what to mount a mobo to

[SithMaster]

what type of board would i mount one to?  i have an extra mobo and not an extra case so what to do?

[forbiddenlyrics]

You could mount it to pretty much any board just use stand-offs when you mount it so that the board is not in contact with the surface. You could use Bic pen tubes cut up for stand-offs, just cut them to length and use the long screws.

[SithMaster]

alright thanks.  do all mobos use the same type of screws for the standoffs? cuase then ill try compusa.

[michelevit]

I just used a hot glue gun and tacked my mobo to a piece of baltic birch plywood.
Worked great. Much simpler than screwing it down. I figure if the board every needs
replacing, I'll just use a razor blade to snip though the hot glue.

more likely i'll just toss out the board and mobo and just start over.

I went ahead and also glued the powersupply, usb hub, and cdrom
to the same board. Made for a very clean mount.

[SithMaster]

what do you mean tacked?  did you use tacs and just glue the board to them?

well i dont have an cf and ide slot converter so im stuck with a hd but i was going to use a custom made part to hold it on.  the power supply was going to be placed where one would normally go and im not going to include a cdrom or a hub.

im just using the bare minimum to save space, wieght and power

just the mobo, sound card, hd, power supply, and vid card unless i get one thats integrated but for mine if something fails but everything else still works id rather not need to junk it all.  but ill consider all options first.  thanks.

[dagintm]

you could try this:

http://www.happcontrols.com/powersupplies/49045100.htm

I used it in my cocktail cabinet and thank goodness I did because I had to replace it.  Would have taken for ever to unscrew.. Plus there wasn't much space to work with.

[Necro]

One thing to make sure you do is measure the holes in your MB BEFORE you go to the store .

Get screws that are appropriate.

[SithMaster]

yes i know i should measure first and that one from happs would be nice but i was thinking the diy way and using a cut piece of wood that i can mount to the cab then mount the mobo to it though it would be nice to have an adjustable one.

[krick]

I keep going back and forth on the whole case/no-case issue.

I'm currently in the process of building a new computer for my MAME cabinet.

I have a few options...

1) re-use the case I'm currently using

2) mount it to a piece of wood

3) mount it to an old motherboard tray I have laying around


The obvious benefit of having it in a case is that if I need to work on the computer, it's easy to just grab the whole thing out of my cabinet and throw it on my workbench.  It's also convenient in that you have places to mount everything.  If you mount the motherboard to a piece of wood, then you have to figure out how to mount the hard drive, power supply, and possibly CD-ROM and floppy if you are using them.  CPUs in cases usually run cooler due to the power supply sucking air through the case.

Mounting it all to a piece of wood is more "arcade-like".  Almost like having a JAMMA board in the cabinet.  You score a few points when you show off the inside of your cab to your buddies.  The biggest problem I see is securing the AGP and PCI cards.  You'd have to build some sort of bracket to screw them to.  Hot air stagnating around the hot bits of the motherboard might also be a problem.

Using a motherboard tray as a base is sort of a compromise between the other two options.  You get a nice secure platform to screw the motherboard to and it supports and secures your AGP and PCI cards.  The potential cooling problems still exist, however.

[ArcadEd]

Some nylon spacers and screws, good to go.  You don't really need the white nylon stand offs, you can just put in a few more nylon spacers with the screws.

The fiber washers are not completely needed either, I just use them to be safe.

[Necro]

3) mount it to an old motherboard tray I have laying around

This would seem your best option, then mount this to a board that you could put into the cabinet.  See my reasoning below.

The obvious benefit of having it in a case is that if I need to work on the computer, it's easy to just grab the whole thing out of my cabinet and throw it on my workbench.  It's also convenient in that you have places to mount everything.  If you mount the motherboard to a piece of wood, then you have to figure out how to mount the hard drive, power supply, and possibly CD-ROM and floppy if you are using them. 

Tear the drive rack out of an old/POS case and mount it on the wood with the MB tray.  And your good to go.

CPUs in cases usually run cooler due to the power supply sucking air through the case.

This isn't true.  If you put it on a board and then put 1-2 fans nearby, you'll be doing the same thing.  In most setups, the PSU does minimal air movement and isn't actually enough for full exhausting.  The volume of air in the cab, and any fans you have that circulate ambient/outside air into it will almost definitely keep the processor and the like cool enough.

The potential cooling problems still exist, however.

Peopl regularly just open up their cases to test how well the case fans compares to ambient air.  Unless you cab is tiny...like case size tiny, your not going to have an issue.  Easy way to check is toss the computer inside the case into the cab, run it with Prime95 or something running for an hour and check the temps.  Then do it with the back of the cab off.  If you see even a 2 degree difference I'll be shocked. (add in a 120mm fan and I bet even that wouldn't happen).

Also, remember this - if you put the case INSIDE the cab, your just blowing the air out of the case into the cab anyway...so that same heated air is getting recirculated into the case later.

[tristan]

I've built probably 2000+ computers in the last 10 years, and I've never used those washers.

The fiber washers are not completely needed either, I just use them to be safe.

EDIT:
I will be mounting all of mine (MB, drive, J-Pac, Audio amp, etc) to a wood board. I figure I can set the edge of the motherboard on the edge of the board and screw the bottom of the slot cover on the cards into the edge of the wood board for support.