Really Stupid Question

[Magnusfarce]

Ok, this one falls into the category of "How can I not know this by now?".
You know the little tin plate or mask that all the port, jacks, and
connections on the ATX motherboard fit through? It comes with each MB and
you have to pop it into the case before installing the MB? Well, most of
the pre-punched holes have a pair of these little tangs or fingers sticking
out backwards at an angle. I used to think they were tensioners, but on the
current rig I'm building, like some others, that idea just doesn't fly.
They stick out too far and require that the MB be pushed too hard toward the
rear panel (for my comfort level anyway). What am I supposed to do with
these little buggers? Thanks.

- Magnusfarce

 

[Ralph Wade Phillips]

Howdy!

Ok, this one falls into the category of "How can I not know this by now?".
You know the little tin plate or mask that all the port, jacks, and
connections on the ATX motherboard fit through? It comes with each MB and
you have to pop it into the case before installing the MB? Well, most of
the pre-punched holes have a pair of these little tangs or fingers sticking
out backwards at an angle. I used to think they were tensioners, but on the
current rig I'm building, like some others, that idea just doesn't fly.
They stick out too far and require that the MB be pushed too hard toward the
rear panel (for my comfort level anyway). What am I supposed to do with
these little buggers? Thanks.

They're grounding fingers. And you push the MB back and slip the
screws in, don't tighten them down all the way, then press the MB into
alignment and tighten them down to the appropriate torque level.

RwP

 

[Magnusfarce]

Thanks for the response. I didn't think of the grounding aspect; makes
sense. Although, isn't the MB grounded five ways from Sunday already?

Anyway, so my first guess was more or less right: you just push the MB up
against them. My concern was that sometimes it seems to take a lot of
"push". I'll assume that when this happens, it's caused by poor alignment
of the case or something along those lines. Thanks.

- Magnusfarce

 

[David Maynard]

Thanks for the response. I didn't think of the grounding aspect; makes
sense. Although, isn't the MB grounded five ways from Sunday already?

They aren't there to ground the motherboard, they're closing off the rear
I/O panel from EMI, both incoming and outgoing.

 

[Squigmont]

Thanks for the response. I didn't think of the grounding aspect; makes
sense. Although, isn't the MB grounded five ways from Sunday already?

Anyway, so my first guess was more or less right: you just push the MB up
against them. My concern was that sometimes it seems to take a lot of
"push". I'll assume that when this happens, it's caused by poor alignment
of the case or something along those lines. Thanks.

- Magnusfarce

I sometimes carefully mash them down slightly first *before* installing the
motherboard, if necessary. That way, I don't have to use the motherboard
itself as the masher.

 

[fj]

You might check Tom's Hardware CPU charts
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/21/the_mother_of_all_cpu_charts_2005/page24.html

On this page you can find a link to 'interactive' charts. Here you can
choose a benchmark and see how all the processors compare on that benchmark.