how many standoffs needed for motherboard?

[meirman]

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard? This one is an Asus board with an 800 Mhz CPU
and 3x3 array of holes for mounting, plus a small 2x2 array of holes
around the cpu.

A very generous friend gives me his old computer parts, and I thought
I was ready to assemble the computer today, but I only have 6 of those
screw-in legs. I'm going to put the memory in and the cpu fan in
before installing the motherboard, so can I skip the middle row of
screws and the 4 surrounding the cpu? If later, I want to add more
memory, can I do this even though the legs aren't there under that
part of the mobo?

I'm afraid I'll install with only these 6 in the row near the back and
the row nearest the front of the case, and later forget the middle row
of support isn't there, and damage it.



The motherboard is an Asus A7M266, in case there is anything special I
should know before using it. I bought a DDR DIMM, so that's not an
issue.

Thanks.

Meirman

 

[Dave C.]

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard? This one is an Asus board with an 800 Mhz CPU
and 3x3 array of holes for mounting, plus a small 2x2 array of holes
around the cpu.

A very generous friend gives me his old computer parts, and I thought
I was ready to assemble the computer today, but I only have 6 of those
screw-in legs.

Six should be plenty. If the back of the case is closest to this text, I'd
suggest laying out the standoffs like this:

X X X
X
X X

Don't skip the middle row, but no need to add the four around the CPU. Nine
screws for one motherboard would be overkill, and 13 would be insane. Six
should be fine. -Dave

 

[Ginchy]

you will be alright with 6 i have never heard of screws around the cpu? are
you sure about this?

i build pcs all the time and never came across this

make sure you put screws in to the board at the socketry
panel(kb,m,serial,printer,etc)

 

[Overlord]

I'm sort of assuming the holes around the CPU are actually for a
screw thru heatsink. Ignore 'em unless you need 'em for a heatsink.

MB standoffs/screws have 2 purposes. They ground the motherboard where
it wants to be grounded. They also secure the motherboard. When you
put in more ram, add on cards, or connect cables later, you don't want
the MB flexing. Flexing is bad for the MB. Additionally, putting in
a card later, on a not adequately supported MB can cause the MB to flex
away from the card. In an extreme case, the back bracket on the card will
hit the back of the case and keep it from being pushed down any further
to follow the flexing slot on the MB. The card won't be seated in the slot
and you will have to support the MB in any case.... unless you want to take
the bracket off the card to seat it in the slot.

If you have enough old stuff, steal some hex shaped "standoffs" from some of
your older cable connections; they're the same part. Later when you get some
more standoffs, if you ever do, you can put them back on the cable connector
brackets instead of pulling the MB to put them behind it.

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard? This one is an Asus board with an 800 Mhz CPU
and 3x3 array of holes for mounting, plus a small 2x2 array of holes
around the cpu.

A very generous friend gives me his old computer parts, and I thought
I was ready to assemble the computer today, but I only have 6 of those
screw-in legs. I'm going to put the memory in and the cpu fan in
before installing the motherboard, so can I skip the middle row of
screws and the 4 surrounding the cpu? If later, I want to add more
memory, can I do this even though the legs aren't there under that
part of the mobo?

I'm afraid I'll install with only these 6 in the row near the back and
the row nearest the front of the case, and later forget the middle row
of support isn't there, and damage it.



The motherboard is an Asus A7M266, in case there is anything special I
should know before using it. I bought a DDR DIMM, so that's not an
issue.

Thanks.

Meirman

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[Matt]

How many stand-offs

If they are metal, each one you use must be secured to both the case and
the motherboard. You should use as many as can be secured that way. If
you don't have that many, you can get by, but be careful when inserting
and removing cards and connectors: something could break if you flex the
motherboard too much.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard?

I thought I was ready to assemble the computer today, but
I only have 6 of those screw-in legs. I'm going to put
the memory in and the cpu fan in before installing the
motherboard, so can I skip the middle row of screws and
the 4 surrounding the cpu? If later, I want to add more
memory, can I do this even though the legs aren't there
under that part of the mobo?

I would put one standoff under each hole in the mobo, even for holes
that don't line up with any holes in the case, because it never hurts
to have too much support to prevent the mobo from flexing and possibly
shorting to the case, especially near the corners of the mobo. If you
don't have enough standoffs, place stick-on rubber feet on the case
wall.

 

[meirman]

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt on Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:14:54 +0000

you will be alright with 6 i have never heard of screws around the cpu? are
you sure about this?

Yes, they are outside area that the cpu occupies. A rectangle about 1
5/8" by 2 1/2 inches, iirc. (I measured last night.)

But there are no corresponding holes in the case. That's probably
what Larry et al. are referring to.

More detailed answer to others to follow.

i build pcs all the time and never came across this

make sure you put screws in to the board at the socketry
panel(kb,m,serial,printer,etc)

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard? This one is an Asus board with an 800 Mhz CPU
and 3x3 array of holes for mounting, plus a small 2x2 array of holes
around the cpu.

A very generous friend gives me his old computer parts, and I thought
I was ready to assemble the computer today, but I only have 6 of those
screw-in legs. I'm going to put the memory in and the cpu fan in
before installing the motherboard, so can I skip the middle row of
screws and the 4 surrounding the cpu? If later, I want to add more
memory, can I do this even though the legs aren't there under that
part of the mobo?

I'm afraid I'll install with only these 6 in the row near the back and
the row nearest the front of the case, and later forget the middle row
of support isn't there, and damage it.



The motherboard is an Asus A7M266, in case there is anything special I
should know before using it. I bought a DDR DIMM, so that's not an
issue.

Thanks.

Meirman

Meirman

 

[jacoby]

Those holes are for a cpu heatsink mount.

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt on Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:14:54 +0000

you will be alright with 6 i have never heard of screws around the cpu? are
you sure about this?

Yes, they are outside area that the cpu occupies. A rectangle about 1
5/8" by 2 1/2 inches, iirc. (I measured last night.)

But there are no corresponding holes in the case. That's probably
what Larry et al. are referring to.

More detailed answer to others to follow.

 

[Ray K]

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard? This one is an Asus board with an 800 Mhz CPU
and 3x3 array of holes for mounting, plus a small 2x2 array of holes
around the cpu.

You can download the manual for the mobo from Asus and follow its
recommendations. The manual for my A7V400-MX has a clear photo showing
the locations of the 8 mounting screws and a warning against overtightening.

 

[seabat]

Shorting out the motherboard is exactly what this advise will do!! You
put a standoff in the case without a coresponding hole then the top of
that standoff will come in contact with a 'live' portion of the
motherboard, and then, by golly, there's your short!

"Only" put standoffs where there are holes and mainly where the MB
manual tells you to!

 

[Matt]

Shorting out the motherboard is exactly what this advise will do!! You
put a standoff in the case without a coresponding hole then the top of
that standoff will come in contact with a 'live' portion of the
motherboard, and then, by golly, there's your short!

"Only" put standoffs where there are holes and mainly where the MB
manual tells you to!

You didn't understand larry moe 'n curly's post.

 

[meirman]

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt on Mon, 24 Jan 2005 14:48:35 -0500

You can download the manual for the mobo from Asus and follow its
recommendations. The manual for my A7V400-MX has a clear photo showing
the locations of the 8 mounting screws and a warning against overtightening.

Out of consideration for you all, before I posted, I did check the
manual and it says not a word about actually mounting the board.
Neither does the other Asus manual (for a board good for 200Mhz).

My friend tends not to give me accessories to the things he gives me,
like he doesn't give me the CD's and the manuals. But he did give me
the manual to this mobo. (an Asus A7M266).

BTW, do I need the CD that came with the motherboard? I'm sure there
is much more on it than I can download from the Asus site, but maybe I
don't need any of it.

Meirman

 

[meirman]

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt on Mon, 24 Jan 2005 01:30:24 GMT
(e-mail address removed) (Overlord) posted:

I'm sort of assuming the holes around the CPU are actually for a
screw thru heatsink. Ignore 'em unless you need 'em for a heatsink.

MB standoffs/screws have 2 purposes. They ground the motherboard where
it wants to be grounded. They also secure the motherboard. When you
put in more ram, add on cards, or connect cables later, you don't want
the MB flexing. Flexing is bad for the MB. Additionally, putting in
a card later, on a not adequately supported MB can cause the MB to flex
away from the card. In an extreme case, the back bracket on the card will
hit the back of the case and keep it from being pushed down any further
to follow the flexing slot on the MB. The card won't be seated in the slot
and you will have to support the MB in any case.... unless you want to take
the bracket off the card to seat it in the slot.

If you have enough old stuff, steal some hex shaped "standoffs" from some of
your older cable connections; they're the same part. Later when you get some
more standoffs, if you ever do, you can put them back on the cable connector
brackets instead of pulling the MB to put them behind it.

Thanks. That's a great idea. I've seen that, and I actually have
loads of cables, but so far last night and today (as of Sunday), I
haven't found one cable with that part on it.

The rest of this is just a narrative, and might bore readers who are
in a hurry.

I found one cable adaptor with "legs" but they were female at both
ends. And another that looked right, but I kept unscrewing the legs
and they never came out (the other end was inside the one-piece
plastic case.

I did find a phone-jack to serial port plug with 2, but they were
shorter than what I had been using. I can be pretty compulsive
sometimes, and if I screwed the board tightly to them, that would be
bad for the board.

Then I looked in old cases. Sometimes I pick up abandoned computers
at the end of hamfests. I had a packard-bell computer and I had to
take the whole thing apart to get the mobo out, for the standoffs, but
they turned out to be pressed into the case, with hex bases and round
posts.

I was about to give up but the next day (Monday) I noticed standoffs
on the back of the packard-bell mobo, next to the jacks, 6 of them.
But alas, they were too small for the screws in my case.

Anyhow, I learned a lot, and the weekend is over and there is no more
pressure to assemble it until next weekend. Maybe I can get some
"standoffs" by then.


BTW, I had plenty of those plastic standoffs that clip into the mobo
and then slide into slots in the case. But I guess they don't use
them anymore, at least Asus doesn't. And that's fine -- I always
found them difficult.

How many stand-offs, or whatever those posts are called that screw
into the case and the motherboard is screwed to them, are needed to
hold a motherboard? This one is an Asus board with an 800 Mhz CPU
and 3x3 array of holes for mounting, plus a small 2x2 array of holes
around the cpu.

A very generous friend gives me his old computer parts, and I thought
I was ready to assemble the computer today, but I only have 6 of those
screw-in legs. I'm going to put the memory in and the cpu fan in
before installing the motherboard, so can I skip the middle row of
screws and the 4 surrounding the cpu? If later, I want to add more
memory, can I do this even though the legs aren't there under that
part of the mobo?

I'm afraid I'll install with only these 6 in the row near the back and
the row nearest the front of the case, and later forget the middle row
of support isn't there, and damage it.



The motherboard is an Asus A7M266, in case there is anything special I
should know before using it. I bought a DDR DIMM, so that's not an
issue.

Thanks.

Meirman

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postmaster@localhost
admin@localhost
abuse@localhost
postmaster@[127.0.0.1]
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Meirman

 

[Sam]

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt on Mon, 24 Jan 2005 01:30:24 GMT
(e-mail address removed) (Overlord) posted:


Thanks. That's a great idea. I've seen that, and I actually have
loads of cables, but so far last night and today (as of Sunday), I
haven't found one cable with that part on it.

The rest of this is just a narrative, and might bore readers who are
in a hurry.

I found one cable adaptor with "legs" but they were female at both
ends. And another that looked right, but I kept unscrewing the legs
and they never came out (the other end was inside the one-piece
plastic case.

I did find a phone-jack to serial port plug with 2, but they were
shorter than what I had been using. I can be pretty compulsive
sometimes, and if I screwed the board tightly to them, that would be
bad for the board.

Then I looked in old cases. Sometimes I pick up abandoned computers
at the end of hamfests. I had a packard-bell computer and I had to
take the whole thing apart to get the mobo out, for the standoffs, but
they turned out to be pressed into the case, with hex bases and round
posts.

I was about to give up but the next day (Monday) I noticed standoffs
on the back of the packard-bell mobo, next to the jacks, 6 of them.
But alas, they were too small for the screws in my case.

Anyhow, I learned a lot, and the weekend is over and there is no more
pressure to assemble it until next weekend. Maybe I can get some
"standoffs" by then.

BTW, I had plenty of those plastic standoffs that clip into the mobo
and then slide into slots in the case. But I guess they don't use
them anymore, at least Asus doesn't. And that's fine -- I always
found them difficult.

You can purchase those standoff's at almost any well-stocked computer
store. You can definitely get them online. They are not very expensive at
all. On my motherboard there are 9 mounting holes... but every board is
different. The real mounting holes all have a silver ring around them,
unlike the holes that are on either side of the CPU. Just make sure that
you don't end up with a standoff in the wrong location... that could short
something on the motherboard. I count holes and standoffs to make sure they
match and that there's a screw hole for each one.

Sam

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

On 24 Jan 2005 03:59:03 -0800, "larry moe 'n curly"

Shorting out the motherboard is exactly what this advise
will do!! You put a standoff in the case without a coresponding
hole then the top of that standoff will come in contact with a
'live' portion of the motherboard, and then, by golly, there's
your short!

"Only" put standoffs where there are holes and mainly where the MB
manual tells you to!

That's what I said -- "put one standoff under each _hole_ in the mobo,
even for holes that don't line up with any holes in the case," IOW I
sometimes end up with standoffs that are attached to the mobo but not
to the case.

 

[David Maynard]

Shorting out the motherboard is exactly what this advise will do!! You
put a standoff in the case without a coresponding hole then the top of
that standoff will come in contact with a 'live' portion of the
motherboard, and then, by golly, there's your short!

"Only" put standoffs where there are holes and mainly where the MB
manual tells you to!

And just how is putting a standoff "under each hole in the mobo" going to
touch anything but the "HOLE in the mobo" it's under?

 

[seabat]

I said putting standoffs in the holes in the "case" would create
problems. If you put standoffs in every one of the holes in your case
and then put the MB in, I would sure like to see it run without
shorting!

 

[manny]

Shorting out the motherboard is exactly what this
advise will do!!

How? And it's "advice," not "advise."

You put a standoff in the case without a coresponding
hole then the top of that standoff will come in
contact with a 'live' portion of the motherboard,
and then, by golly, there's your short!

That's not what he said. Go back and read it again.

 

[Trent©]

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt on Mon, 24 Jan 2005 01:30:24 GMT
(e-mail address removed) (Overlord) posted:


Thanks. That's a great idea. I've seen that, and I actually have
loads of cables, but so far last night and today (as of Sunday), I
haven't found one cable with that part on it.

That's a TERRIBLE idea!!

Standoffs come in different heights...depending on the manufacturer.
The height of the standoffs determines the height for the cards.

Put the wrong standoffs in...and yer askin' for trouble.


Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!

 

[Trent©]

That's what I said -- "put one standoff under each _hole_ in the mobo,
even for holes that don't line up with any holes in the case," IOW I
sometimes end up with standoffs that are attached to the mobo but not
to the case.

LOL

How do you compensate for the height of the threaded end?!


Have a nice one...

Trent©

Budweiser: Helping ugly people have sex since 1876!