build workarounds. In other words, before BTF3.0 or similar becomes a mass-market standard, enclosure and component manufacturers must adhere to stricter standards.
We look forward to a clean future for BTF, but are unwilling to bet on when BTF PC DIY will become mainstream.