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Buliding a case from scratch - Question about motherboards

T

TailsNZ

Member
I'm planning on building a case from scratch, but about the backboard to attach the motherboard, does it matter what surface it's made from? Obviously I'd have to get the holes in the right place, and it must be strong enough, but other than that I was wondering if attaching it to any certain metal or such is a bad idea?

Just thought it's safer to check 😛 Thanks.
 
Ah, that's good to know, thanks! What materials? Not sure exactly yet, but I'll post plenty of photos and such as it gets built 🙂
 
It's good to use a decently conductive metal plate on which to mount the mobo. If it is a non-conductive material, then you will need to provide a ground strap or two (heavy wire) from the mobo to the metal case of the PSU. And if you mount it on a metal plate, the plate should also have a direct conductive path to the PSU chassis - this is automatic in most metal cases, but not so in plastic cases. You will also want to have the mobo spaced away from its mounting surface at least 1/4" both to help with cooling the mobo materials and to avoid capacitance or other coupling between the mobo and a metal plate.

I don't know what planet Brew lives on, but the mobo will NOT come with screws, standoffs, etc. Those are supplied with the commercial computer cases. So if you make your own case, you'll have to supply your own screws, standoffs, etc. http://www.cyberguys.com carries that type of misc. hardware and http://www.geeks.com often has a "case kit" for sale which includes: HD, CD Audio and floppy cables; and a baggie of screws, standoffs, etc. (sometimes they sell the baggies of parts separately). There are only 4 brass standoffs in each baggie so you'll need three baggies to get enough for a typical ATX mobo.

.bh.
 
standoffs come with the case. just make sure the mobo tray is metal and you'll be good to go.

edit: oops, reread OP. you need to find screws and standoffs online. i remember directron has a pack.
 
Hey, I'm going to be building a custom micro-case in the near future. I'm wanting to mount the motherboard to a 1/4"-1/3" thick rubber sheet which is mounted to a plate which is mounted to the chassis. (Shock dampening) Grounding it with a strap would work?
 
I'd mount the mobo to a metal plate which you could isolate from the rest of the case with rubber pads.
And yes, a good heavy strap to the PSU chassis (or the case if the rest if the case is metal) would do. Use 16ga or heavier if only one or use several 18 ga going to the same point on the PSU chassis or case. http://www.bgmicro.com et al. sell sets of grounding wires that are 18ga with eyelet connectors already crimped on the ends.

.bh.
 
You can also get some threaded (or non) plastic or aluminum spacers at the hardware store. That's what I used in my wooden case. The ground strap wouldn't hurt for redundancy but since it's already grounded via the PSU connections I didn't use one & have had no probs.
 
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