# Mounting a motherboard into wood?



## IronyTaken (Jun 7, 2016)

I am finishing up my Bartop Arcade and I have all my parts but I want to know the best way to install my motherboard.
I've seen people just use some bolts with lots of nuts to raise the motherboard up.
Can I do this without drilling completely through the wooden bottom?
The wood is 3/4 inch thick.
I want an easy way to have the motherboard installed so it stays still and is not scraping the bottom along with that I have a sound card and video card installed and the back slot covers extend below the motherboard so there needs to be enough room below.

For the power supply I just used sticky tape Velcro to hold it down to the bottom while the hard drive is upside down and held down by velcro to the top of the power supply.
I can always change the orientation of them later But I don't see anything hazardous about the placement I have currently.
I will be installing two fans to the left and right of the back to push the hot air out.
The hardware I have is not that power intensive so it doesn't put off too much heat.
I am using a g3258 intel cpu and an EVGA 750ti SC video card along with a low power IPS panel.


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## ne6togadno (Jun 7, 2016)

thread of the bolts used as pc standard are with big enough pitch to used as screws in wood. just pick mb stands with longest male thread you can find.
i would add thin washers between wood and stands (0.8-1mm) to prevent stands from tilting. also you want leading holes in the wood (make sure your drill is perpendicular to wood when you drill em) with diameter 0.6-0.8 of the outside diameter of the thread.


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## Jetster (Jun 7, 2016)

I would cut the tray out of a old case. Then screw the tray to the wood. Easiest way to line everything up. You could even use the PCI slots to hold cards in place







You could even buy a test bench and use the top tray


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## 5DVX0130 (Jun 7, 2016)

You can drill a hole ¼ or ½ inches (depending on wood) and epoxy a bolt in. You can also use threaded wood insert nut and a rood if you want to be fancy.
Of course the best would be if you got some brass motherboard standoffs, and epoxied some nuts in. But in that case you have to find the right height standoffs.
Plenty of options on how to do it, and there are plenty of guides on it.


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## cadaveca (Jun 7, 2016)

you can easily just drill small holes and use standard stand-offs into 3/4 inch wood, especially if the motherboard is horizontal when installed. If installed vertically, I'd take the time and expense to buy a tray and mount the tray to the wood.


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## IronyTaken (Jun 7, 2016)

Jetster said:


> I would cut the tray out of a old case. Then screw the tray to the wood. Easiest way to line everything up. You could even use the PCI slots to hold cards in place
> 
> 
> 
> You could even buy a test bench and use the top tray



I don't have a lot of space in the case.
Here is a picture of the back.
Once the monitor was added in there was not a lot of room for height.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jun 7, 2016)

When i made my Winebox PC i used woodscrews and made standoffs with some fuel pipe off my strimmer (aquarium airline will do)







i also used the old superglue and baking soda trick for mounting lights and for spacers.


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## Iceni (Jun 7, 2016)

Long stand off extensions.

Just drill a hole and epoxy them in. I'd also saw off the male threading. If you want them all perfect mark out the holes and drill them. Then put the spacers on the motherboard and glue all the spacers in together. That way you won't get some at different heights or out of alignment positioning. Buy longer ones than you need because cutting them is easy and will let you set them deeper into the wood.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...d-Off_-_55mm.html?tl=c529s1384b77&id=wI8qJQP7


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## P4-630 (Jun 7, 2016)

IronyTaken said:


> I don't have a lot of space in the case.
> Here is a picture of the back.
> Once the monitor was added in there was not a lot of room for height.




What PSU do I see there?
Hope it's not a no-name brand that you have there...
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...picture-clubhouse.145287/page-41#post-3434823


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## IronyTaken (Jun 7, 2016)

P4-630 said:


> What PSU do I see there?
> Hope it's not a no-name brand that you have there...
> http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...picture-clubhouse.145287/page-41#post-3434823



It's an old Antec Earthwatts 500watt 80 plus PSU.


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## qubit (Jun 7, 2016)

Jetster said:


> I would cut the tray out of a old case. Then screw the tray to the wood. Easiest way to line everything up. You could even use the PCI slots to hold cards in place


I'll second that. I've got such a tray and it's also dead handy for testing new builds out on before mounting them in a case.


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## IronyTaken (Jun 7, 2016)

qubit said:


> I'll second that. I've got such a tray and it's also dead handy for testing new builds out on before mounting them in a case.


I am not sure I can fit the tray with everything else in the back.
Also I can't raise the motherboard too high or the CPU heatsink won't have enough room.
Just take a look at my previous pick to get an idea.


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## qubit (Jun 7, 2016)

Ok, that does look tight. I would recommend embedding studs in the wood in that case and having the screws go into those. This will avoid a stripped thread in the wood and the problems that can bring.


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## IronyTaken (Jun 7, 2016)

qubit said:


> Ok, that does look tight. I would recommend embedding studs in the wood in that case and having the screws go into those. This will avoid a stripped thread in the wood and the problems that can bring.


Do you know what size I should get?
I forget what is used for motherboards.


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## qubit (Jun 7, 2016)

Not off the top of my head. Try Googling for it and then look at embedded studs that match that that thread type.


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## micropage7 (Jun 7, 2016)

back to the title, dont forget to leave a space below the board. it may help the temp lower since it has room for hot air to leave


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## jaggerwild (Jun 7, 2016)

Def need the air moved around it!!!


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## Caring1 (Jun 8, 2016)

Just use long metal thread screws and teflon spacers between the board and the wood.
That saves having to try and mount stand offs.


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## SnakeDoctor (Jun 8, 2016)

A workbench i been fiddling with maybe you come across a idea 

Using a old case which i just drilled out the rivets no cutting was needed
It had a good solid base to use others where a bit wonky
Will also use the side panel for pci cards to be supported , but will cut smaller

I dont rate your hdd is mounted in a good spot ,will get hot 





Using old drive bays from old cases




I drilled a small hole then knock in a standoff , can be glued in then just screw in an extra stand on top
Just an idea




standoff on top of another


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## IronyTaken (Jun 19, 2016)

I might do something like that.
For now I just bought some pcb feet then used some strong stick velcro on the bottom feet and stuck them to the case.
I will check HDD temps and if they are bad then I will move it.
Not a lot of room to work with.
I got a surge protector which also allows for my monitor, speakers and lights to turn off when I power down my PC.
The components I used are low power so they shouldn't generate too much heat.
I am going to use two fans on the back (intake and exhaust) to help cool it. The intake will be near where the HDD is and the exhaust will be on the side where the CPU and GPU are.
Still have to get the marquee lights and plexiglass on.
Was just holding it up for this photo.


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## OneMoar (Jun 19, 2016)

if you go the stand alone board tray route make sure you connect the board tray to a grounding source such as the psu case
wood is a insulator so your board will have no path to ground
which may or may not cause issues
this thread needs this


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## IronyTaken (Jun 20, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> if you go the stand alone board tray route make sure you connect the board tray to a grounding source such as the psu case
> wood is a insulator so your board will have no path to ground
> which may or may not cause issues
> this thread needs this


The PSU grounds the motherboard from the 24 pin power. And it in turn is grounded from the 3 prong power cable that connects to the surge protector.


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## OneMoar (Jun 20, 2016)

there is also PCB grounds that connect via the mounting screws those need a path to ground


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## natr0n (Jun 20, 2016)

Nice bartop.


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## IronyTaken (Jun 20, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> there is also PCB grounds that connect via the mounting screws those need a path to ground


Never heard of that.
Usually I hear the power supply handles it just fine.


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## OneMoar (Jun 20, 2016)

IronyTaken said:


> Never heard of that.
> Usually I hear the power supply handles it just fine.


in 80% of cases it does but it doesn't hurt to have it
its more about ESD protection then anything


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## IronyTaken (Jun 20, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> in 80% of cases it does but it doesn't hurt to have it


Well I am using sticky velcro under the PCB feet for the time being.
Any way to ground them while still have them on velcro.
As long as I am not ripping the velcro and putting it back on constantly or rubbing it against stuff it shouldn't generate any static build up.


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## OneMoar (Jun 20, 2016)

IronyTaken said:


> Well I am using sticky velcro under the PCB feet for the time being.
> Any way to ground them while still have them on velcro.
> As long as I am not ripping the velcro and putting it back on constantly or rubbing it against stuff it shouldn't generate any static build up.


id be more concerned with the Velcro coming off
if its working and you don't have any nasty audio noise issues I would't be worried about it
just be aware of it some boards relie on it for correcting ground loop issues or ESD proofing


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## IronyTaken (Jun 20, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> id be more concerned with the Velcro coming off
> if its working and you don't have any nasty audio noise issues I would't be worried about it
> just be aware of it


The velcro is pretty strong.
I've held up speakers with velcro for many months with no issue.
I will check for any audio noise issues.
I am currently using an old Asus Xonar DG sound card.


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## gwbuss (Jun 16, 2019)

If you have access to a 3D printer these work great.








						Motherboard standoff adapter (mounting post) by telnaur
					

Designed for a standard motherboard standoff to press in place (to provide proper threads for installing the motherboard screws) This is meant to allow you to attach your motherboard to any surface that you can screw into (wood, plastic, etc) without the need to cut proper threads for the...




					www.thingiverse.com


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