Motherboard Mounting in Cab

[Superdude]

I am planning to put my computer in my arcade cab.  Now I will not be using a case.  Do I have to ground the motherboard to anything?  Is the power supply and connector to the motherboard sufficent enough ground?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.  This is the first time I will be running a pc without the case.

[pragma]

My understanding from a local shop (i.e. this is not a professional's understanding!) is that the motherboard must be connected to a grounding plane as normally provided by the case. I MacGyver'd out the plane from my case, kept the spacers, and screwed the plane to the wall of my cab. I have the plane grounded through the power supply connected by a conductive wire. It's all worked very well for me so far.

HTH

Paul

[Brad Lee]

Does your power supply have a real ground point, or is the wire from the mobo just going to the case of the PS?

After doing some reading I'm wondering if this might be part of my lockup problems


Currently my mobo is screwed directly to the inside of the cab(nylon spacers and long bolts) and the only connection to power/ground is through the atx power connecter
Should there be an additional ground wire from the mobo to either the PS or the powerstrip?

[Superdude]

I am not sure about my PS if it needs to be grounded to the grounding plane.  I though I would be okay without it but the above posts said I should.  I wonder if any type metal would suffice or if it even needed.

[Odonadon]

I am planning to put my computer in my arcade cab.  Now I will not be using a case.  Do I have to ground the motherboard to anything?  Is the power supply and connector to the motherboard sufficent enough ground?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.  This is the first time I will be running a pc without the case.

Nope, you don't need to ground the motherboard to anything other than the PS.  It's a good idea to to reduce risk of frying the thing, but you don't NEED to.  Mine's only grouned throug the PS (through ATX connection).  Not a single problem.

You'll notice that a lot of PCs in cases aren't additionally grounded, either.  The mobo is mounted via screws with a spacer - there isn't any metal on metal connection.

Odonadon

[neuromancer]

Sounds like BS to me.

Some cases come with nylon standoffs.

The real issue is RF interference.  You might think you don't care about that, but if an ambulance outside can't radio back to dispatch to find your house after you discharged a monitor with your body, you might wish you has shielded the MB...

Just a thought.

If you don't use a case, you should use shielding of some sort.

Bob

[pragma]

BTW, I would trust any of these guys at least as much as the hoser who told me this about the mobo. But I had to do as I say if I want him to support his warranty, so there you have it. :-)

Paul