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Motherboard Install Question


morocco31477

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I'm building a new computer. I have a question about how to properly seat the motherboard to the brass standoffs on the case. The reason I'm asking is because sometimes when I build a machine the system will not boot, I think I'm frying some boards. Is it best to just screw the motherboard down, or put some sort of plastic or paper washers between the motherboard and screws? I heard that you do not want the motherboard "grounded", but not sure what that means exactly. If you look at the holes on the motherboard, there are little pieces of metal going around it, making it seem like the screw is supposed to touch that metal, but I'm thinking that's not right. Also the pack of screws that a motherboard comes with, there are two different types, normal looking screws, then ones that are a little wide (where it touches the motherboard), I've always used the wide ones. What is the proper method to use here?

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If you look at the holes on the motherboard, there are little pieces of metal going around it, making it seem like the screw is supposed to touch that metal, but I'm thinking that's not right.

It is right. Some parts of the motherboard are supposed to be "grounded". What is important is that the motherboard is not bent and that no other part (than where the screwsare holding it in place) is touching anything.

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OK thanks. So I just put the screws in directly, no need to put anything inbetween the board and the screw? Also, should I use the wider screws or the normal ones? Are the screws supposed to touch the little metal pieces around the hole on the motherboard?

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"So I just put the screws in directly" -- Yes

"no need to put anything inbetween the board and the screw" -- Correct

"Also, should I use the wider screws or the normal ones?" -- Wider. I assume that "wider" means that there is a round skirt to the hexagonal top.

"Are the screws supposed to touch the little metal pieces around the hole on the motherboard?" -- Yes. I assume that "metal pieces" means the bare solder ring, which is the same diameter as the skirt on the "wider" screws.

There may be little radial ridges in this metal (solder) ring. The whole point is to make good electrical contact without crushing the motherboard if the screw is tightened too much. The screws should not touch any other metal tracks on the motherboard, just this ring.

.

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The only part that sometimes end up getting bent is where you put in the CPU fan. Often the back side of that part looks a little warped.

Hey Trip, you are from Buffalo? Me too :ph34r: Go to La Nova's for me and hit Joe Todaro with a lead pipe.

After talking to some people and reading things online, I don't believe that I fried my board, I think it was just a bad one. I RMA'd it, I'll post the resutls on my second try.

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OK I got everything up and running. I received my Asus M3A78-EM along with an AMD Phenom II X4 920 today, installed it into my Antec Sonata III silent case, and everything is working like a charm. I think the Gigabyte motherboard was just bad.

I like this onboard video, it seems better, faster than my GeForce 8600 GTS. The onboard sound is great too. I cannot believe how quiet this computer is. My old one sounded like a helicopter was in my room.

Thanks for the help everyone, very much appreciated.

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I like this onboard video, it seems better, faster than my GeForce 8600 GTS.
Naa, that can't be! Better working yes but faster I can't believe. I personally would still use a 8600GTS over a onboard HD3450 like GPU (HD3200 onboard but with shared memory so that makes in general the biggest difference).
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Well see the thing is, I don't do PC games. So this onboard video has been doing the job great so far, but I'm also taking into consideration that I've only had this new build up and running for like three hours now. So, over time I'll see what is actually better. It's been very smooth so far. My resolution is at 1280 x 1024 @ 75 hertz.

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