How to mount a motherboard

[technewbie]

I've put together a few pc's in the last few years, but recently I had a problem with one. I couldn't get it to POST. I had to take it to a shop. They thought it was a bad motherboard until they remounted the board and it worked after that.

So can someone give some good advice on mounting the motherboard.

It always seemed to me that the step of mounting the board was pretty straightforward. Just screw the board into the case.

I had to drop $40 over a stupid mistake. How can I avoid this in the future?

By the way, I didn't provide a screw in one of the holes....could that have been the problem?

Does every hole in the board have to be screwed in?

Are there special screws that have to be used (besides the fact that they have to have certain size thread)

 

[Chosonman]

Try not to put screws in places where they don't belong.
Just like when you're with a girl, there's a "right hole" and a "wrong hole"

lol...

 

[stevty2889]

You did use standoffs right? and not screw the motherboard directly in to the case?

 

[technewbie]

all kidding aside, it's kind of obvious that the screws have to screw into a complementary threaded hole in the case. That wasn't an issue...just ran out of screws with that thread size so I had to leave one in the center unscrewed.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: technewbie

So can someone give some good advice on mounting the motherboard.

going in from behind seems to work for me everytime

It always seemed to me that the step of mounting the board was pretty straightforward. Just screw the board into the case.

Sometimes you need to fiddle around before actually mounting it, it will go a lot smoother then.

I had to drop $40 over a stupid mistake. How can I avoid this in the future?

ask a friend for help

By the way, I didn't provide a screw in one of the holes....could that have been the problem?

Definately, some boards like to have one in every whole, for others some of the holes just seem incompatible

Does every hole in the board have to be screwed in?

Are there special screws that have to be used (besides the fact that they have to have certain size thread)

It depends, if you fiddle the board well enough I think almost any screw will work, but I think every board has it own preferences.

 

[technewbie]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
You did use standoffs right? and not screw the motherboard directly in to the case?

I knew of these (and actually have some), but didn't think they were necessary. Before I built my first pc, I had seen ones without the standoffs. I have put together several in the past without standoffs and everything was fine.

Could this have been the problem?

How do you know where and when you need standoffs....

this was an asus socket 370 board and an ATX case

 

[Chosonman]

Originally posted by: biostud

Originally posted by: technewbie

So can someone give some good advice on mounting the motherboard.

going in from behind seems to work for me everytime

It always seemed to me that the step of mounting the board was pretty straightforward. Just screw the board into the case.

Sometimes you need to fiddle around before actually mounting it, it will go a lot smoother then.

I had to drop $40 over a stupid mistake. How can I avoid this in the future?

ask a friend for help

By the way, I didn't provide a screw in one of the holes....could that have been the problem?

Definately, some boards like to have one in every whole, for others some of the holes just seem incompatible

Does every hole in the board have to be screwed in?

Are there special screws that have to be used (besides the fact that they have to have certain size thread)

It depends, if you fiddle the board well enough I think almost any screw will work, but I think every board has it own preferences.

OMG I was cracking up reading the answers.
I was imagining if he had asked the question "How should I aproach a girl?"

"Definately, some boards like to have one in every whole, for others some of the holes just seem incompatible"

 

[technewbie]

Well this livened up my morning

 

[imported_whatever]

Originally posted by: technewbie

Originally posted by: stevty2889
You did use standoffs right? and not screw the motherboard directly in to the case?

I knew of these (and actually have some), but didn't think they were necessary. Before I built my first pc, I had seen ones without the standoffs. I have put together several in the past without standoffs and everything was fine.

Could this have been the problem?

How do you know where and when you need standoffs....

this was an asus socket 370 board and an ATX case

you should ALWAYS use standoffs. everything is made for them except some rackmount cases. Otherwise, PCI and AGP cards won't fit quite right and components might short out.

 

[technewbie]

It's interesting that the shops which built my pc's in the past never used them...that is pretty bad. When it was upgrade time and I replaced the boards on the cases, I just used the same screws, etc, thinking that was all I needed to do. I guess these companies weren't very good for giving me a pc without a mobo mounted on standoffs.

Doing a quick search on this forum, I have found that standoffs come with the particular case, and not with the motherboard.

How do I know what kind of standoffs to get in th future or whether the ones I already have would work with a typical atx board. The ones I have are very old.

Should I take a picture of the one's I have and post it?

 

[imported_Kensai]

If you don't use stand-offs, you'll most likely short out and fry your mobo. (Ooops)

 

[technewbie]

My understanding is that the shorting would only occur if you were applying pressure to the board (ie: installing a video card for example) and causing it to flex and therefore touch the case.

Can it short if you are just using your pc (not installing anything) on a daily basis. I have a pc up and running right now that is not mounted on standoffs...i'm not sure I want to go through the hassle of remounting it at this point.

I'm not sure whether the shop that remounted my board used standoffs (haven't picked it up yet)...if they haven't....can I just let it go if I am not going to be installing anything else?

Also, if I turn the power off and unplug the cord every time I install components, doesn't that prevent a short?

 

[speed01]

Not all cases require standoffs, I have at least 2 right now that don't. If the motherboard tray is flat, you need them. If the tray is raised where the screw holes are, adding standoffs can misalign the motherboard and make it pretty difficult to mount as well as creating issues with installing add on cards.

Speed

 

[boomerang]

It is very easy to have one of the EMI springs on the I/O shield poked into a port. That could have caused your problem also.

You may find mechBgon's guide helpful.

Edit: Standoffs are case specific not motherboard specific. They space the motherboard up to the proper level to line up with the I/O shield, so any add-in cards line up, etc.

The holes in motherboards are the same size. So the size (not height) of a stand off is a non-issue. Motherboard screw holes are laid out to a specific standard. Their placement is called out in the specs for the size/layout of the board. ATX, MATX, etc. You'll find some cases with the standoff holes stamped "A" or "B" or even "A/B". These are to help you with the locations you need to install the standoffs.

If you have questions regarding whether the standoffs you have are suited to the case, screw them into the appropriate holes. Pop out the I/O shield. Set the motherboard in the case and install one or more add-in cards. Video, sound, whatever. Make sure the bracket that secures those cards is at the proper height where it is fastened to the case.

Make sure all the standoffs are the same height. I know there are at least two different heights, but there may be more.

This is probably more than you wanted to know about standoffs, eh?

 

[blackrain]

Originally posted by: boomerang
It is very easy to have one of the EMI springs on the I/O shield poked into a port. That could have caused your problem also.

You may find mechBgon's guide helpful.

Edit: Standoffs are case specific not motherboard specific. They space the motherboard up to the proper level to line up with the I/O shield, so any add-in cards line up, etc.

The holes in motherboards are the same size. So the size (not height) of a stand off is a non-issue. Motherboard screw holes are laid out to a specific standard. Their placement is called out in the specs for the size/layout of the board. ATX, MATX, etc. You'll find some cases with the standoff holes stamped "A" or "B" or even "A/B". These are to help you with the locations you need to install the standoffs.

If you have questions regarding whether the standoffs you have are suited to the case, screw them into the appropriate holes. Pop out the I/O shield. Set the motherboard in the case and install one or more add-in cards. Video, sound, whatever. Make sure the bracket that secures those cards is at the proper height where it is fastened to the case.

Make sure all the standoffs are the same height. I know there are at least two different heights, but there may be more.

This is probably more than you wanted to know about standoffs, eh?

From what you are saying, it sounds like standoffs are only required if the i/o shield doesn't line up correctly with the board ports? Is that correct?

 

[Chosonman]

Am I the only immature person here no one else finds it funny if we visuallize this topic being about women instead of motherboards?

"going in from behind seems to work for me everytime

Sometimes you need to fiddle around before actually mounting it, it will go a lot smoother then.

ask a friend for help

Definately, some boards like to have one in every whole, for others some of the holes just seem incompatible

It depends, if you fiddle the board well enough I think almost any screw will work, but I think every board has it own preferences."

 

[blackrain]

Quite honestly, I found that amusing

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: blackrain

Originally posted by: boomerang
It is very easy to have one of the EMI springs on the I/O shield poked into a port. That could have caused your problem also.

You may find mechBgon's guide helpful.

Edit: Standoffs are case specific not motherboard specific. They space the motherboard up to the proper level to line up with the I/O shield, so any add-in cards line up, etc.

The holes in motherboards are the same size. So the size (not height) of a stand off is a non-issue. Motherboard screw holes are laid out to a specific standard. Their placement is called out in the specs for the size/layout of the board. ATX, MATX, etc. You'll find some cases with the standoff holes stamped "A" or "B" or even "A/B". These are to help you with the locations you need to install the standoffs.

If you have questions regarding whether the standoffs you have are suited to the case, screw them into the appropriate holes. Pop out the I/O shield. Set the motherboard in the case and install one or more add-in cards. Video, sound, whatever. Make sure the bracket that secures those cards is at the proper height where it is fastened to the case.

Make sure all the standoffs are the same height. I know there are at least two different heights, but there may be more.

This is probably more than you wanted to know about standoffs, eh?

From what you are saying, it sounds like standoffs are only required if the i/o shield doesn't line up correctly with the board ports? Is that correct?

It was mentioned in an earlier post that some cases have raised projections that are meant to support the motherboard without standoffs. So, yes, in that situation no standoffs are necessary.

Some cases come with miserable little clips that are threaded that snap into the case to support the board.

Some cases come with raised projections that still require standoffs.

But to hopefully answer your question, if I was dealing with a used case and was uncertain if I needed standoffs, I would install standoffs if that was what was required to make sure that the board aligned with the I/O shield.

Hope that helps.

 

[wchou]

Originally posted by: blackrain
Quite honestly, I found that amusing

the sooner you fry it the sooner you can replace with a new one
upgrade is fun, fun. fun...

 

[cjbruin09]

No, Chosonman, you are definitely not the only one who found it amusing. I particularly liked the question, Does every hole in the board have to be screwed in? That's an age-old question that I often try to rectify through my own experimentation.

 

[bwnv]

Originally posted by: Chosonman
Am I the only immature person here no one else finds it funny if we visuallize this topic being about women instead of motherboards?

"going in from behind seems to work for me everytime

Sometimes you need to fiddle around before actually mounting it, it will go a lot smoother then.

ask a friend for help

Definately, some boards like to have one in every whole, for others some of the holes just seem incompatible

It depends, if you fiddle the board well enough I think almost any screw will work, but I think every board has it own preferences."

Originally posted by: Chosonman
Try not to put screws in places where they don't belong.
Just like when you're with a girl, there's a "right hole" and a "wrong hole"




ROFL haha thanks for making my day go by faster