The PC Build Thread

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Re: washers. My current mobo, and I think a lot of newer/more expensive models already have insulation around the screw holes. Mine still came with washers in the box, though (cardboard/paper, not rubber).

Remember one of my first builds just randomly dying, and refusing to boot. Couldn't figure out what the issue was, so took it the local Chinese PC shop. They spotted it straight away: a random, spare mobo screw had lodged itself between the mobo and the case somehow, shorting it out. They removed the motherboard and screw, and remounted it, this time using washers. I asked why, and they said without them I'd run the risk of the same thing happening again, because the standoff touches the motherboard completing the circuit if there isn't sufficient insulation. I just haven't risked it with any builds since.

I guess it's also why more expensive PSUs these days have rubber mounts so that they never come into contact with cases (unlike motherboards, PSUs can be lethal).
 
Lupus said:
Isn't that Xeon from roughly the same era as Core 2 duos? Also for RAM you're going to need to get ECC DDR3 memory sticks and that could be a bit pricey. I'm also not sure the motherboard would fit in a normal case as it's not ATX?
Click to expand...

Yes same era, but a big jump for me although it might be mainly the SSD.
There are alot of instructions on the case lid about the RAM so yes you are probably right, while testing it last night though I did not get close to maxing it out.
The mother board is bigger and looking at it has a different mounting pattern, so I doubt it would screw straight in to an ATX case but I do have some old cases lying around that it might fit in to( rough tape measure) with some mods.
 
Düber said:
Yes same era, but a big jump for me although it might be mainly the SSD.
There are alot of instructions on the case lid about the RAM so yes you are probably right, while testing it last night though I did not get close to maxing it out.
The mother board is bigger and looking at it has a different mounting pattern, so I doubt it would screw straight in to an ATX case but I do have some old cases lying around that it might fit in to( rough tape measure) with some mods.
Click to expand...
Isn't it just an EATX board?
 
The Voice said:
Re: washers. My current mobo, and I think a lot of newer/more expensive models already have insulation around the screw holes. Mine still came with washers in the box, though (cardboard/paper, not rubber).

Remember one of my first builds just randomly dying, and refusing to boot. Couldn't figure out what the issue was, so took it the local Chinese PC shop. They spotted it straight away: a random, spare mobo screw had lodged itself between the mobo and the case somehow, shorting it out. They removed the motherboard and screw, and remounted it, this time using washers. I asked why, and they said without them I'd run the risk of the same thing happening again, because the standoff touches the motherboard completing the circuit if there isn't sufficient insulation. I just haven't risked it with any builds since.

I guess it's also why more expensive PSUs these days have rubber mounts so that they never come into contact with cases (unlike motherboards, PSUs can be lethal).
Click to expand...

Rubber mounts are for vibration & noise reduction.

Don't see the point of the washers as both sides of the MB holes are tinned, so even if you put a washer on top the standoff still contects the tinned holes at the bottom of the MB.

The psu case is metal and grounded, the psu contacts the chassis grounding the chassis, the standoffs grounds the MB as do the power cables. I would like a common ground for all my components.
 
I remember all motherboards in my younger days coming with those red/brown paper washers. Last motherboard didn’t.

Those washers are probably used to provide a “compression friction fit” (made up term), allowing the screws to have less torque applied while still keeping things snug.
 
I always thought that a motherboard was purposely "earthed" to the case to provide a groundplane against EMF interference.
 
For anyone interested, this is a great deal and would make for an awesome mini-PC.
Add the fact that you can drop an external GPU into it (like a cheap 2nd hand GTX 1070) and this thing is amazing.
I'm super tempted to order.

Mini PC Intel Core i7 8750H
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/329...4a-4364-a2cd-057e38fe9ad9&transAbTest=ae803_3

M.2 keyM NVMe External Graphics Card Stand bracket with PCIe3.0 x4 Riser Cable 25cm 50cm 32Gbs For ITX STX NUC VEGA64 GTX1080ti
R1,316.48 (with 50CM cable)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/328...68-45d9-ad52-cf2af1a2f30c&transAbTest=ae803_3

I ran the numbers and this PC with 32GB DDR4 & a Samsung 970 Evo PLUS 256GB NVME drive would cost me R12,297.

P.S. There's no thermal throttling on the CPU from the reviews I've seen, also, the PC case has an open slot built in that works perfectly for running through the ribbon cable of the GPU Stand.

P.P.S. Oh, and the external GPU bracket only runs at 4X pci-e speed but from the reviews I've seen you only lost about 10% performance on a mid-to-higer end GPU
 
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CamiKaze said:
Reason being, I want to rebuild everything into my case and also make sure that I don't feel that slight electric feeling when my skin touches the case.

Think it\s got to do with me not using plastic washers between screws ad mobo.
Click to expand...


Try running a copper wire from a suitable conductive hole on the case to the ground pin of an electrical socket. That should kill whatever is leaking power to your case.
 
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Finally picked up my 4TB WD RED hard drive! And Transcend MTE110 Series 128GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 for my new Media Server (which I started last year already).

Going to optimize for performance.

Samsung 970 EVO 256GB = OS drive
4TB WD RED = Media
4TB WD GREEN = Storage
Transcend 128GB NVMe = Plex database, Virtual Machines
1TB RAM drive = Firebox cache folder, Plex transcode folder

Going to then convert my old HP Micro Server N40L (which has been running 24/7/365 for over 6 years) into a second Plex Server (with older content) and backup location :)
 
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