At 01:51 PM 4/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello List,
>
>    I am starting to put my first PC together from scratch. After reading
>this list for several weeks and other reference material, I think I am
>ready. My question for the list pertains to grounding of the MB. My MB book
>states to use a couple of the brass stand-offs with fiber washers and screws
>to secure the MB and the plastic stand-offs to support and space the MB from
>the bottom. Somewhere I thought I read that the MB should ground to the case
>bottom with 1 of the anchoring screws, but I can not find this reference in
>my notes anywhere or in my searches on the Internet. If it is not supposed
>to be grounded and is supposed to be isolated from the bottom, then I would
>have to put a fiber washer on the bottom of the MB also. I would appreciate
>any feed back from the list on the correct way to handle this procedure.
>

Yes...  the board should be grounded to the base plane of your
case.  You can use one brass or steel standoff...  or you can use
multiple such standoffs.  You will note that some holes on your
motherboard have contacts around them...  these are intended
for grounding purpose.  Usually, in a standard desktop or tower
case one is enough.   It allows the MB some freedom of mobility
for the cards to set properly and adjust for inconsistancies in the
case back plane.  I do recommend that each hole in the MB have
either a metal screw standoff or a plastic one...  if you do not have
a hole corresponding to the MB hole, you can cut the bottom of
the plastic standoff away.  It only will provide support when you
press down on the MB, such as inserting cards.

In large server rackmount cases where the motherboard is intended
to be more solidly mounted, as all components inside, it is more
important to have multiple 'screw down' standoffs in place.  I usually
use four or five for rackmounts with no floating plastic ones.





BOB WRIGHT  -   [log in to unmask]  - http://nospin.com
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