Caseless

[iljs]

I've read mixed stories aboout how to properly run caseless pcs. Some people say that its better to put the mobo just on the retail box, others say with foam on the box, others say on top of the plastic it comes in. Which one :(

[marky]

the order goes as follows (caseless for the last year or so)

motherboard

static-bag

foam

top cardboard motherboard try (the one that hold the cables ect..)

2 pieces of scotch tape (motherboard boxes are usually slippery, this is merely a cautionary step)

motherboard box

Note: it is important to have a bit of overhang over the back of the mobo/box. this way pci cards and agp card do do run the risk up coming unseated (the metal end of the card bracket tends to unseat the cards, especially when pushing down ram).

also, keep all the cables and documentation inside the actually motherboard box. this will facilitate finding all the box components when you inevitably RMA after the board stops working (at least like my last two neo2 platinums have... :mad: )


and if you need extra height i usually place processor boxes under the mobo box.

[STEvil]

I just run on top of an old wooden desk at the moment...

[marky]

now that i have told you how you should do it, i would feel like a hypocrite if i didn't actually show you how i am doing it (too frustrated to do it properly at this point)

:eek:

:banana: IT!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v300/oc613/hownotto.jpg

[bachus_anonym]

erm.... what is a CASE ??? :D :shrug:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=21671&stc=1

EDIT: i believe that putting antistatic bag that mobo comes with is enough...
the only problem is: video card and pci cards... although it's no problem to seat it it would be A LOT more comfortable to use motherboard trays. i'm at the moment looking for places where i can buy cheap trays without actually buying whole cases ;)

[marky]

hahah, golden.


is that an ikea table? :p:

[bachus_anonym]

hahah, golden.
is that an ikea table? :p:

yeeepp :D works great!

[STEvil]

lol, nice :D

[echow87]

dont put mb on top of antistatic bag cuz last time i did taht with a nf7-s....the damn mofset melted the bag and the mofsets overheated :(

[enzoR]

yes dont do that!

antistatic bags are conductive.

[masterofpuppets]

I just put it on a wooden table or on any non-conductive surface. PSU sitting with air vent up next to mobo. Drives stacked up in their own little pile.

[STEvil]

yes dont do that!

antistatic bags are conductive.

Have you tested with a DMM? I just tested a bag, there was no conductivity at all.

[echow87]

well...even though the bag isnt conductive, it traps heat and thus causes heat buildup and damages component(s) on the board

[STEvil]

How would it trap heat? There shouldnt be any heat that excessive on that side of the board to begin with.

[Highland3r]

Just use a plain cardboard box personally.... ;)
http://www.drunken-student.co.uk/pics/pc/home_pc1.JPG excuse the mess :P

[zippyc]

I have often built rigs outside the box, and found it a quicker way to conduct mods and troubleshoot before final build. I even built my own exterrior backplane to hold the boards in place and away from shorts...a backplane is the best surface to work with IMHO if you don't put your mainboard in a case before turning it on.

I became concerned about the MB slipping around whatever surface I floated it on working outside a case, so I built a ghetto backplane/base to hold my boards in position while working. I recommend this to anyone who plans to build more than once outside the box, and this method mounts the MB with the same clearance as a case...an important check (if you mod like I do) when or if you add nuts/bolt heads and other items to the underside of the MB.

You'll need 10 motherboard standoffs and screws, epoxy, a drill and some extra plywood to build your own.

I simply cut a 1/2 Inch piece of plywood to match the footprint of a standard MB, and then used the MB as a stencil to mark the 10 hole positions onto the plywood for the MB mounting post (standoffs) locations. Be sure to line up the back edge of the MB flush with the back edge of the new backplane here before marking, otherwise PCI cards wont fit.

Then I used a 3/8 inch drillbit to drill craters dead center on the marks in the wood, careful not to drill all the way through the board, but drilling down enough to allow mb standoff posts to penetrate deep enough for flush planting.

I then mounted the all the MB screws firmly on the MB and into the standoffs on the underside of the MB (but of course the standoffs were not mounted into anything else yet). I tightened them as close to centered on the MB mounting holes as possible.

I masking-taped some some temporary cardboard spacers on the wood to hold the MB at the right height off the wood base (using trial and error). The idea is to let gravity hold the board in exactly the right position (height) as the epoxy sets.

Confident I had the positioning and height right, I then filled the drilled holes to the top of the craters with 5 Min epoxy. Working fast I planted the mb with the screws and standoffs in position into the ten epoxy pools. I wiggled it in a clockwise motion a little to ensure the epoxy got all around the standoff threads, and then let it sit in final position.

After an hour I unscrewed the MB, painted the new backplane black, and voila...a test base for all my projects with perfectly positioned standoffs. I'd add a pic here in a couple hours.

I've used it since with multiple MBs and it has numerous benefits. The additional weight stabilizes the MB's on whatever benching surface I choose, and I completely screw in the MB so that there is no flex to the mainboard while I hook up cables and cards and such. And I never have to worry about shorting the bottom of my boards with a wayward piece of hardware while on the bench. Nor do I worry about static above standard precautions.

I hope someone finds this mini-guide-idea useful. :)

[blinky]

just put it on whatever... i put mine on top of the mobo box, because it allows clearance for AGP and PCI cards


@bachus acronym, one thing you could do is buy mobo standoffs and attach them with screws to the mobo then u have like 1/2" of clearance for pci and agp cards n stuff

[XyKo]

It'll be great to use the lian-li mobo tray for no case. Now, the hard part is to buy these trays without getting the case for cheap. It can hold the pci/agp cards with screws too.

[DaGoof]

here's one using a lian li mobo tray

http://dagoof.no-ip.com/oc/pc1.JPG

[Skip]

you bought a lian li and aren't using it? lian li is expensive man!

[enzoR]

Have you tested with a DMM? I just tested a bag, there was no conductivity at all.

how about the inside of the bag?

edit: nvm your right no conductivity at all just tested it myself. Myth Busted :D

[sllywhtboy]

i saw this and thought of you guys. :D http://www.frozencpu.com/cas-287.html

--slly

[zippyc]

Thats a cool looking frame sllywhtboy.

Took me a dollar and an hour to build mine. But for those without tools, time, or the inclination that frame looks to be a pretty neat solution. :thumbsup:

[Skip]

oh that is really cool, except i won't be buying that, but i will definitely download that pic and build one for myself!

[Disposibleteen]

yea, i dont know why anyone would buy a bench setup like that, make it yourself.....

[STEvil]

it would be ok for running "free-air" but I dont like it.. its not truely "caseless" as I see it, but my design is.. caseless ;)

[Skip]

if it was maybe 20$ for that bench i consider buying it. but 80$ is ridiculous.

when i make mine though i won't have a place to screw in the cards, as that is just pointless.

[Navig]

I kindof was aiming for 75% workbench, 25% real case when I put this Lubic case together. With my good airflow, I get considerably better cooling than with the ol' mobo-on-a-book system.

[jinu117]

Welcome to the forum Navig. I saw that rubics while back in few forums and thought it was super cool :)
Almost decided to make case with it to put phasecooling unit, etc until I realized how ugly the internal is going to look, I might still do it if I decide to put 2 phase unit within case with one water chiller and one mach II.
That aside... I gotta say unless you have big fan blowing over, the forced air flow of good case always helps temp of other components. (now I believe most of xtremers here have nice 1 foot fan or something like blowing entire mobo when they are doing benching).
As for just lian li case tray here is place you can get one at decent price. (not cheap still). There was cheaper place but I think that place folded.
http://www.silverpcs.com/product/CA_LIANLI_MD_TRAY
Enjoy :)

[HiJon89]

erm.... what is a CASE ??? :D :shrug:
A waste of $100 :p:

[Skip]

nah, you need cases for lanparties and stuff, but for anything at home, a case is pointless.

[Navig]

As 2/3 of my current motherboards have backside caps and sinks, they have to have something holding them up.

The case air flow does wonders for mosfet cooling, which is ever so important with prescott/socket 478 overclocking.

I'm looking into throwing together a watercooling unit, but wait I don't have the money!

navig

[Skip]

could you take some more pics of your work navig? i'd like to see how you have worked around making a case with the caps on the back.

[Xerxes]

I use a huge piece of foam, its about 2 inches thick and big enough it can hold a couple of hdds, floppy, cdrom, and ps. and when im not so lazy it goes in a super lanboy :)

[Skip]

well i did a little biilt of building myself and basically build a wooden shelf with 2 layers, the bottom layer has a little room underneath it for papers and stuff. i used nuts and screws as the standoffs for the motherboard. its sorta like that HSPC caseless workbench, but made of wood, i'm going to paint it black next week. it turned out pretty good, i'll take pictures when i'm done.

[Navig]

It's nothing exciting. I used about 1.5 inch standoffs. The motherboard plate is just a large rectangle of 3/8in polycarbonate with holes drilled in it. Some of the holes I use to mount the tray to the frame, the others I use to mount the standoffs. Since everything is open and easily adjustable, using 1.5in standoffs is no big deal--in a standardized case, this will throw off all kinds of things.

I actually have a clearpc clear acrylic case, which I also use 1.5in standoffs in order to run my cables behind the motherboard. In order to do so, I had to cut and remount the PCI slot mounts, etc. etc.

I'll post some pics of my backside sometime (boy that didn't sound right).

navig

[Navig]

Pic 1 is what I wanted to clear.

Pic 2 is a little corner pic of how it works. I considered adding a pci blower to push air in that space between the motherboard and the tray, but with the setup of fans as it is, air moves quite briskly already thru this space.

navig

[reject]

when i was running my old board caseless as i was modding it i couldnt listen to sound there was some interference. wasthis emi?

[Z3r0]

How do u turn on ur comp without a case?!

[zippyc]

If you have a DFI Lanparty NF250 or like, there is a manual switch for reset and power on the MB itself.

Less overclocker friendly boards can be turned on by creating a momentary short between the two pins that you would normally wire your AT switch to.

When you press power all that switch does on your case is momentarilly close the connection of those two pins.

I use the tip of a phillipshead screwdriver to jumpstart the MB's without a switch.

zippyc

[reject]

anyone got a comment on my question?
and to start i just got the on switch out oof an old case

[Skip]

your onboard sound didn't work good out of case, but then worked fine in the case? that beats me.

nice work navig. but why do you need all those sinks on the backside?

[Navig]

Just what it took to get my P4 3.2 Prescott to 4ghz on air.